'Niles' on Broadway in 'Curtains'

David Hyde Pierce phoned the morning after the first preview performance of "Curtains," the Kander & Ebb murder-mystery musical comedy that opened this month on Broadway.

Question: How'd it go?

Answer: Really well. They went nuts.

Question: (Director) Scott (Ellis) said he had no idea how the audience would respond to the show in L.A. until a minute into the show, when they laughed, and he knew the show was going to be fine.

Answer: That's the same way it was with "Spamalot" out of town in Chicago. You don't know until you put it in front of an audience. Because ... you have no perspective. Sometimes, it's not just the audience's reaction. It's you yourself, as a director, say, being in the context of an audience. Suddenly, you instantly see it through their eyes.

Question: Like when you have company coming and you didn't notice that your house is a mess?

Answer: (Deadpans.) I have no idea what you're talking about. (Pause.) Yes, it's exactly like that.

Question: Will there be changes already?

Answer: Absolutely. We have a luxurious problem, which is we need to cut stuff. But we don't have to cut anything because it's bad. We just have to cut it because we want the show to come in at a good, short, brisk time.

Question: You're just about to open. And ("Frasier" co-star) John Mahoney is coming in, in "Prelude to a Kiss."

Answer: Yes, I've heard this.

Question: And Kelsey Grammer plays Henry Higgins at the New York Philharmonic.

Answer: How about that?

Question: When does Peri Gilpin start in "Mary Poppins?"

Answer: I think she's going to go straight to the Met. And Jane Leeves is going to take over "The View." We're just sort of gradually moving into Manhattan.

Question: How does it feel to be back on Broadway?

Answer: It's great to be back. Monday night, a bunch of people from the ensemble of "Spamalot" and some of the crew people saw an invited (unofficial) preview. I got great, insane phone messages from them afterwards. It's such a close-knit bunch, this whole Broadway theater thing.