November 2003 Archives

Smoke he must. Big, awful smelling cigars! But even multi-Tony and Drama Desk winning director Jerry Zaks abides by New York's strict smoking regs. He can't smoke his favored stogies in his Jujamcyn Theatre office high atop the St. James Theatre, so for this interview, we crawl out a former window onto a unique Theatre District patio. Even during the long hours of rehearsals, he only smokes during breaks. So it's not unusual to find the director on Theatrical District sidewalks sending smoke rings into the strata.

[On December 8, Zaks and Drama Desk Award-winning Tovah Feldshuh [Golda's Balcony] will be honored with Tree of Life Awards by the Jewish National Fund in a star-studded event. For details, see below.]

Though he has nothing to do with the revival of Wonderful Town, Zaks, who's represented on Broadway by the revival of Little Shop of Horrors, says that the musical holds a special place in his heart.

"Seeing a production my Sophomore year [1964] at Dartmouth was what drew me into theater," explains the German-born son of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the States from Stuggart. Ironically, he was pre-med -- even working in a Hanover, NH hospital drawing blood! -- with absolutely no interest in theater.

"I was on my way, then Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Leonard Bernstein changed my life." So much so that he auditioned when Dartmouth revived it the following Spring. "And I got a part."

Returning his junior year, he auditioned for as many shows as he could. So Jerry Zaks could sing? "Oh, yes!" he laughs, "and dance! I was in the Wonderful Town chorus, playing eight parts: Irish cop, Brazilian Navy admiral, beatniks. I'm still amazed at what a terrificl score it has."

At the recent Encores! "Bash" concert, celebrating City Center's 60th anniversary, audiences got a sample of Zaks' hoofer past. The program presented songs from musicals revived at City Center between 1943 and 1968. As a tribute to New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was responsible for creating the City Center entity, Zaks began the show with "The Name's LaGuardia" from Bock & Harnick's Fiorello!, which Zaks performed in concert in 1994. The director got off to a bumpy start, doing what every actor dreads: missing his entrance cue. But Encores! [and Wonderful Town's] musical director Rob Fisher got him back on track. He acquitted himself nicely.

Zaks was reluctant to follow his theatrical dream because it wasn't something his family encouraged "especially when they had their hopes set on me becoming a doctor!" To them, he says, "the idea of going into theater was the waste of a good education."

He was torn only momentarily between law school and theater. In 1967, he entered an MFA program at Smith. He participated in a Dartmouth summer theater program and got his Equity card. Arriving in New York in the Fall of 1968, he began going to open calls. He got the part of young Thomas Edison in a production by the Park Foundation [forerunner to Theaterworks, USA], where he worked for three years while studying with Curt Dempster [founder of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, of which Zaks is a founding member].

Zaks made a living acting for ten years: On TV, in the early 70s, he had a bit on M*A*S*H; in the early 80s, a featured role on The Edge of Night, appeared in the made-for-TV Attica; in movies, such as Outrageous Fortune, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives; on Broadway and Off in Grease, the 1978 revival of Once in a Lifetime, Tintypes, Talley's Folly and Isn't It Romantic?.

His most memorable performance? "One of my greatest thrills," he states, "was participating in the Kennedy Center tribute to James Cagney, doing 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' I was a good faker as a dancer. I moved well."

There was a change, well, in direction when a friend came to him with a play he was to do the lead in and wondered if he'd direct it. "I read it and laughed out loud," he recalls Zaks of Soft Touch by Neil Cuthbert. "We staged it at Ensemble. Two SRO audiences roared with laughter. I was smitten with this new discipline, but went into directing reluctantly, continuing to think of myself as an actor."

But not for long. He worked with Christopher Durang in 1981 on Beyond Therapy so, a few months later, when at the Ensemble Studios he came across Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, he was anxious to read it. Then to direct it.

"I was fortunate to cast Elizabeth Franz, who was brilliant, as was the entire cast. It was such a success, we did it for Andre Bishop at Playwrights Horizons and then made the move to Off Broadway [on a double-bill with The Actor's Nightmare]. It was provocative, smart, fun and different. The characters were extraordinarily far out. I insisted on believable behavior between the actors: Make it real, make it real! It ran for several years and is still running some place."

