November 2006 Archives

Sadly, the party is officially over.

The "better half" was the way the late Adolph Green described his long-time writing partner Betty Comden, who died late Thursday. She was 89.

I loved the photo taken by Suzanne DeChillo in 1998 and used in Friday's New York Times obit of Ms. Comden. It showed Mr. Green, who died in 2002, with his head on Ms. Comden's shoulder. It was an affectionate portrait of one of Broadway's most cherished, most celebrated book writer/lyrics duos and one of those photos that speak louder than a thousand words.

The depth of their friendship and loyalty was legendary. The song "Perfect Relationship" from their hit Bells Are Ringing, with music by Jule Styne and which starred Judy Holliday, aptly summed up their professional partnership, which scanned more than six decades.

Comden and Green, as book writers and lyricists, were at the forefront of Broadway's Golden Era of musicals from the early 40s into the late 70s.

They met daily, most often in Ms. Comden's living room, either to work up lyrics for a show or, as Ms. Comden revealed in 2001 when I spoke to her and Mr. Green about the release on CD of their revue Two On the Aisle, which starred Dolores Gray and Bert Lahr, "to do nothing more than sit and talk about the weather, which we've done a good bit of the time lately."

In a 1977 Times interview, Ms. Comden said, "We stare at each other...There are long periods when nothing happens, and it's just boring and disheartening. But we have a theory that nothing's wasted, even those long days of staring at one another. You sort of have to believe that, don't you? That you had to go through all that to get to the day when something did happen."

Ironically, they were seen together and their names mentioned together so often that it is no surprise that many people, even in the industry, thought they were married.

They were, quipped Ms. Comden, "but to other people."

Comden and Green, who recieved six Tony Award nominations [winning four times for best score and/or book], were together so much that they felt "lost and lonely" when apart. [Their "wins" often include Tonys for Best Musical, but now a "win" in that category officially goes to the producer(s).]

Those meetings through the years evidently produced a lot more than just stares at each other.

Comden and Green wrote such classic stage shows as On the Town, Wonderful Town, Applause, On the Twentieth Century [in which Ms. Comden briefly appeared, replacing Imogene Coca as Letitia Primrose], The Will Rogers Follies [Tony Award]. Working with Styne, in addition to BAR, they also wrote Do Re Mi, Fade Out, Fade In, Hallelujah, Baby! [Tony], additional lyrics for the 1954 Mary Martin Peter Pan and the infamous David Merrick musical Subways Are for Sleeping.

The team was Oscar-nominated twice, for their screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather.

The latter co-starred Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Gray, Cyd Charisse and Michael Kidd. Of Gray, Ms. Comden termed "wonderful, first rate." Mr. Green added, "she was statuesque, tall and quite stunning. She looked great."

"Dolores had this marvelous voice," noted Ms. Comden, "and a great body, too."

She noted that IAFW was "a lovely, underrated musical," which centered on the reunion of three G.I.s after WWII. She spoke briefly of the temperamental Gray and the "madly egotistical" Kelly's clashes on the film, "It wasn't a match made in Hollywood heaven. If Gene said it was black, Dolores absolutely insisted it was white. It went on like that for the whole picture. But, somehow, the movie got made. It's my personal favorite. It had a remarkable story and I'm proud of the score."

Strangely, Comden and Green were not nominated for their screenplay for one of the most successful movie musical comedies in cinema history, Singin' in the Rain, which in 1998 was ranked Number 10 on the list of the 100 Best American Movies of the 20th Century.

A not-too-well-known fact is that Ms. Comden wrote the lyrics for Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly's memorable number "Moses Supposes."

C&G won a Writer's Guild of America Award and were nominated for a Golden Globe. Looking back, one might be totally perplexed that the film, in spite of its box office clout [and, now, it's status as a movie classic], didn't get nominated for Best Picture.

In 1991, President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Bush honored them at the White House and that evening they were among the recipients of Kennedy Center Honors for "contributions to American musical theater."

The first book to give these two creator-artists their due was Alice Robinson's well-documented Betty Comden and Adolph Green: A Bio-Bibliography [1993, Greenwood Press].

