(upbeat music)
- Welcome to Broadway Profiles.
I'm your host, Tamsen Fadel.
Tony winter, Jane Krakowski is one of our favorites.
She's been a fixture on the Broadway stage
since the late eighties
and a legit TV star since the nineties
and that's as true as ever in 2021.
Let's send it over to Broadway.com's
Editor-in-Chief, Paul Wontorek for a look.
Hi there, Paul.
- Thanks, Tamsen
We loved her in Broadway shows like Nine and She Loves Me
and in the hit TV series 30 Rock
and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Now, Jane Krakowski is back on television
in not one, but two shows.
Right now she's hosting the reboot of the classic quiz show
Name That Tune on Fox
and she's co-starring in season two of Dickinson
on Apple TV+.
Let's talk about Name That Tune.
- Sure. - Name That Tune is like
an iconic game show,
I mean this, I mean, it's been around since the fifties.
What is it like to, to host a game show?
This is sort of a new thing for you.
- It is a very new thing for me.
I was longing to
do something with a live audience
and I always remembered Name That Tune.
It was a game that we played in my childhood home
growing up.
I had a very musical family.
We were very competitive yelling at the television,
watching Name That tune
and when I heard Fox was doing it
I was thrilled to be a part of it.
And of course to have the legendary
Randy Jackson be our band leader is incredible
and now I'm just a little nervous
'cause I just hope people enjoy it,
I hope they tune in
and I hope they accept me as a host of this game show
in their, in their homes.
We make music and you make money.
- I can name that tune in one note.
(piano music)
"Right Here Waiting."
- Correct!
(cheering)
- This is a freakish skill.
I don't have this skill at all.
I actually, I was wondering, do you have this skill,
like could you do, could you figure out
"A Call From The Vatican" in three notes
or "I Want To Go To Hollywood" in two notes?
Do you have this skill?
I find it bizarre.
- I think we both have a better chance if we did
Name That Tune Broadway style,
you know the power is in the cards when you're the host,
you have the cards in your hand with the answers.
And so I would sometimes not look at the card thinking,
oh why are they not getting that?
Like I could get that one
and then I realized you're, you're seeing all the names.
I've, I've, you know, been at the rehearsal
where we practiced all of them.
So it's, it's a lot easier when you have
the power cards in your hands with all the answers
- But, you are such a warm person
and I'm sure being the host is a little stressful.
Like you said, you must feel a connection to the contestant.
- So my heart would be like, go,
I would be going on a rollercoaster ride
with each half hour that we filmed.
It was, it was unexpected for me.
I didn't realize how much I was gonna care
about them and how much money they won.
(laughing)
We also filmed this very recently
and obviously people are going through
very hard times right now
and the fact that we could give away
a lot of money to people
for them, you know, if they knew a Katy Perry song,
they could win some money.
That's like amazing right now.
It felt like,
it felt like the money we were giving away
had more meaning at this current time
that we're all going through in the world right now.
♪ And eyes like the smoke we rise ♪
- Oh my God, she's so insane.
- Of course she's insane, she's Emily Dickinson.
- So I'm also excited to see more of Dickinson.
I'm really curious to find
out more about what's gonna happen to Mrs. Dickinson.
She's kind of like Marmee from Little Women,
but with more wine o-clock and more open contempt.
- Can I, can I write that down
and use that for future descriptions?
'Cause it's pretty, pretty spot on, Paul.
Well, it's a very different part for me,
which was what I was drawn to.
I love the,
the idea that they were taking
the life and times of Emily Dickinson
and sort of reflecting those times
through a fun-house mirror of what life is like now,
especially for young people.
Mrs. D has a lot of growth with her daughter in season two,
which I was very happy about.
I got to do a lot more scenes with Hailee Steinfeld,
who I love and think is doing such
a beautiful portrayal of Emily Dickinson
and I couldn't think of really
a more perfect actress
to be representing Emily Dickinson
to young modern audiences,
who may not have heard of her before
or who were taught about her through school,
which sort of tasted a little bit like medicine.
(gentle music)