With Bishop at Lincoln Center, Zaks helmed to great acclaim John Guare's House of Blue Leaves [Tony and Drama Desk, Best Director], the revival of Cole Porter' Anything Goes [Tony and Drama Desk nominee, Best Director] and Six Degrees of Separation[Tony and Drama Desk, Best Director].

He was firmly on the map as a sought-after director. The modest success of his Front Page revival was overshadowed by the runaway success of Ken Ludwig's Lend Me A Tenor [Tony and Drama Desk, Best Director].

When Zaks directed [Tony and Drama Desk Awards] the 1992 revival Guys and Dolls, critics were so ecstatic that some said he had reinvented that classic musical. "They didn't know what they were talking about. I doubt if any had seen the original. Maybe the movie, which was a different ballgame, or some revival."

Actually, Zaks attempted to reinvent it. "I wanted to present it scenically in a way that was different from the alternating 'in one' full stage sequences of the original," he explains. "But it wouldn't let me. It's written that way. The reason then was stage craft limitations. We brought modern technology to it. The look may have been colorful and different, but not a word or a piece of music was changed. It was everyone meaning what they were saying, as if it was happening for the first time and as if their lives depended on it!"

Keeping it real, in other words -- a philosophy Zaks remains true to. In a recent interview for this column, Hunter Foster of Little Shopsaid, "It helps that the show is inherently funny and that Jerry knows how to mine humor [but] he was careful to get us to base our performances on truth as opposed to just doing shtick. With a show as loved as Little Shop, there are high audience expectations so you don't want to disappoint. There were temptations, but Jerry saw to it that we kept things reigned in. It was a constant reality check."

There were great successes: Smokey Joe's Cafe, the Funny Thing... revival [both Tony and Drama Desk nominated, Best Director]; modest successes: Swing!, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, the 2000 Roundabout revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner; and failures: Face Value, The Civil War, Epic Proportions, the premiere of Sondheim's Assassins and 45 Seconds from Broadway.

Who remembers the failures? It's the successes that count. And because of his, Zaks became bi-coastal, as much in demand to direct theater here as to direct TV on the West Coast. In addition to directing the highly acclaimed film Marvin's Room, he's also directed such long-running, highly-rated sitcoms as Everybody Loves Raymond and Frasier. There were failures here, too: Kristin, starring Kristin Chenoweth, and Bram and Alice, starring Alfred Molina.

Later, in his expansive memorbilia-filled office, Zaks discussed the fundamental difference between directing theater and directing TV: "Power. That's what it comes down to. In my limited experience, the nature of the job in theater is general. Even though you are the 'general,' you actually have thousands of little jobs to do. The nature of the job in episodic TV is quite specific. You're hired on a weekly basis for a show on which the cast has been together for years. You are brought in to get the shots. If you have a suggestion the writers or actors find helpful, you can make it. I've been fortunate that they've been inclined to listen to suggestions I make, but I would never claim to be the boss. That's the show runner [who usually carries the title of executive producer]. He or she has the writers'; and actors' ears the way a director would in theater and is responsible for maintaining the thread of the storyline.

There are exceptions. "When James Burrows [son of director/writer Abe Burrows] directs a series pilot," says Zaks, "and goes on to direct every episode, he clearly has authority and influence. Philip Rosenthal [executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond] is a theater person and he looks at every taping as an opening night. He wants it to be as perfect as possible, so he can get that first-time, genuine audience response. As a result, they rarely, if ever, have to sweeten their shows with canned laughter."

On the sound stage, Zaks doesn't work from a control booth, but from a podium. He views what the cameras are getting through TV monitors. He doesn't call shots but does call "Action!"; and "Cut!" He explains,"The real work's done in the editing room, where they get a show down to a running time of 22 or 44 minutes. The Raymond scripts are so meticulously crafted that they change only ten percent in the course of the production week."

