Los Angeles, Dec 10: Adam Pascal wanted to be in "Memphis" long before he ever saw "Memphis," which sounds a little crazy.
"I'm a Broadway leading man and there are very few Broadway leading man roles and I knew that was a show that I'd be able to pull off and it was a leading man role and I haven't been on Broadway for a very long time and I knew that was a show that I'd want to come back to Broadway," Pascal said.
Once he got it, the 41-year-old actor found it challenging.
"It's definitely different. In a lot of ways it's easier to step into an established role that's already up and running. You lose out on a lot of the discovery process but especially with a role like Huey it allows you to make your own discoveries even though the character has already been created it gives you a lot of leeway for myself as an actor stepping in to sort of come up with my own version of Huey," Pascal said.
The veteran of "Rent," "Aida" and "Cabaret," has slipped into the role of Huey Calhoun in the Tony Award-winning musical, taking over from Chad Kimball.
"For me it's a huge honor to be able to represent somebody at that point of time in our history who is instrumental in helping usher in this whole, new genre of music," Pascal said.
While he really wanted this role, Pascal can never forget what brought him to prominence, his role as Roger in the Tony and Pulitzer-winning musical, 'Rent.'
"I would never want to get past it. I'm immensely proud of it. Again, to be connected with something that has inspired so many people, has moved so many people, has touched so many people you know there are worse things to be connected to and I owe my whole career to rent for that incredible springboard that it gave to me," Pascal said.
Pascal plans to stay in 'Memphis' until the spring. The show is currently in performance at Broadway's Schubert Theater.
