Geoffrey Nauffts’s Tony-nominated Next Fall is one of the season’s most popular titles—about a dozen theatres around the country have productions in the pipeline. But audiences at L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse, which hosts the show through Dec. 4, are getting a little something extra: Nauffts himself stars in the role of Adam, a gay man caught in a whirlwind of sex, faith and family when his Christian partner suffers a terrible accident.

AMERICAN THEATRE: I read that you had to be persuaded not to play Adam in the New York City production—is it exciting finally playing this role?

GEOFFREY NAUFFTS: I wouldn’t say I had to be persuaded not to. It was Jenny Gersten, former artistic director at Naked Angels [which produced the play in New York], who advised me to be just the playwright for my first full-length play, and I’m really grateful that she did. I was really able to focus on the playwriting and the text.

How did you get involved with the Geffen production?

Sheryl Kaller, who also directed the show in New York, knew me as an actor, and I had done a reading or two of the play somewhere along the road just out of necessity—we would be throwing a reading and the actor playing Adam would drop out at the last minute. Sheryl was like, “I would love to see you do this role someday.” I was like, “Okay, maybe, we’ll see.”

What made it happen?

Our New York cast was so amazing and we had such a great experience, but we were welcoming the opportunity to reexamine the piece. We put some feelers out—there are a lot of great actors in L.A.—but at a certain point Sheryl just started looking at me with her intense blue eyes saying, “C’mon, c’mon!”

How has your collaboration changed now that you’re acting in the piece?

We have always had a collaborative relationship, so when we rehearsed in New York it was very much give-and-take. We were tag-teaming it a lot. I was afraid that we might lose some of that if I was acting, but to her and my fellow castmates’ credit, there’s been a real ease jumping back and forth and switching my caps in rehearsal.

Are you learning anything new about the play?

The discussions we had between the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions deepened the play, and with Sheryl at the helm again, my understanding continues to deepen. We changed a few things here and there. And as an actor, I see some of the more complicated scenes to navigate. I try to address that as a writer if need be.

You’re working with Elton John on the film Showstoppers. What’s that been like?

It’s been thrilling. It’s a movie about a dysfunctional theatrical family mounting a new Broadway musical, and Elton’s writing the musical within the movie. Elton came on board as a producer with David Furnish—that’s how we got them involved producing the Broadway outing of Next Fall. They’ve been very supportive of me and my writing partner on Showstoppers, Anthony Barille. Writing lyrics to Elton’s music has been thrilling—he’s this icon I grew up with and idolized, and now I’m getting to work with him. It’s been a bit surreal.

What was your first paying job?

Probably sweeping up cigarette butts at an amusement park.

What was your favorite children’s book?

Go, Dog. Go!

What language would you love to learn?

I speak German, but, practically speaking, I would love to learn Spanish. French and Italian would be nice as well.

Do you have any pop-culture guilty pleasures?

I don’t watch a lot of television but when I do, it’s very yin and yang, either “Nightline” and various news shows, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, “Dancing with the Stars” or “The Bachelorette.”

What is your dressing room must-have?

There are rituals that I develop for every show I’m in. I don’t know what they’re going to be until we move into the dressing rooms and start getting into tech, and then inevitably something will develop, like a superstition that I have to recreate night after night in order to have a good performance. It may be that I have to suck on a lozenge before this scene, or I have a glass of tea here, or I have to do such-and-such at the half hour. It always changes.

Any idea what the rituals are going to be for Next Fall?

No idea—we haven’t gotten into the dressing rooms yet. I’ll let you know!