Country artist Orville Peck is entering his Broadway era — and fans might be surprised by what they see on stage.
News broke earlier this year that Peck, 37, is joining the cast of Cabaret, replacing Adam Lambert as the Emcee. Tony nominee Eva Noblezada, known for her performances in Miss Saigon, Hadestown, and most recently, The Great Gatsby, is taking over as Sally Bowles.
In the weeks since Peck’s involvement was revealed, speculation swirled online surrounding one all-important accessory: his mask. The musician has concealed his face from the spotlight since launching his career in 2019 with his self-produced debut album, Pony, but he’s ready to show a new side of himself.
“The mask is part of my expression personally as an artist and a very big personal part of me,” Peck told The New York Times in an interview published Monday, March 17. “But I’m here to play this role and to bring respect and integrity and hopefully a good performance to it. It’s not about me. I’m not trying to make it the Orville Peck show.”
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Peck added that he’s “a little shook” about making his Broadway debut sans mask later this month, but he acknowledged that out in the real world, he’s less recognizable without it.
“The irony is that if I put my mask on, I’m suddenly not anonymous anymore,” he explained. “The weird part is for me to be anonymous. I just take my mask off and walk around like normal and then no one knows who I am.”
While Cabaret marks his first time performing on a Broadway stage, Peck is no stranger to the theater world. Both of his parents have ties to industry — his father was a sound engineer and his mother was an usher — and Peck previously dabbled in dance.
“I’m feeling the most tired I’ve ever felt in my life, truly,” he teased after a rehearsal, per the Times.
Peck felt a strong connection to Cabaret long before he was given the chance to star in the latest Broadway production, which initially featured Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee. When Peck was 14, he wrote a journal entry expressing his hopes of one day playing the role.
“It doesn’t feel like we’re doing a period piece, a throwback,” he said. “Regardless of whatever your politics lean, I don’t think anybody can come see the show and not agree that it is frighteningly similar, if not exactly what is happening at the moment.”
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Originally staged in 1966, Cabaret is set in 1930s Berlin, where Sally takes the Kit Kat Club by storm. The nightclub becomes a sanctuary for outsiders — and Peck is familiar with breaking the norm. Last fall, he spoke to Us Weekly exclusively about seeing the country genre become more inclusive of artists with diverse perspectives.
“That’s sort of the hope always with country, and with everything, but definitely with country. It’s become a big part of what I do and stand for, of course,” he told Us at the 2024 Austin City Limits music festival. “There are a million different types of country fans. There are a million different types of country artists. There always have been. It’s long overdue for those people to be telling their stories in the mainstream and getting a chance to shine. I’m so happy that that seems to be happening a lot more. I love that everyone’s embracing their inner country vibe, ’cause country music started from completely diverse roots, so it should be for everybody, you know?”
Peck and Noblezada can be seen in Cabaret at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City from March 31 to July 20.
