Authors Interviewing Characters: Jen Comfort

Jen Comfort’s MIDNIGHT DUET (Montlake; 1/10/23), an electric, sexy retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, should be on your reading list! And yes, Jen did create a companion Spotify playlist.

In MIDNIGHT DUET, diva Erika Greene has it all: a starring role on Broadway, legions of fans, spectacular natural talent. But when an accident drops curtains on her career, she retreats to Paris, Nevada, where she’s inherited a ramshackle opera house in need of repair.

It’s there she’ll meet German hair metal band frontman, Christof Daae. Christof and Erika strike an untenable deal, but a surprising spark between them might turn this beautiful duet into a brokenhearted ballad for one.

Author Jen Comfort Interviews the heroine of MIDNIGHT DUET, Erika Greene

For the past two years, former Broadway darling and NYC “it girl” Erika Greene has been offstage, out of the press, and radio silent on social media. After a tragic stage accident during a dress rehearsal of her long-running star vehicle Les Miserables, rumors abounded that the injuries she’d suffered had ended her career for good. Now, for the first time since that incident, Erika has agreed to let me interview her—and tell her side of the story. 

I’ve agreed to meet Erika in a quaint, French-influenced former gold mining town outside of Las Vegas, where I’ve learned she has, to my surprise, taken the reins of an old family opera house. 

Jen: I love the look of this place. It’s Old West-meets-French Burlesque. Is that chandelier an original? 

Erika: It is. My great-great-grandmother was tragically crushed to death by it, actually.

Jen: …I’m sorry to hear that.

Erika: Some say her ghost still haunts the theater. I give haunted tours Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Tickets are $20 a head. Be sure to include that in your article. 

I pretend to make a note of this, but what I note instead is the general state of disrepair in the opera house’s interior.

Jen: Maybe you can explain to readers how you ended up here. Does this mean we won’t see you back on Broadway as Fantine any time soon?

Erika: (smile tightening) Not at all. This is merely a hiatus. I’ve temporarily stepped away from performing to turn this old family business around. A little side project, really. I’ve already been approached by several directors about developing a musical to be a vehicle for my star power… I simply haven’t found the right fit. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the fresh air of the countryside.

It is May in Nevada, and at eleven a.m. the temperature is already approaching 90 degrees. The air weakly sputtering from the wall-mounted air conditioning unit is lukewarm at best.

Jen: May I bring up the accident? What we know is a stage light fell and a piece of shattered glass burned your face. But there was an outpouring of sympathy for you from fans, and then a lot of curiosity when you disappeared from the literal—and metaphorical—stage. 

Erika: I’m grateful the media respected my privacy during such a trying time. To be perfectly blunt… anc I always am… I have suffered some minor facial scarring. While the recovery process was painful and difficult, I’m simply grateful my voice was not affected. I’m ready to begin performing again.

Jen: If we’re being blunt, then let me ask you this. There was talk, like there always is in the theater world, that you were—and I’m merely quoting this article from Playbill—

Erika: I’m aware of the article. 

Jen: That you were “difficult to work with”—

Erika: No more so than any other star performer on Broadway. Any woman with talent like mine may as well have a target painted on her back; the gossip rags love a good villainness. 

Jen: Your former understudy is quoted here saying, “Erika Greene was a nightmare diva behind-the-scenes. She’s arrogant,  unreasonably demanding, an an attention hog. She makes Mariah Carey look like an angel.”

Erika: Carla is a petty, jealous child who will never be half the Fantine I was. 

Jen: I see.

Erika: Don’t include that in the article. 

Jen: Er, let’s move on. I hear you’ve been renting this opera house out as a rehearsal venue to generate extra income. Is it true that the German hair metal sensation, Nachtmusik, is staying here to record their first English-language album? 

Erika: I’m not renting out the space because the opera house is failing, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’ve been enormously successful at turning this business around. It’s been flourishing under my skilled touch. 

Behind her, a strip of wallpaper peels off the wall. The carpet is dusty, as if it’s been a long time since theater patrons graced this entryway. One wonders—how does this opera house really generate an income at all?

Erika: I’ve invited Nachtmusik here because I love 80s rock music. It’s so… enthusiastic. So… (her stage-ready smile looks vaguely pained)… passionate.

Jen: Well, I know something definitely inspires passion in audiences, and that’s frontman and lead guitarist, Christof Daae, who Rolling Stone called the Hottest Musician in Europe in their November feature. What’s it like sharing space with Christof and his band?

Erika’s face suddenly takes on a suspicious flush, and she fans herself with a stack of papers that look an awful lot like overdue bill notices. 

Erika: I’m so sorry, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have another tour group coming in any minute now. Please do reassure my legions of fans I’ll be returning to Broadway soon, and that I’d love to receive fan mail from them. And that I’m… I’m not… (she pauses, looking uncertain for the first time in our interview)… Tell them that the rumors aren’t true. I’m not a bad person. Not anymore. I’m humble and just so excited to take on a new project with an amazing cast, any day now.

Jen: No one said—

Erika: And don’t forget the part about the tours. Two for one discount on Tuesdays! Bye, now!

—

Jen Comfort is a Portland, Oregon, native who dabbled in astrophysics before spending a decade working in restaurants in New York City and Portland. Now, she writes romantic comedies about hot nerds with very cool jobs. She spends her free time growing plants destined to die before their time, playing video games, and encouraging her two cats and malamute-husky dog to become internet famous with zero success.

MIDNIGHT DUET

From The Astronaut and the Star author Jen Comfort comes a wildly electric romance about two musicians who collide on the stage of a Nevada opera house.

Self-professed diva Erika Greene has it all: a starring role on Broadway, legions of fans, spectacular natural talent. But after an accident on stage leaves her face scarred and her career in shambles, Erika retreats to Paris, Nevada, where she’s inherited a ramshackle opera house in desperate need of some TLC.

Erika pours her savings into the building, but it’s not enough to stave off casino developer Raoul Decomte’s avaricious gaze. With foreclosure imminent, she leases the space to some unexpected tenants: a German hair metal band, fronted by glam rock god Christof Daae.

Erika is tempted by Christof’s low-slung leather pants—and even more so by his ambitious drive to make Nacht Musik international superstars—but he’s off-limits. The rest of his band thinks he’s still dating their beloved keyboardist, who is conveniently not present on this jaunt to the American Southwest. When Erika finds out Christof’s been unceremoniously dumped and is trying to keep it under wraps, she makes a deal to keep his secret…for a price, of course.

Christof is desperate to hold the rest of the band together after his keyboardist’s departure, but he can’t maintain the charade forever. Nor can he resist the opera house’s mysterious proprietor, who tempts him with midnight singing lessons. It isn’t long before sensuous nighttime interludes turn into smoldering backstage encounters.

But can their newly ignited passion survive the searing light of day? Or will their beautiful duet turn into a brokenhearted power ballad for one?

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing