Id want to do something far more interesting, Butz tells EW.
And so we started to talk about this long relationship weve had.
Our show is surprising in that way, in that we really investigate that.
M. Von Holden/FilmMagic
And the music was chosen based on how it would serve and further the story.
We were both outcasts because we were new to the show.
We liked the way each other worked.
M. Von Holden/FilmMagic
Theres no one in New York City that I like to sing with more than Sherie.
I didnt know what I wanted to do with her again.
We hadnt worked together in a long time.
It was a bucket list thing for me.
The last few summers Id gone to Feinsteins/54 Below and done my own show there.
Sheries written a couple of shows that shes performed there.
I just had this dream of doing something together… Theres not another performer like Sherie for me.
Weve done three major productions together, but a lot of concerts and benefits and recordings and readings.
We know each others tricks better than anybody.
We cant really get away with a lot of B.S.
Profound even, for me.
Its just been a really cool project.
How did you go about selecting the songs for this?
But most importantly, we wanted to tell a story that people could relate to.
And I kept saying, No Im not.
Its going to be really easy, guys.
I have experience with wanting to tell a story and sing songs, but now were doing it together.
People watch us going through our relationship actively, not just talking about it.
Theatricalizing it can help the audience.
She very gently kept promising me that parts of ourselves would be protected.
I cant stress that enough.
It becomes a universal story very fast.
Im trying to convince Sherie at some point to doSweeney Toddwith me.
Shes not quite on board yet.
We havent sang anything fromLast Five Yearstogether in public for 15 years.
Those shows were so special, and now weve created something special enough to have them in again.
I would be lying if I said it didnt.
I wrestled with that.
It didnt feel great to perform for awhile.
I felt much more vulnerable on stage inWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
I felt much more exposed and insecure onstage in that.
But I think vulnerability is strength nowadays.
We have to deal with this intimacy issue: What is intimacy?
How do we get it in our lives?We crave it.
You could be on a movie set and within two days be lying naked with this total stranger.
Or acting a scene that is emotionally violent or having to do physical comedy that is extremely intimate.
As actors, we tend to bypass really important conversations.
So, how do we do it well?
How do we do it with respect?
It is kind of ripe for comedy.
All of these kind of absurd, embarrassing, humiliating situations I can put us in are funny.
Nobody wants to go recount their lives in front of people.
People want to hear aLast Five Yearssong.
We want to surprise them in how its recontextualized and where its placed.
Norbert can do anything.
It opened me up as a writer and definitely opened our hearts up.
The only work I really like to see is when the writer is revealing something.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
