Get To Know L. Steven Taylor, Actor And Author

Many Broadway actors leave once a contract is up. You’ve been playing Mufasa, first as an understudy, since 2012. How do you keep it fresh?

I always go back to myself being that kid in the audience seeing theater for the first time. The first time I saw a live production was when a high school teacher took us to see Les Misérables at the Murat. I’m always aware that someone out there in the audience is experiencing a theater performance for the first time. That keeps me on my toes.

What stages did you perform on in your early days?

I was born on the west side and grew up near Bush Stadium. I went to Riverside Elementary School, then Crispus Attucks, then Arsenal Tech. At Arsenal, they put me in beginning choir. Cindy Hartshorn, the choral director, got ahold of me and just didn’t let go. I did my first show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was Zebulun and the Butler. From there, I auditioned for young adult productions and performed in summer theater programs at Theatre on the Square, which is now The District Theatre, and Footlite Musicals. For a time, I worked as a pre-K teacher’s assistant in Haughville, but I moonlighted on stage. Claude McNeal at American Cabaret Theatre offered me an office job, and before long, I was performing in shows there … Streetcorner Harmony, Swing! Swing! Swing!, and Decades.

There was a production of Decades at American Cabaret just last year.
They still do it? That’s wild.

It seems like you were working steadily here. What led you to New York?

I actually went in the other direction first. American Cabaret Theatre tried to set up a sister theater in Seattle, so I left to be a part of that. It did not go well, so I started doing general auditions in Olympia and wound up performing and choreographing in theaters out there for a while.

Were there any particular influences on your choreography style?

I was not technically trained, but bringing jazz into musical theater was definitely an interest for me. So, of course, Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins, all those heavyweights. I looked to pop choreography, too. Michael and Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul were heavy influences. I was also influenced by a lot of different people who took me under their wings along the way.

So how did you get from Olympia, Washington, to Broadway?

I first auditioned for The Lion King while I was still in Indianapolis, before I went to the West Coast. There was an open call in Bloomington, and a bunch of us from American Cabaret Theatre went and stood in line for hours. It was my first major audition outside of Indy, and it was horrible. I was one of the last people and by the time I was seen, my voice was no longer warm and nerves had hit. I couldn’t sing past what I normally sail through. I didn’t have half my range. They said, “We can see you have talent, but we need people who can sustain eight shows a week.” And I had not delivered.

Obviously, you tried again.

They held an audition in Seattle when I was there. Maybe a year had gone by, but they remembered me and said, “Oh, right, you were sick or something.” I just answered, “Yeah, you could say that.” So, they took me through scales. They gave me material for different characters, Mufasa, Simba, Banzai, then mixed everyone up into groups. They sent me off with, “We are definitely interested and will be in touch,” which actors hear as, “You’re not getting the job.” Well, a few months later, they called me to do what I call Lion King school, a boot camp where we learned different African languages, some African history, some dance, but nothing specifically from the show. It culminated in a performance for the creative team. After that, they said, “We don’t have a place for you right now, but we’re definitely going to hire you.” That was another line that every actor knows, so I just took it as, “You’re still not getting the job.”

Then finally …?

I was on my lunch break from Miss Saigon at a theater in Seattle when they called. “Are you ready to make your Broadway debut?” They needed an immediate replacement for an actor who had booked a TV job. I learned the show in two weeks when the time frame normally would have been at least a month. What was supposed to be a six-month contract has lasted 20 years.

Your resume is impressive, with roles in NCIS, The Good Fight, FBI: Most Wanted, Blue Bloods, and more. How does it work when you get a TV offer?

Fortunately, they are good about giving leave. One of the great things about being in a long-running show is that they can survive without an L. Steven for a little bit. That’s a key to longevity, being able to go and do other things.

What was your first offer for TV?

The redo of The Electric Company from 2009 to 2011. The kids all had superpowers. I was the dad who chimed in every once in a while with a life lesson.

It seems like every Broadway actor’s Playbill bio has a Law & Order credit. Is that on your to-get list?

You know you’ve made it when you’ve done Law & Order! I auditioned so many times, getting close but never booking it. One time they gave me an explanation, saying they really liked me, but that casting call was for the bad guy, and as soon as I smiled, “the bad guy goes away.” But I did book a Special Victims Unit episode. So the right thing is out there. It’s just a waiting game.

Do you have a dream show or a dream role, something you’d leap at?

This is going to sound cliche, but The Lion King is my dream show. But one dream role would be Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime. Or Javert in Les Mis. And I do have some things in the works that I can’t elaborate on now that I’m excited about. 

Your wife, Holly Ann Butler, did a one-woman show at the New York City cabaret club 54 Below. Can we expect to see you in a cabaret show?

That sort of thing never appealed to me personally … until recently when I started writing some of my own material. I’m more interested now. I would love to sing and weave a story around my own material. 

How did you and Holly Ann meet? In a show?

We were doing Broadway Bares, the fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. We were the top two fundraisers and had a friendly rivalry going on. We made a deal that whoever won would take the other to breakfast. She’s currently touring in Beauty and the Beast, which is coming to Indy in May. I’ll join her for the last performance.

They sell your book, Sammy and His Lion, in the Minskoff Theatre lobby. What led you to write a children’s book?

I wanted to do something to mark my 20th anniversary with the show. During my time as a teacher and, more recently, my time as a father, I’ve read a lot of books to kids. So that came together as a story of a 6-year-old who is anxious about the first day of school. His dad introduces him to his inner lion to help him overcome obstacles. I’m working with castmate James Brown Orleans on turning it into an animated series.

It seems like The Lion King will run forever, but do you think about moving on?

I just signed on for another year, so I’m still living the dream at least until March 2027.

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