Sweet geek Zachary Levi tackles Broadway in ‘Blind Date’

Sweet geek Zachary Levi tackles Broadway in ‘Blind Date’

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In “First Date,” Levi pairs up with Krysta Rodriguez, who’s additionally maybe not Jewish. (Joan Marcus)

In “First Date,” Levi pairs up with Krysta Rodriguez, who’s additionally perhaps maybe not Jewish. ( )

Those that adored the sweetly lead that is nerdy of “Chuck” will undoubtedly be pleased to find its celebrity, Zachary Levi, on Broadway, doing just exactly what he does well: singing, dancing . . . cringing.

In “First Date,” opening in a few days, Levi plays Aaron — as awkwardly earnest as Chuck, but as bearded and bespectacled as a yeshiva child, as well. Cue the cringing whenever Aaron discovers that their date that is hot — the comely Krysta Rodriguez (“Smash”) — is not Jewish.

Then once again, neither is Levi.

“Nope, maybe maybe perhaps not just a Jew!” he says by having a grin. “But if individuals wish to lump me personally in with God’s opted for, I’ll go on it!”

Backstage during the Longacre Theatre — backpack by their side, their 6-foot-4 frame ending in black colored Converse sneakers — the set that is 32-year-old record right, their discussion peppered with all the words “journey,” “amazing” and “blessed.”

He had been created Zachary Levi Pugh — that Welsh surname’s pronounced “pewww!” — which resulted in no final end of “brutal reviews” in boyhood and past. His representative suggested the young star might would like to alter their title.

It wasn’t a simple choice.

“I’d made a guideline that i’dn’t change or fold for Hollywood,” claims the star, whom spent my youth in Southern Ca, within the shadow of Disneyland. But about it long and hard,” he decided to simply lose the Pugh after he“prayed.

That, Levi states, resulted in another trouble: “I’ve had casting directors call my representative and state, ‘Yeah, you know — he’s a tad too Jewish.’ ”

In terms of the creators of “First Date” were concerned, Levi ended up being perfectly.

“Zachary’s like a version that is better-looking of — the me I’ve always desired to be,” says Austin Winsberg, the show’s bespectacled book journalist. While composing for “Gossip woman,” which shared workplaces regarding the Warner Brothers lot with “Chuck,” Winsberg saw in Levi just what he calls “the sweet spot — somebody who could sing, party, become funny and have fun with the intimate main character, the only ladies desire to be with therefore the dudes root for. ”

Because it occurred, Levi had been free, and Broadway had been on their bucket list. He’d been singing and dancing in local movie movie theater since he had been 6 (“I became a ham”), and then he along with his “Tangled” co-star Mandy Moore sang a duet together during the Oscars.

Their only doubt: getting typecast as a nerd, also himself that way in real life if he sees. He and a close buddy operate a small business he describes as “Nike for Nerds” — the Nerd Machine, which produces duds and gizmos for sci-fi fans and gamers like Levi himself, whom place their supply by way of a light fixture whilst hitting an overhead smash throughout a Wii game of tennis.

“ I think in making use of the working platform you’ve got for good,” says Levi, whom calls their company transactions capitalism that is“conscientious have a dollar, provide a buck.” A k a Comic-Con he’s an avid supporter of Operation Smile and other charities, and arranged for a week off at “First Date,” just after previews started, to honor his commitment to appear at Geek Central.

Along with his love life?

“That we won’t enter into,” he states, pleasantly. Despite a well-publicized breakup with singer Caitlin Crosby, he’s was able to keep their personal life regarding the down low.

“I’m maybe not a dater that is big truthfully,” he claims. “I’m a kind that is go-with-the-flow of . . .

I’d rather hang away with some body in friends to discover then we’ll get on a romantic https://datingmentor.org/escort/aurora-1/ date. when they check these different bins with me before we venture out together — get acquainted with one another really casually and coolly, of course there’s chemistry,”

Judging through the ecstatic applause Levi’s drawing in “First Date,” great deal of men and women will be extremely very happy to understand him better.