What about the myth that if you're Broadway, you're not respected in Hollywood? "I found people receptive. It helped that I had a bit of a positive reputation from my Broadway work." He adds that a little humility helped. "I made it clear to my crews that I knew very little about the camera choreography and that I'd need their help. I didn't come in and pretend to know something I didn't know."

According to insider theater sources, Zaks is also that type of director. He appreciates feedback. "It's the best way of working," he insists. "I don't know how else to do it. I encourage my actors and team to express ideas. You never know what the source of a good idea is going to be, so it's good to protect the possibility of having as many as possible. You can be the general of the enterprise but entertain suggestions. Then you have to decide whether to use them or not."

Zaks also has a reputation of maintaining respect among his actors. It's known that, during rehearsals, he discourages actors from commenting on the performances of peers and, as he puts it, "using another actor's performance as a reason for not being able to do what's expected of them."

What he does, he notes, "What any director does is bring to life what's on the page. If an actor's attention is on the way to say a line, or trying to get a laugh, the audience will not get what's being said. You don't want an actor to be so busy playing a character that he forgets the situation the character's in. If the script is funny, all we have to do is breath life into it.

"I insist that the actors mean what they say," he adds,"that they get the attention off themselves and onto the other actor. If an actor can make another actor look more important, he or she becomes more interesting to the audience. It works.You can take it to the bank."

[On December 8, as a co-honoree with Broadway/TV/concert star Tovah Feldshuh, director Jerry Zaks will receive the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award at a gala at New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel. Lewis J. Stadlen will host. Nathan Lane, Richard Dreyfuss, Douglas Sills, composer Andrew Lippa and Kristin Chenoweth will be among those entertaining and paying tribute. For information, contact Norma Balass, 212-879-9305
X. 502.]

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"New York, New York, it's a wonderful town!" are not exactly the words wide-eyed sisters Ruth and Eileen were thinking after misadventures, fresh off the bus, from Ohio in the classic New York musical, Wonderful Town. They arrived with dreams of making it, respectively, as a writer and actress and living happily ever after. Donna Murphy, who lights up the stage as Ruth in the high-energy revival, has fulfilled her dreams of being in musical theater. She had her journey. Though it's been filled with wonderful luck, there were frustrations and self-doubt.

"Ruth and Eileen's story is timeless," says Murphy. "You still have people getting off buses, trains and planes coming here to pursue their dreams. Especially those of us who want to be in show business. Like Ruth and Eileen, they have times that are wacky and scary."

She calls Wonderful Town "the perfect New York musical. It's exciting, smart, clever and truly a celebration of and a valentine to the city. It's a great show at the right time." Though set in the 30s, Murphy says, "This isn't your Mother's Wonderful Town. The period may be the 30s, but there's nothing old-fashioned about it. It's high energy all the way." And she is living proof. The already svelte Murphy lost eight pounds during rehearsals.

Her recent bout with the flu, which caused her to miss ten preview performances over two weeks and led to rumors the Wonderful Town producers were considering, recasting her role, certainly can't have helped. But Murphy's still the star and the show opens Sunday.

It's another dream fulfilled for the two-time Tony-winning actress says there was never a time when she didn't want to be "somehow connected to theater." She got the theatrical bug at a very early age: five. "I wrote shows and put them on for my neighbors [and, eventually, her six younger brothers and sisters]," she reveals. Through grammar school on Long Island and from junior high up in Massachusetts, "I was involved in music and theater, then community theater." At 18, she entered NYU to major in theater at NYU and studied with Stella Adler.

She made ends meet as a singing waitress, an elf in Macy's Toyland one Christmas. It didn't impress Murphy's instructors that she was more interested in open calls than attending classes. However, it was an assignment for a course on survival in theater that led her to audition for They're Playing Our Song. Not only did she write a paper, she got hired as a understudy for the swings.