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Comden and Mr. Green several times; and was asked to be host to Ms. Comden when she was among the Broadway composers and lyricists receiving 2003 Tony Award Honors. She was extraordinarily frail but her wit was intact. In the dark, we made our way slowly to the stage to await her introduction.

For a second, Ms. Comden seemed to panic. "I can't see a thing!" she said. I replied, "That's because all the lights are off." She responded, "Well, when they come back on, just push me out there!"

That wasn't necessary: the MC collected her. As she walked away, Ms. Comden said, "Now, don't you go anywhere. I'll be right back."

Comden and Green met as players in an improv group called the Revuers. She was still Elizabeth Cohen from Brooklyn.

Ms. Comden began her career as Claire DeLoone in the team's On the Town, with music by Leonard Bernstein. She won a 1945 Theatre World Award as one of the season's promising newcomers. As the rechristened Betty Comden, she teamed with Mr. Green to write sketches and lyrics for a series of revues.

Joining ASCAP in 1945, she collaborated not only with Bernstein and Styne, but also Morton Gould and Andre Previn.

"After Two On the Aisle," noted Ms. Comden, "revues fell out of favor. It became a time when you made your money from a sale to the movies, and Hollywood was buying book shows. They couldn't get a story out of a revue. So we went that route, because we had to make a living. "

Among the long list of Comden and Green collaborations are "Lonely Town," "New York, New York," the hilarious showstopper "I Can Cook, Too" and "Some Other Time" from OTT; "It's Love," "A Little Bit in Love," "Ohio" and "One Hundred Easy Ways (To Lose a Man)" from WT; and "I Met A Girl," "Just in Time," "Long Before I Knew You" and "The Party's Over" from BAR.

At a 2001 Drama Desk event, I visited with Mr. Green, who had not been well, and said it was nice to see him out and about with his wife. Mr. Green deadpanned, "You're speaking of Phyllis [Newman], not Betty, right?"

Yes, he was informed. "Good," he replied, as Ms. Comden who was seated with them laughed. "I only ask because through the years almost everyone, even those who'd you'd think are in the know, think that Betty and I are married. It's happened a lot since we've been a team for so long. Of course, I always clear it up in a few minutes. Since I spend literally every day with Betty, I can understand why people think we're married."

Added Ms. Comden, "In many ways, you can say we're wedded. Adolph seems to know what I'm thinking before I know what I'm thinking and I've gotten very adept at finishing his thoughts for him. That's what happens in a lot of marriages!"

Monday, November 13th is going to be one helluva one-night-only. It will give new meaning to Monday being the new Saturday.

The following line-up presents a partial list of what's going on. You're probably attending at least one or two, but Monday is one night you'll wish you could be in two, no four! no six! maybe seven or more places at the same time.

You will note the extraordinary number of actors giving of their free time on their traditional dark night to help raise funds for these valued theatrical and musical institutions and care givers. And in another event, very brave artists putting their vocal reps on the line.

Break A Leg?

The Drama Desk-winning York Theatre Company's one-night only benefit performance and New York premiere of Busker Alley at 8 P.M. at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse [East 68th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues] is headlined by two of show business' brightest and most talented stars: Jim Dale and Glenn Close.

The musical has music and lyrics by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman and book by A J Carothers.

The Sherman brothers did the score for MGM's 1968 colorful flying car spectacular, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which starred Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes and featured a brief bit of buskering, and last year arrived in a stage adaptation.

Before that, they were Disney musical staples. Among their output was 1964's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Mary Poppins, which won an Oscar for Julie Andrews and two for the Shermans: Original Song, "Chim Chim Cher-ee"; and Original Score. The stage adaptation, starring Ashley Brown, Olivier nominee Gavin Lee, Daniel Jenkins and Rebecca Luker, is currently in previews at the New Amsterdam where it opens next Thursday.

Their "little tune," as Richard S. referred to "It's A Small World" [originally written as a 60s peace anthem] is probably one of the universe's most heard tunes. More than 100 million people have sat in boats at Disney theme parks and heard it. It's played over 4,800 times across the globe during any 24-hour period.

