Yahoo Lifestyle After 20 Years NSYNC's Joey Fatone Has Returned to Broadway...To Sing Backstreet Boys Songs (Exclusive)
Joey Fatone has a bone to pick with his fellow NSYNC bandmates, and he's not afraid to call them out.
"Motherf--kers," he mouths directly into the camera. "You heard me. "Motherf--kers."
What has NSYNC's most affable member cussing out his longtime besties? Well, JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick all reunited at a recent Justin Timberlake concert while Fatone was across the country prepping for his return to Broadway the next evening.
Fatone's choice words, however, are all tongue-in-cheek. He knew about the reunion ahead of time, and had already attended Timberlake's The Forget Tomorrow World Tour. "It sucks. I had FOMO," Fatone tells Parade in an interview just two days into his Broadway run. "Then the funny part was, of course, Justin had to call me out on stage and say, 'Hey, I'm glad they didn't bring Joey.' And you know why? Because if you would have said something like that, my ass would have ran up on stage, and I would have just grabbed the microphone."
Fatone couldn't rush Timberlake on stage because he was about to storm onto Broadway instead. After more than 20 years, Fatone is returning to Broadway as Lance Du Bois in the Broadway smash & Juliet. The musical, which is an alternative version of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet in which Juliet does not kill herself, is based on the music of iconic producer Max Martin. The Swedish songwriter is behind many pop hits from artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, The Backstreet Boys and yes, NSYNC.
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Fatone is taking over the role of Lance from Tony winner Paulo Szot, playing the stern father of François, both of whom were not in Shakespeare's play. He'll be playing the role for nine weeks, wrapping up his stint on March 16.
This isn't Fatone's first trip to Broadway, however. In the immediate aftermath of NSYNC's hiatus, he starred in both RENT and Little Shop of Horrors, but he hasn't returned to the Great White Way since.
"It's been over 20 years," Fatone says, reflecting on how he's changed since 2004. "It's funny when I came out here though. I'm like, 'Everybody's young.' They're way younger than me. These are like my kids. Nathan [Levy], who plays my son, is literally a year younger than my kids' age. I am playing a dad, and now I'm fit for those roles, and I'm okay with it. Obviously with this character, it's a blast."
Fatone describes the role as a "princess track," which is a "very main character, but not in major scenes all the time." That makes it easy for celebrities to pop in for a few weeks without intense rehearsal periods. Fatone describes his prep as "got in rehearsals, 10 days later, I'm in the show and off to the races." But the smaller role doesn't mean it doesn't pack an emotional punch.
"I come in, add a little bit of fun," says Fatone about his character. "[He's] a little stern though with his son, comic relief a little bit, but he also has a lot of depth to him and a lot of sincerity towards the end of the show."
The most challenging part of the show for Fatone, however, is all the waiting backstage. "There's a bunch of waiting," he says. "What happens is your body just starts to cool down. You amp up when you're on stage, but then you sit and go back and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh. I got time.' which I've never really done before. I've always been on stage...It's a certain rhythm that I haven't found yet."
In a twist nearly as shocking as Juliet not killing herself, Fatone will not be singing any of the Martin-penned NSYNC songs in the show, but rather...drum roll please...Backstreet Boys tracks. In fact, two of Lance's biggest numbers are "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "Shape of My Heart."
While fans may be shocked by the switch-up, it doesn't faze Fatone. "I think people are more shocked than I am," Fatone confesses. "AJ [McLean of Backstreet Boys] and I were on tour this past year doing a show called A Legendary Night where we sang each other's songs...Fans were mind blown because back in the day, there were NSYNC fans, and it was Backstreet. You didn't like both. Now, we're merging both together which is great. Same thing for this show."
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McLean and Fatone have been friends for years and while the other NSYNC members were with Timberlake, McLean attended Fatone's opening night. If Fatone has his way, McLean won't be the only guest showing up to & Juliet in the coming weeks.
"We've actually been talking about it. We're gonna see if people say yes to it," Fatone teases. "Obviously & Juliet has done sing-alongs, but we would maybe do an NSYNC song at the end like a sing-along, but you never know what night it's gonna happen or who may show up. I think it'd be kind of fun where maybe once a week, we do something like that for people, but we're not gonna tell you when it's going to happen."
So perhaps more Backstreet Boys will be swinging by the Stephen Sondheim Theatre over the next few months. One person who is already there and in on the star-studded sing-along plan is TikTok sensation Charli D'Amelio, who is currently making her Broadway debut as Charmion.
When we ask Fatone if he'd be teaching D'Amelio any of the iconic NSYNC choreography, he says, "She should be teaching me things! That girl can pick that up probably in two seconds, more than I ever could. Are you kidding me?"
Fatone will be joining D'Amelio outside of the theater after performances to greet fans, take pictures and sign autographs (especially on Superman memorabilia in the case of superfan Fatone) at the stage door.
"I'll be doing a stage door pretty much every night," he says. "I know sometimes it's gonna be too darn cold to do it, or I'm gonna have friends or family coming to town. I might have dinner reservations, so I apologize if I'm not out there every night, but I will try to be out there any night I can be. I know people are like 'Oh, I don't do that.' No, I'll be out there."
And don't worry about the other NSYNC members skipping Fatone's opening night. There are already plans in the works for them to see Fatone belting out the Backstreet Boys hits.
"I know Lance said he's going to try and come next month, and I think so is Chris," said Fatone. "The other guys may come out in March."
It's possible that they might join for one of the planned sing-alongs, and Fatone thinks Lance Bass could play the character Lance once he's finished with his run.
"I think Lance would crush it," he says laughing and challenging his NSYNC bandmate. "I honestly think he can do it, but I think he's too scared crap. Do it, bro."
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