In the spotlight: Anthony Warlow and Amanda Lea LaVergne talk love, life, and Broadway
In their first interview as a couple since they wed three years ago, Anthony Warlow and Amanda Lea LaVergne reveal the moment they fell in love on stage during Annie on Broadway, and how the rhythm and flow of their busy lives work.
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He was a leading man on Broadway.
She was an ensemble player, suddenly promoted to a role opposite him, asking if he needed anything from her for their scenes.
Not particularly, he replied. He would fit into her rhythm and flow.
Later, in their first-ever time on stage together, the leading man stood transfixed as the woman from the ensemble wove her magic in front of him, and he fell in love.
Ordinarily, this would be the perfect point to call “end scene”, except it happened in real life to Australian stage star, Anthony Warlow.
It was 2012.
Warlow was playing Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks in Annie on Broadway. Broadway performer Amanda Lea LaVergne was covering other roles in the show, but was elevated to play Warbucks’ spouse, Grace Farrell.
LaVergne, replacing Brynn O’Malley, did 30 shows as Farrell.
“I didn’t have much to do with Amanda until she came on as Grace,” Warlow says.
“I remember her coming to my dressing room and asking was there anything that I needed? I said, ‘No. Just do your show and I’ll fit in.’”
LaVergne says: “Anthony and I never rehearsed.”
Warlow: “When Amanda went on, it was such a spark. I just thought, ‘You’ve nailed this character, even though you’re in someone else’s costume.’ It was tied up with pegs at the back, trying to make it fit, because Brynn was so tall,” Warlow adds, laughing.
“I felt there was a confidence in Amanda that I loved as an artist. When you’ve got someone that’s a safety net, it makes your show very easy.
“I fell in love with that and then …,” he says, looking earnestly at LaVergne, “I fell in love with you.”
We are in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens for Warlow and LaVergne’s first interview as a couple. They married in New York in 2022.
Warlow is one of Australia’s most popular theatre stars. His credits include Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Jekyll and Hyde, Chicago, Man of La Mancha, Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Grease and many more.
Texas-born LaVergne has lived in New York City for 20 years. She has starred in Broadway shows including Grease, Annie, and The People In The Picture. Her theatre credits include 9 To 5, Bring It On, Chicago, Singin’ In The Rain and Nice Work If You Can Get It.
“I had no idea who he was,” LaVergne says, laughing, gesturing at Warlow.
Warlow: “That’s true, and it’s a great way to start.”
LaVergne: “I’d been cast in Annie, and a good friend of mine was in the show, too. He said, ‘Oh my God, we’re doing Annie with Anthony Warlow.’ I looked at my friend and said, ‘Is he any good?’”
Warlow, chuckling: “Not always.”
LaVergne: “I’m someone who … I do the work, I go to rehearsals, I do my job, I go home.
“But I liked watching Anthony interact on stage. The first time we went for a drink, I really liked it. I liked talking to him. I felt like we met on a very mutual respect level. I felt important, even though I was in the ensemble.
“If I were to describe him, it’s this: he’s extremely kind. And that kindness shows up in generosity of time and spirit,” LaVergne says.
“That was something I didn’t know I was looking for. I’ve always said I wanted a partner, someone who I can do the hard things with, and who gives me the space to work, the way I enjoy working.”
LaVergne and Warlow say their marriage is very much a partnership.
“With two creative minds at home, you’d think there would be friction. Be there isn’t. We certainly debate things,” Warlow says.
LaVergne: “We came to the theatre from different worlds; he comes from opera, I come from dance. We meet in the middle of: I’ve got this set of tools, he has this set of tools. What can I bring to your table, and what can you bring to mine?
“It’s blissful domestic life,” Warlow says. “Then there are times when we go, ‘OK, nuts and bolts now. Time to work.’”
After Warlow’s Broadway role in Annie ended with the show’s closure in 2014, he and LaVergne continued a long distance relationship.
Warlow and LaVergne reunited on stage in an Australian production of Jekyll and Hyde in 2019.
And this week, they will reboot their roles as Oliver Warbucks and Grace Farrell in Annie.
The show has opened at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, and will travel to Melbourne in July.
Annie is about an orphan who, while in the care of business mogul Warbucks and his wife Farrell, dreams of finding her real parents.
“I’m excited about finding my signature, again, in this role,” Warlow says.
“Annie is a joyous old world musical comedy. We’re talking cartoon characters here. But the philosophies are serious.”
LaVergne says she is delighted to revisit Grace. “It’s a show and role I’m very familiar with … and it’s a great way for me to get introduced to the Australian theatre community, and also learn from it.”
Warlow and LaVergne divide their time between Melbourne, Sydney and New York.
LaVergne is adjusting to the gentler pace in Australia, but sometimes misses the energy of the Big Apple.
“Australians take advantage of their quality of life. It’s very settled and joyful,” she says.
“Sometimes, I get frustrated that it moves a lot slower than New York, and I don’t have things at my ready, like if it’s 10pm and I want Chinese food. You don’t have to look far in New York. Here, we have nothing,” LaVergne says jokingly.
“But there’s a beauty in being able to slow down. I feel very present here. I’m aware of what my day-to-day feels like versus what it needs to look like.”
Broadway life, she says, is not for the faint hearted.
“It’s cutthroat, it’s challenging,” LaVergne says. “It feeds into the idea that you can be replaced at any minute. You’re in dance class, you’re in voice lessons, you’re doing eight shows a week. You never stop being a student because you never know when the show is going to close. You always have to be ready.
“The theatre is a living, breathing thing, and it changes constantly. What was required for a show 10 years ago is probably not required now. You have to stay on the pulse of what might be new.”
Warlow adds: “The sad part is, there’s a lot of luck involved.
“You can have a fantastic toolkit, but you might not be the look a director wants.”
LaVergne: “Or have the social media followers and an online presence.”
Warlow: “That’s the new world, isn’t it?”
Anthony Warlow and Amanda Lea LaVergne became each other’s world when they wed, on a rainy Manhattan day, three years ago.
They planned a low-key ceremony, with 19 wedding guests, outdoors under a wisteria pergola. “It rained the whole time and wiped the wisteria out,” Warlow says. “But it created a carpet of purple for our special day.”
They had their reception at the Gramercy Tavern and the wedding cake – lemon – was from Warlow and LaVergne’s favourite NYC steakhouse, Del Frisco’s.
Sharing their wedding news on Instagram, LaVergne wrote: “I never wanted a boastful love. I wanted a quiet love. A safe love.”
A few months later, they did an Australian ceremony, for Warlow’s family, in Palm Beach.
“I wore my same wedding dress,” LaVergne says.
“I was doing Titanic The Musical at the time, and I had 12 months of beard on my face,” Warlow says, then laughs: “It looked like Amanda was marrying David Letterman.”
Originally published as In the spotlight: Anthony Warlow and Amanda Lea LaVergne talk love, life, and Broadway
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