"I managed to balance being in the show with going to school," says Murphy. "But it didn't take long before I became too distracted. At the end of my sophomore year, I took a leave of absence. I needed to audition without cutting classes. You know what I thought - that I got my Broadway break and the rest would be smooth sailing. I had a rude awakening. I was just starting to learn a little of what my teachers had been warning me about. I was working, but developing performance tricks as opposed to a craft."

Murphy decided to challenge herself. "I needed to really learn the ropes, so my goal was to get a job in a new show, even if it was in the chorus. I was able to join Zapata at Goodspeed. I went thinking I, at least, had a small part. Unfortunately, it got cut." There was an up side. On that job she met actor Shawn Elliott, who became her husband [they've been together over 20 years].

Back in New York, she did a juggling act: trying to fine parts and finding work to pay the rent. Elliott, who was working steadily, was supportive. "He told me, ëDon't take the Fourth National of Annie. Stay in town, take classes and audition.' That began five years of understudy roles on Broadway and jobs in the regionals. I did everything from singing jingles to fronting a rock band - whatever it took for casting directors to get to know me."

In 1984, she was featured in the short-lived revival of The Human Comedy. Her big break came in 1985's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. "I was offered chorus/understudy," notes Murphy, "I said ëNo, I can't do that anymore.' It turned out that dear Rupert Holmes liked me and was planning to write a specialty number for me and Judy Kuhn. I agreed to do it in Central Park [also understudying Cleo Laine]. It was a job and I wanted to work for [director] Wilford Leach, who I had auditioned for several times. I loved the show. I loved the company. But, it was too frustrating not getting to play a part. I decided not to go with it to Broadway."

ButÖ It turned out that Cleo Laine had committed to 20 concert dates and that Murphy would be guaranteed going on. "That changed everything!"

What was fabulous about Drood, she says, is that "I got to witness the creation of a show from the beginning. That was invaluable. And it turned out to be a Tony-winning show!"

Murphy left to join Rags, only to find out Betty Buckley was leaving Drood. "Though he'd never seen me play the lead," she says, "Wilford thought I could do it. I ran to audition, and I got the part, my first principle role on Broadway."

Then came a TV soap, some Off Broadway work and, in 1991, Song of Singapore. At the end of the run, Murphy was overcome with self-doubt. "I began to wonder if I'd ever get that great dream role. I was on the brink of leaving the business. The ups and downs, the physical demands made me question if that was what I was meant to do the rest of my life."

She was also wracked with guilt, "because, from an early age, I'd been blessed with wonderful opportunities. It was like a double-edged sword. I knew how fortunate I'd been, but I wasn't enjoying the work. I realized that I'd lost sight of what I had to give to the work. It was time to step back and discover what else there might be out there."

Nothing, it seems, but wanting to be an actress. She came back with a renewed sense of purpose. Following satisfying work in the regionals, she landed in the workshop of Hello, Again at Lincoln Center Theater and, at the same time, was offered the challenging role of Fosca in not exactly your typical Broadway musical, Passion. Murphy was faced one of the most difficult decisions in her life, if not the most difficult. In one of those all-too-rare show biz moments, LCT allowed her to open in Hello, Again and leave a week later after the opening to begin rehearsals for the Sondheim musical.

Murphy says Passion and working "for the theatrical gods at whose shrine she had worshipped" - Sondheim and director James Lapine - was a life changing experience.

"It gave me the opportunity to utilize what I could bring to the table as an actress and a human being. Once in a blue moon, things really do happen in their time." The show brought Murphy her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, but, more than that, she says, "It was a sublime education."

Fast forward to Wonderful Town, based on the best-selling memoir by Ruth McKenney and the 1940 play and film adapted by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov, My Sister Eileen. The musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in 1953 [starring Rosalind Russell and Edie Adams] and swept the Tony Awards.

Theater lovers and theatrical insiders knowing Murphy for her work in Passion and, later, The King and I [another Tony] and not having seen her previous work, could be excused "for being a little shocked" when she was cast to do something comic in Wonderful Town. She explains, "It's a side of me most people haven't seen."

