How This Broadway Star Reignited Her Creative Spirit

At her 16th birthday party one of Stephanie J. Block’s most favorite gifts was the original cast album of Into The Woods. “It was an actual album that was double-folded and opened up with the entire company’s production shot in the center seam,” says the Tony-winning Broadway star who skillfully inhabits all the roles she plays and is also known for her vocal prowess. Her eclectic credits include The Cher Show, Brigadoon, Falsettos, Little Miss Sunshine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark and Wicked.

She had already gotten to know the songs because her best friend, Patrick Adent, shared a live bootleg recording with her when she was 15. “It took me a couple of listens to really grasp the beauty and the complexity of the score—the humanity, the musicality, the themes that were throughout the show,” says Block of the musical that mixes up several fairytales while adding richly layered pieces of real life. “I guess that is to be expected of a 15-year-old.” She also vividly recalls watching that same cast perform the production broadcast on PBS. “I wanted to play The Baker’s Wife because of Joanna Gleason’s genius.”

Fast forward to July 2022. Block, her husband actor Sebastian Arcelus and their young daughter, Vivienne, were in Norway. They were actually in the middle of the Norwegian woods on the Trail of the Trolls when she was presented with the opportunity to play the Baker’s Wife in a riveting new revival of Into The Woods on Broadway directed by Lear deBessonet, choreographed by Lorin Latarro. “The phone call from my agent kept dropping. Not kidding. Was it kismet? Or just bad WiFi?” says Block. “After I hung up the phone for a third time, I looked at my husband and said, ‘We may need to have a discussion. It appears there is a dream opportunity coming up.’”

For Block the dream to play the Baker’s wife was 30 years in the making. Plus, she would get to perform opposite Arcelus, her real-life husband, who was offered the role of her husband, the Baker. The duo was asked to join the revival of the James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim musical which originally played at New York City Center Encores! in May. The show, which has been called “sensational” and “enchanted” then moved to Broadway this past summer. Into the Woods has been extended several times and consistently drawn packed audiences into the St. James Theatre.

Part of the joy for Block is that she and Arcelus get to share the stage and tell the story of Into The Woods together. “We have been in awe of it for decades,” she offers. And there’s the ease of their connection. “We have an unspoken understanding—chemistry, rhythm, timing—all that comes from 15 years of marriage. That shared relationship and bond is what makes it a seamless transition of being husband and wife on stage.”

As Block points out their onstage roles truly differ from their personal relationship. “We’ve been given the note multiple times to not be so touchy, so sentimental, on stage. Our affectionate relationship at home is not the relationship of The Baker and The Baker’s Wife,” says Block. “So, it’s been about simplifying and trying to remove some of the sentimentality.” Plus, having their daughter be able to sit in the audience and experience her parents perform adds another layer of specialness. “To know that we are singing the score for her—and because of her—doesn’t get better than that,” she adds.

Before returning to perform on Broadway the first time since the pandemic, Block had made some major life changes. In 2020, the family moved to California. “Sebastian and I were wearing the ‘mom and dad hat’ when we made that decision. It was all about what was going to be healthiest for Vivienne during this very complicated and unhealthy time. And when I use the term “unhealthy”, I’m not just referring to physically, but spiritually, mentally, and emotionally,” she explains.

The couple felt that being in an environment that would allow for year-round outdoor activities would help them navigate such a complex and scary time. The move also allowed her to be closer to her family living on the West Coast. “It’s something I had been missing while living and working on the East Coast the past 20 years,” shares Block.

Other than caring for and nurturing her child, Block, like many, was struggling to find her creative footing. “That first year, I could not find it. I was just surviving and doing the very best I could to be grateful for the day — in the moment,” she explains. “Then Sebastian and I started to talk about ideas—children’s books, television pilots, plenty of writing treatments,” explains Block. “So, we started an LLC, Chosen Family Productions, with our dear friend, Alyson Ahrns, who we now consider family.”

Then in 2021 Block and Marylee Fairbanks created the Stages podcast. The show delves into how creativity leads artists through the different stages of life as they talk about roadblocks, mistakes and triumphs. “The idea was to have really fleshed out, creative conversations with artistic, healing, special individuals in our life,” says Block. “We are 50-some interviews in, growing and expanding.” And they have well beyond 50,000 listeners. “These conversations are a salve to me, and I hope to every listener and guest who joins us on Stages podcast,” she adds. “It’s been a huge surprise and I’m very, very grateful for it.”

This February Block gets to continue to stretch her creative chops as she plays silent screen star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the Kennedy Center. It’s another feast of a part. “We just recently finalized putting together the creative team with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s approval,” says Block. In studying the libretto she finds it particularly interesting that the story is told from the point of view of Joe Gillis, the young male lead.

Block hopes to see Norma Desmond in a different way outside the “over-the-top” and “self-indulgent” labels that are usually pinned on the screen star. “Yes, she’s dramatic. She’s theatrical. She is holding on to the silent movie aesthetic,” says Block. But as she observes these descriptors come from the point of view of a male. “I would like to change that a bit and bring a little more groundedness and humanity to this woman,” observes Block. “I am going to embrace her flaws, express the dramatic in her and hopefully bring some relatability too.”