{"id":31104,"date":"2026-05-29T05:32:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T05:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/kelli-ohara-on-broadways-fallen-angels-working-with-rose-byrne\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T05:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T05:32:54","slug":"kelli-ohara-on-broadways-fallen-angels-working-with-rose-byrne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/kelli-ohara-on-broadways-fallen-angels-working-with-rose-byrne\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelli O\u2019Hara On Broadway’s \u2018Fallen Angels\u2019 & Working With Rose Byrne"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The most raucous comedy on Broadway right now isn\u2019t an edgy new musical that started downtown \u2014 but rather a 100-year-old No\u00ebl Coward deep-cut play.<\/p>\n

In Fallen Angels<\/em>, Kelli O\u2019Hara and Rose Byrne star as two friends who learn that a lover they\u2019d shared before they got married is returning to town. As the women anxiously await his arrival, the evening devolves into martini- and Champagne-fueled confessionals punctuated by moments of jealousy and competition. \u201cThe play was incredibly ahead of its time and was banned and almost not allowed to be on until it was just decided that it was so farcical and would never happen in real life \u2014 as if women would ever have such desires,\u201d says O\u2019Hara, 50, who, like Byrne, was Tony Award-nominated for her work in the show. \u201cWe tried to just have a little bit more agency in the storytelling, and also really make it about our friendship and lean a little against the rivalry by making it a shared passion \u2014 even though we, of course, get drunk and get mad at each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead, O\u2019Hara touches on working with Byrne, the roles that fulfill her now, and memorable stage-door interactions with fans.<\/p>\n

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\"Kelli<\/div>\n

Evan Zimmerman<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On the power of female friendship:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some of the most important relationships in my life are my female friendships. Right now, I\u2019m also doing a show that I\u2019ve built with Sutton Foster, and we\u2019ve walked alongside each other in this business for 25 years. We\u2019re in two completely different lanes \u2014 we\u2019ve never been competitors \u2014 but at the same time, we\u2019ve made each other better.<\/p>\n

I think Rose and I walked into this project saying, \u201cWe\u2019re going to be better together. You\u2019re going to do your thing. I\u2019m going to do mine. We\u2019re nothing alike.\u201d And yet together we\u2019re more powerful. Once you get to a certain age, you realize what it is that you bring to the table and what it is that you don\u2019t bring to the table. And when you\u2019re ready to accept that, you look around, and you say, \u201cWell, who\u2019s the yin for my yang?\u201d<\/p>\n

On the dynamic with Rose Byrne:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

She\u2019s a comedian through and through. She came in with the bold choices. And so I definitely watched those bold choices. We also have the benefit of these two characters being written really beautifully different. One is the alpha; one is the wild card. One has to be holding down the fort, one has to be going off the rails, and then they switch places. And so I think we recognize those differences and then leaned into them as opposed to trying to jump on the other one\u2019s path.<\/p>\n

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\"Kelli<\/div>\n

Joan Marcus<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On the roles that fulfill her now:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even from the beginning, I\u2019ve always said, \u201cI want to do exactly the opposite of what I\u2019ve just done,\u201d because I feel like I\u2019m trying to grow and learn. So if I did a very, very dramatic part, I wanted to then do a musical comedy and then do a Shakespeare play and then come back and do another musical comedy. The last show I did on Broadway was Days of Wine and Roses<\/em>, which was a terribly sad story. To come and now do this comedy right after is so refreshing, especially at this age. A lot of the roles, especially in television, I\u2019m playing some pretty angry or sad or heartbroken woman.<\/p>\n

And what a fun thing to get to play, at my age \u2014 this sexual, passionate, hungry, funny, alive person. I\u2019m going to be looking for the people who want to create those energetic, full-of-life characters even after 50. Let us be bold. Let us not decide that life ends.<\/p>\n

On her pre-show routine:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s something very beautiful and calming to me about an eight-shows-a-week schedule. It\u2019s hard for my family and for my life, but there\u2019s also something very secure about it. It\u2019s a rhythm and a regimen, and I like that. I eat better. I drink a lot more water. I take better care of myself because I must.<\/p>\n

When I come into my dressing room, I like to do a lot of stretching out of necessity \u2014 a lot of yoga stretching \u2014 and I like to get those endorphins going. I like to do inversions<\/a>, which is something that might sound strange, but it gets all the chemicals rushed to the right places. I like to get to the bottom of my breath and just relax. And then it\u2019s almost like you can free-fall into the show. I don\u2019t want to be ratcheted up before I start. I want to be really, really calm. And I\u2019ve grown to realize that about myself. I won\u2019t call the show a storm because I think of it more as a celebration, but it\u2019s almost like the calm before the party.<\/p>\n

On stage-door run-ins:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After This World of Tomorrow,<\/em> I had the funniest exchange where I came out. This man thought he was giving me a compliment and said, \u201cI came to see you do a play because I didn\u2019t know you were an actress. I\u2019ve seen you for years and years and years but I didn\u2019t know you were an actress.\u201d And I remember just thinking, \u201cOh, that\u2019s an interesting take.\u201d It just confirms the fact that you can really never worry too much about how you\u2019re perceived. People are going to feel how they feel. I do definitely have people say, \u201cWell, why didn\u2019t you sing? You didn\u2019t sing anything.\u201d And I\u2019ll think to myself, \u201cWell, you knew this was a play, right? You knew that I wasn\u2019t going to sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Kelli<\/div>\n

Joan Marcus<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On limiting screen time:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m acutely aware right now of <\/strong>allowing myself to be overly influenced. I\u2019m going to use the word influence because that\u2019s what I mean. In our world of social media, it\u2019s almost like we\u2019re forgetting how to make our own decisions \u2014 \u201cOh, that\u2019s what I should be doing. Oh, I didn\u2019t know I should be doing that.\u201d And then you do it, and you\u2019re like, \u201cWait, that doesn\u2019t work for me the way it worked for that<\/em> person that told me I have to be doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so I\u2019ve definitely jumped on the bandwagon \u2014 especially, again, I\u2019m going to say at this age where it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know, this is a new territory so maybe I should be adding all this creatine, and protein, and whatever.\u201d And I\u2019ve actually gotten myself into a bad place in the past of listening and then going, \u201cOh, wait, no, this isn\u2019t what\u2019s best for me \u2014 I<\/em> know what\u2019s best for me.\u201d And then, when I get back to myself and to trusting who I am, I get back on a great path.<\/p>\n

On the power of moderation:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What works for me best is having enough protein but not pounding protein. I don\u2019t eat a lot of beef because it doesn\u2019t agree with me, so my sources of protein are different. What also works is definitely lots of vegetables and fruit, and a lot of hydration, whether it\u2019s water or coconut water. I lift a little bit of weights, but not heavy weights. I never have, and light weights have always worked better for me.<\/p>\n

Make sure you\u2019re still making the final decision. Don\u2019t start to put something else in the first position, in the lead position. At the end of the day, you approve the final cut of any choice you make.<\/p>\n