Hank Azaria tries to impersonate everyone. He’s shown off plenty of celebrity impressions during his tenure on The Simpsons: Chief Wiggum is based on Edward G. Robinson, Dr. Frink is a riff on Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor. Even characters like Comic Book Guy are inspired by people he grew up with or met in college.
But the Spamalot star’s most recent act is a bit more than mere mimicry. He’s out to channel one of the most beloved entertainers in the country, a saint of the East Coast working class: Bruce Springsteen.
“I grew up in New York, so everybody in the Tri-State Area, most of us loved Bruce,” Azaria tells the Scene. “You can’t avoid Bruce growing up in the era that I did, and it’s really very embedded.”
The Boss’ music “played a lot in the movie of my life,” says Azaria, pointing to Springsteen’s cinematic lyrics. “He’s also got that gift where he feels like he’s singing directly to you, about you — which, even a lot of great artists who I love don’t have that exactly. And so I think that’s why it feels so personal to me.”
It’s fitting that growing older — and intensifying nostalgia — first inspired the performance.
“I was feeling kind of down about turning 60, which was unlike me,” the Brockmire star says. The half-joking way he explains the dour mood is that when you turn 40, everyone says it’s the new 30. Then you turn 50, they say it’s the new 40.
“You turn 60,” he says, “nobody says anything.”
So he decided to throw a birthday party, and told guests a tribute band would be performing — but he didn’t tell them he’d be the lead singer. In other interviews, Azaria mentions passing on acting gigs to tour with the show, raising money for charity with each stop. (He tells the Scene that he just finished writing a one-man show, so fans can anticipate a return to theater.)
They’re still at it, one year later, and now Azaria and his EZ Street Band are stopping at the Franklin Theater on Thursday evening to perform 14 Springsteen classics.
“I’ve had to really raise my singing game in order to do this,” Azaria says. Mastering Springsteen’s signature rasp was also important — do it incorrectly, Azaria says, and you could “blow your voice out.” It might help that Springsteen’s register is somewhere between a young Al Pacino and crusty Springfield bartender Moe Szyslak, as he playfully demonstrates on our phone call.
Performing the songs also gave Azaria a new appreciation for The Boss’ catalog.
“There’s something about singing those songs — and especially that kind of rock ’n’ roll Bruce growl that he lets loose sometimes, especially live — that I found so primal and such an expression of teenage anger and sadness,” he says. “It was almost like therapy.”
Azaria also copies Springsteen’s concert banter, talking to the crowd and telling stories between songs — all while channeling the singer. Azaria doesn’t drop the act even when he talks about meeting his wife before launching into “She’s the One,” or recounting the two times he actually met Bruce Springsteen.
“In a funny way, I find it easier talking about myself in-character than as myself,” says Azaria, noting that, as a veteran actor and comedian, “it’s kind of my gig.”
While the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer has never shied from politics, Azaria says he doesn’t dive into current affairs during the show.
“I let my worship and endorsement of Bruce speak for itself,” he says, affecting the singer’s voice. Then, in his normal voice: “It’s much more of a personal homage, and I like to focus more on what connects all of us than what divides us.”
Funds for the show benefit Azaria and his wife’s Four Through Nine Foundation, a nonprofit that has donated to causes like addiction recovery, social justice and more. Azaria says it’s the most fun he’s had fundraising, and that he’s loved the challenge of the tribute performance.
“This is by far the hardest I’ve ever worked, and it’s a true joy, like it’s purely joy for me. Our goal is to be not just the best Springsteen tribute band, but the best tribute band out there.”
