Tonys Actress Roundtable

From left: Kelli O'Hara, Idina Menzel, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Tyne Daly, Jessie Mueller and Sutton Foster pose for THR's first-ever Tonys Actress Roundtable.

Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel, who stars as two versions of Elizabeth in If/Then, on being part of another new musical this season: "I had a baby, I was out in L.A., I was doing some concerts and stuff, and I really wanted to find something original -- it's just what's worked for me ... it's just the most beautiful process to be called into one of these amazing composers' homes, and they say they have an idea for a song."

Idina Menzel

"The consistency in such an inconsistent, erratic industry or profession -- the idea of going to the office all the time, for me, is like, that's my home base, that dressing room," says Idina Menzel of returning to the theater. "There's something about that, constantly going out there that makes me feel more at home and at peace than being in L.A. and wondering what billboard I'm not a part of as we drive by."

Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly, who Katharine in Mothers and Sons, on her earliest memory of performing: "I played the Virgin Mary in a pageant at school, and I carried a little baby doll that I loved ... I come from an acting family, so I knew nothing but actors and directors and performers. I think when I was about eight, I thought, this is for me."

Tyne Daly

"Eight [shows] a week is easy -- don't let anybody kid you,' says Tyne Daly of comparing the theater schedule to that of film and television. "The things about theater is it's alive, and it's not frozen. The other thing I really like is that i get to learn my job, to actually learn my job from beginning to end; to start from the story from the beginning and go to the end, rather than doing bits and pieces."

Kelli O'Hara

Kelli O'Hara on playing Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County, a play with music: "[She is] this strong woman who had choices, and was better for the choices that she made. That is something that taught me ... I wanted to trying something like that to show a different side of myself ... that was the most fulfilling ride I've taken in a long time.

Kelli O'Hara

"Is there a pressure, if you want to keep doing theater, to eventually get a little television so you can keep being valuable at the box office?" asks Kelli O'Hara. "I would like to TV or film more to switch it up as an actor, to try different things and stretch myself, but I don't want to always feel like it's necessary. We have a lot of our best actors in this country, doing a little television on the side to support their theater habit."

Jessie Mueller

Jessie Mueller, who portrays Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Story, on auditioning for the new musical: "That seems like the most un-Broadway Broadway thing you could ever do ... it's the story of a woman who never wanted to become a star, and she did, and I find that fascinating."

Jessie Mueller

"Talent is talent," says Jessie Mueller of not being hostile to Hollywood names entering the Broadway space. "You have to look at the person attacking the job, taking on the role."

Sutton Foster

Sutton Foster, who stars as Violet in Violet, on pursuing a stage career as a child: "I started dancing when I was four ... we were doing our Christmas show and I played an elf, and I was in charge of opening the toy box to let all out the toy soldiers, and I realized that if I did certain things, people would laugh, and I didn't know I was stealing focus, but that's when it was all over. I got in trouble, but I was like, 'People are laughing!'"

Sutton Foster

"There's nothing like live theater -- there's something very exciting that happens," says Sutton Foster of the stage. "Our theater has 750 seats, there's 750 people, there's about twenty of us onstage, and it's this shared experience for an hour and 45 minutes every night, and it's powerful. There's energy, it's alive, it's exciting, it's instant gratification."

LaTanya Richardson Jackson

LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who plays Lena "Mama" Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, on stepping into the iconic role without weeks of prep time: "147 pages? Oh god, oh god, what have I said 'Yes' to? ... it was nothing that was planned on my part to be a part of, but it has been the biggest and best given that I could have ever been given."

LaTanya Richardson Jackson

"It's interactive," says LaTanya Richardson Jackson of stage work. "For me, the theater, as opposed to a film or a movie where you're very insulated and alone, there's something that becomes our last vibrant frontier. It's still something you can plug into, remain anonymous and leave."