She's proving as deft with pratfalls and comedy as she is with heavier musical theater [and the off-beat dramatic turns she's done on TV's Murder One, Ally McBeal, The Practice and, most recently, as David Morse's estranged wife on Hack].

"I'm having a blast with the show and cast. We quickly bonded into a tight knit family." She's especially high on the production's music director, Rob Fisher. "Rob's arrangements are incredible. We have a big, swinging orchestra with a hot brass section that blows you away!"

Murphy isn't kidding when, earlier, she called Wonderful Town the perfect New York musical. "Look at it's pedigree," she says. "You've got the wit of lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, who wrote Singin' in the Rain and countless Broadway and Hollywood musicals, and the dynamic musical genius of no less than Leonard Bernstein."

[Trivia: five weeks before the start of rehearsals on the original production, legendary director George Abbott replaced the composer with Bernstein, who had worked with Green and Comden on their other New York musical, On the Town. Also, it was a best kept secret at the time that Jerome Robbins was called in to spiff up the Donald Saddler choreography.]

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EVERY WEEK A NEW STAR! brags Singular Sensations, composer/music director Glen Roven's series of intimate conversations and songs from "legendary" Broadway stars at the Village Theatre [158 Bleecker between Sullivan and Thompson]. Dancer extraordinaire Donna McKechnie, Tony-winner for A Chorus Line, will be in the catbird seat this week [November 10-16]. She will follow the unstoppable Carol Channing, appearing through Sunday.

[Miss Channing is preparing to hit the road again -- No! Not in that show! but a one-woman revue she'll unveil soon in Las Vegas before taking to the road.]

Roven said he wanted to provide "the kind of warm setting which would allow the performers to explore in front of a live audience their journeys on the road to stardom. I want them to be themselves." But they are stars! Can they ever just be themselves?

The format is scripted to a degree, but informal and anything can happen. The idea is for the stars to reveal candid moments and recollections of their past, vast experiences - and, as McKechnie explains, "do a few songs and dances associated with our careers. There'll be reflections and stories about how things were put together on shows in the days of out-of-town tryouts. Not everything that was a success started out that way. Believe me!"

Her plan is to perform, among others, "A Secretary Is Not A Toy," from her Broadway debut, How To SucceedÖ, choreographed by Bob Fosse and directed by Abe Burrows; "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from Company; "Turkey Lurkey Time" from Promises, Promises; "Buddy's Eyes" from Follies; "Inside the Music," the first number that Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban wrote for ACL and which was cut; and a tribute to Gwen Verdon, one of her mentors.

But even in such relaxing circumstances, there's pressure. "How do you follow Carol Channing?" asks McKechnie. "That's going to be tough."

Well, somebody's got to do it and McKechnie is no rookie who just fell off the turnip truck.

"Curtain up, light the lights," wrote Stephen Sondheim in Gypsy's showstopping "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "You got nothing to hit but the heights..." In fact, in theater, the journey to the heights can be fraught with trials, tribulations and reversals of fortune.

Because of the vagaries of the business, even multiple Tony nominees and winners wonder what their next job will be. But show people, even in worst-case scenarios, have such resilience, no doubt or difficulty is so great that it cannot be overcome.

A shining example is McKechnie, who left ACLin 1977 a singular sensation but "fearing that I stayed too long as Cassie and would be forever identified with it." And new roles didn't materialize. Over the next two years, she says, "I had a litany of losses." Her father passed away and her marriage to director/choreographer Michael Bennett not so surprisingly ended.

"I once said something to the effect that show business is second only to boxing and prostitution. It's a struggle all the time, even after you achieve some recognition. It can leave you beaten and broken." Somehow managing a laugh, she adds, "It got to the point where I didn't have a place to hang my hat." McKechnie, who'd worked steadily since the 60s, invested her earnings in advancing her career. "Instead of a condo or a country house, I was living in sublets, hotels and through the kindness of friends."

At first, there was denial, she says. "Because of stubborn willfulness, I wasn't paying attention. That led to immense doubt and stress, which manifested itself into a huge problem for a dancer: severe rheumatoid arthritis. Three doctors said she'd never walk again, much less dance. "Gwen Verdon," she recalls, "said a dancer dies twice - when they can no longer dance and when they die. This was death!

