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Why Jonathan Groff Runs a Barbra Streisand-Themed Bar Out of His Broadway Dressing Room
"I died a thousand gay deaths," said the Tony-nominated actor after Meryl Streep showed Streisand the Merrily We Roll Along hangout spot.
Hello, Gorgeous? More like Hello, Groff-geous.
On April 1, Jonathan Groff appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss co-starring with Daniel Radcliffe in the mega-hit Broadway musical, Merrily We Roll Along, which is currently playing at the Hudson Theatre in New York, and how he unwinds after a performance.
Taking a page from Alan Cumming's makeshift dressing room bar, which he called Club Cumming, Groff has set up his own hangout backstage. And he named it after one of his favorite people: the legendary Barbra Streisand.
"Because on April 5, 1961, 63 years ago, Barbra Streisand made her television debut on The Tonight Show," Groff explained to Host Jimmy Fallon. "Which at that time was being shot at the Hudson Theatre, where Merrily We Roll Along is!"
"She was 19 years old. She made her TV debut, she sang a song called 'A Sleepin' Bee.' If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with Barbra Streisand," Groff added.
Sutton Foster, Patti LuPone, and Glenn Close are just a few of the Broadway greats who have swung by BARbra, according to the Tony-nominated actor. Even though Streisand herself hasn't been to the backstage lounge, she has seen it — thanks to Meryl Streep.
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Meryl Streep Showed Barbra Streisand Jonathan Groff's BARbra: "I died a thousand gay deaths"
Groff told Fallon about the night Streep "blessed us with her presence" at Merrily We Roll Along.
"So Meryl came into the dressing room, came into BARbra, and she took out her phone," Groff began. "And she was like, 'Jonathan, will you go sit on the couch that you have in front of the sign?'"
"And I was like sure! So I sat, and was smiling because I thought Meryl was taking a picture of me in front of BARbra," he continued. "And then she was like, 'Alright, Barbra, this is Jonathan Groff, and he's in Merrily We Roll Along. This is the sign that he's made, and here we are in his dressing room,'" he said, mimicking Streep filming him on her phone.
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Groff then fell off of his chair onto The Tonight Show stage, recreating his reaction to Streep showing Streisand his BARbra. Can you blame him?
"Barbra Streisand knows who you are!" yelled Fallon as Groff stood up and returned to his seat.
"I died a thousand gay deaths," said the Streisand Stan. Starring in a Stephen Sondheim musical, while hanging out with Meryl Streep in his Barbra Streisand-themed bar? Groff is truly living many a theater kid's dream.
