Josh Young, currently starring on Broadway as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar, has been nominated for a 2012 Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical and in an interview with Playbill.com, Young spoke about his nomination.
He said, “Not only is [the Tony nomination] such an honor and to get it for this role and to get it for my Broadway debut, but I really am so happy that it happened with this show and this company because I love the show, and I especially love the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The Festival has been such a huge part of my life for the past two-and-a-half years…The fact that my nomination might bring a little more recognition to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, that’s kind of what means the most to me. They’ve been so supportive of my career and of me for the last couple of years.”
The nomination came as a surprise to Young because he missed several performances at the beginning of the show’s run due to a respiratory infection. He said he “100 percent counted myself out [for a nomination] because…I was sick for a good portion of the time surrounding opening. I assumed…weeks ago that this probably wouldn’t happen for me, so I was really just hoping for my show to get the recognition that it deserves. I’m just so shocked, and I also just want to say how much I appreciate the Tony committee [coming back to] see me again or rearranging their schedules because I was sick.”
Young does admit that playing Judas has its challenges. He said, “The vocals are very, very challenging, but the way we’ve done the show, it is so emotionally devastating every night, so you put those two things together, and that’s…kind of what is really difficult about it. Not only am I singing from the very bottom to the very top of my range, the very bottom and top of volume, you get to the depths of despair in this role, and it’s tough to go there every night, but it’s also the most rewarding role, I think, possibly, I’ve ever played.”