"Finally, I woke to reality and told myself ëYou're not taking one more step until you deal with this.' I was determined not to accept what the doctors said."

A one-hour, midnight visit, which cost $18, with a New Jersey doctor changed her life. "It was scary," laughs McKechnie. "He was 95, lived in this house of the seven gables and only saw patients 10 and 5. A.M.! Everyone said he was a quack, but I was desperate. He promised if I followed his regimen, I'd be dancing in a year."

Therapy consisted of a cleansing and dairy diet, eliminating tap water, mega vitamin doses and rebuilding her self-esteem. "I had to develop a new attitude," explains McKechnie, "start over taking baby steps. The emotional part was more difficult than the physical."

In 1986, she was able to repeat her role of Cassie in Japan and Paris, When she got back home, Joe Papp invited her to return to the Broadway cast of ACL. "It felt like a miracle," she gushes. "To think, I almost lost the most important gift I had."

In addition to her one-woman show, which she performs around the country, McKechnie will open in the Spring in London in a new musical, Gypsy In My Soul.

The roster of confirmed stars in the series is: Florence Henderson, November 17 - 23; Kitty Carlisle Hart, November 24 - 30; Lainie Kazan, December 1 - 7; Elaine Paige, December 8 - 14; James Naughton, December 15 - 21; Shirley Jones, December 29 - January 4; Betty Buckley, January 5 - 11, Mickey Rooney, January 12 - 18; Jane Powell,
January 19 - 25; Cy Coleman, January 26 - February1; and Sally Ann Howes, February 2 - 8. Additional artists are being finalized.

Roven, still in high school, began his Broadway career 20 years ago as a rehearsal pianist for Pippin. At 19, he was the youngest conductor in Broadway history as musical director of Sugar Babies. While attending college, he worked on such shows as JosephÖ and A Party with Comden and Green. He's written, produced and conducted for such artists as Julie Andrews, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Placido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Bob Hope, Patti LuPone, Shirley MacLaine, Bernadette Peters, Diana Ross, Nancy Wilson and our beloved Liza with a Z. In the process, he's taken home four Emmys.

Singular Sensations plays Mondays-Fridays at 8 P.M.; Saturdays at 2 and 8; Sundays at 3 and 7. Ticket are $50 and can be purchased at the Village Theatre box office, through Ticketmaster.com or by calling (212) 307-7171.
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He was in a rehearsal studio overlooking Times Square, but didn't stand out. Cucc, as some fondly refer to him, was missing something. Robert Cuccioli of Jekyll & Hyde fame - all six + strapping feet - once whipped an incredible maim of hair onstage like an acid rock guitarist in the throes of hot licks. That look wouldn't work for his current metropolitan area gig, playing Captain Von Trapp in Rodgers & Hammerstein's endearing tale The Sound of Music at Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ [through December 14].

Cucc says he had his Samson trim two years ago. It would have been a great marketing ploy to sell those locks on a website [all proceeds going to charity, of course] to the young women who stood outside the Plymouth Theatre stage doors screaming at the top of their lungs for their matinee idol of the moment.

As far as playing the Captain in SOM, Cucc says he realizes audience are used to seeing older actors play the role, "but let me point out I'm a lot older than I look!" Maybe some of his post J&H experiences account for that.

After J&H and a brief stint Off Broadway in Enter the Guardsman, Cucc became bi-coastal, attempting to take advantage of that blazing hot matinee idol fame. "I did some TV episodic work in L.A.," Cuccioli reported, "and, for the last three years, I've appeared in the regionals. I was trying to stretch myself, break the stereotypes - of what people thought of me and what I thought of myself."

He explained those two years on the road and two years on Broadway in J&H gave him the type of cachet where regional theatres risked hiring him for things they normally wouldn't consider him for.

"I did Shakespeare in New Jersey, straight plays in San Jose," he notes, "and musicals for Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera [where for the last four summers he's worked in such shows as Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing and Guys and Dolls.] There were more but I can't recall everything. I also directed -- Jekyll & Hyde twice and, just recently, The Glass Menagerie."

Even though a lot of people may not have known it, he laughs, "I've been in the area." Last year, he did an Off Broadway play last year and he's no stranger at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey [Madison] or the McCarter, where he starred in the premiere of Fiction. Paper Mill is like a second home. Captain von Trapp is Cucc's ninth starring role there. Before he hit Broadway, he had leading roles in their 1776, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Oklahoma! and Funny Girl.

J&H gave him many learning experiences. "One thing it taught me," says Cuccioli, "was how to be a pop singer, which is something I'm more attracted to than Broadway legit. Some singers can naturally go to it because pop's what they've listened to all their lives; but, for me, it was another muscle I had to learn, another ear I had to go to. I listened to rock, but ended up doing Broadway-sound type shows."

Another lesson was the responsibility "of carrying such an enormous show on my shoulders. I hope I did it well."

Though derided by a majority of critics, J&H was popular with audiences. In fact, Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's score, which was also derided, was hugely popular even before the show hit Broadway.

"The critics didn't jump to their feet," notes Cuccioli, "but we did get some good reviews. Of that [1997] season, we were the longest running show of anything that got Tony-nominated or even won. [Cuccioli was nominated for Best Actor, and the show was nominated for Best Book, Costumes and Lighting but didn't receive nods in the Score or Musical categories.] Jekyll & Hyde was a crowd-pleaser. Audiences came back again and again. Frank was very smart. He had the music out there before the show came to town, so several of the songs were popular."

Cucc says he doesn't read reviews until after the fact. "In the past, I found, that even with good reviews, you always find something that's not so good. And the bad ones really affect you. So, since I didn't read them, I never thought about them. I knew what we had, and certainly the audiences were responsive."

He claims not only to have grown as an actor in J&H, "but it was the widest range of anything I've been asked to play - dramatically, emotionally, physically, vocally. Because of it, things are no longer as difficult. I still find challenges, but if I got through that I feel I can get through anything."

Ironically, getting into theater was an accident. "I loved music and singing," says Cuccioli. " I was in the school glee club and had a rock band and played the Long Island clubs. But, in college, he majored in finance. I did theater and people would tell me I was good and if I ever considered doing it as a career. It never occurred to me."

Instead, he took the train to Wall Street, where he became a successful trader. When the bug did bite, he started going to auditions, "where it was all trial and error." He came to J&H in 1994, late in the game, after there had been two major regional productions and a New York workshop, which starred Terrence Mann.

After the run, Cucc had a difficult time finding things to inspire him. "That led me to the challenge of directing, which I love. After the run, I was exhausted and, frankly, I didn't want to sing anymore. For a long time, every note in my body had been expended. I began learning about myself - what I wanted, what I didn't want."

He says, the L.A. move wasn't a good move. "No matter how successful you are here, for the most part, the TV folks don't know about it. There are some casting directors who come to town a couple of times a year and check out what's going on onstage. A couple knew who I was and what I'd done; but, the majority, no."

Cucc was always of a New York state of mind. "It's fine out there unto itself, but there's a different mentality at work. I found it a little destructive. The energy of New York is what I love. It's part of me and I didn't want to give up on me. There was one big negative. When I came back, it meant starting over again. That was hard for someone who's been in the business twenty years!"

Now that he is back, Cuccioli is been auditioning and he's being mentioned for the Sweet Charity revival -- whenever the producers decide to revive it.

SOM tickets ($30-$67) are available by calling 973-376-4343 or from www.papermill.org.

[Trivia: James Brennan, who is the director/choreographer of Paper Mill's SOM is one of Broadway's premiere hoofers. He eventually took over such roles as Bobby Child in Crazy for You, Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street and Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl, a role he recreated at Paper Mill. Brennan, a resident of Midland Park, NJ, starred as King Arthur in Paper Mill's Camelot and also directed their Crazy For You.]
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