Carothers was a frequent script collaborator on projects with Sherman scores. His career began in the Golden Age of live TV on Studio One, carried forward to the 60s with TV's Disneyland and, with Nanny and the Professor, into the 70s. He continued to write for TV and film until the late 80s.

Five-time Tony Award and six-time Drama Desk nominee Dale costarred with four-time Tony and two-time DD nominee Close in Barnum. In Busker Alley, Dale plays street entertainer Charlie Baxter and Close plays Dame Libby. Jessica GrovÈ is Charlie's love interest, who yearns for stardom on the West End.

For his portrayal of P.T. Barnum, Dale received 1980 Actor Tony and DD Awards; and Close copped a Tony nom.

Close didn't need a costume designer for Busker Alley. She'll be wearing an outfit from her huge collection of movie role couture - this one from her uncredited cameo in In & Out, which starred Kevin Kline. Some fans might have appreciated her choosing one of the costumes she wore in her Tony and DD-winning role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard or one of those way over the top creations that Cruella De Vil wore in 101 Dalmatians.

If you count her mystery guest appearance in The Play That I Wrote, this is only Close's second New York stage appearance since her Tony and DD winning performance in S.B., the film adaptation of which she starts shooting late next year.

She has an association with the York, having appeared with the company [billed with William Hurt, her co-star in the film The Bill Chill] in a thundering 1985 production of Claudel's Joan of Arc at the Stake, adapted by Arthur Honegger. York founder Janet Hayes Walker directed an ensemble that included dancers and a choral group - and an orchestra.

Dale won the 2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor, Musical, and a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actor, Musical, for his lively English music hall antics in the revival of The Threepenny Opera. He also has two additional DD wins.

Acclaimed theater/film designer and director Tony Walton is directing. He's the recipient of 16 Tony and 14 DD nominations for his scenic and costume design. He won 1992, 1986 and 1973 Tonys and DDs for, respectively, Guys and Dolls, LCT's House of Blue Leaves and Pippin; and scored another two DDs. He has directed regionally and Off Bway.

Lisa Shriver is choreographer, with Aaron Gandy as music director.

Busker Alley also reunites Close and Walton, who worked together on Tom Stoppard's 1984 The Real Thing, for which she won a Best Actress Tony.

Featured in the York's benefit production, which according to the buzz is hoping to make the move to Broadway next season, are George S. Irving, Simon Jones, Greg Mills, Noah Racey, Krista Rodriguez, Michael Lane Trautman and Jeff Williams. Making a special appearance is veteran English actress Ann Rogers.

Long in development, Busker Alley hit the road to Broadway in 1995. During a performance in Tampa, it's 16th play date, leading man Tommy Tune broke his foot. This was six weeks prior to its scheduled opening at the St. James. The production, which had received mixed reviews, was aborted by producers Barry and Fran Weissler, Kardana Productions and then Pace Theatrical Group.

"I never saw Busker Alley when Tommy toured with it," notes Dale. "When I first heard about it I said, ëThat's for me!' It's about a guy who entertains in public on the streets of London, so that was right up my alley. But Tommy decided to star in it." [He had also planned to direct and choreograph.]

Dale is a master class in everything British, and especially steeped in the lore of English music hall tradition. He also starred on Broadway in Me and My Girl, which had some buskering.

"I've heard various reasons why Busker Alley didn't work," explains Dale. "Tony feels they've all been eliminated. One thing going for it is utter sincerity. George [Irving], Simon [Jones] and myself work so well together. It's been incredible. And, flying over from England to appear as one of the leading buskers is the great Ann Rogers, who toured in the original My Fair Lady and The Boy Friend. Add to that the delicious, delovely Jessica GrovÈ."

But, adds Dale, "the topping on the desert is having Glenn, my wonderful, darling leading lady from Barnum. We are so blessed that we have a great cast in a great story with great music and a great director. Who could ask for anything more?"

Close calls Dale a brilliant physical comedian. He compliments her saying, "Madam Glen is just as gorgeous as she was in Barnum. It's been terrific renewing old memories [from 26 years ago]."

Walton has kept Dale busy. In the show, he'll play a ukulele, work a ventriloquist's dummy, dance, not to mention sing a ton of songs.

Faced with such learning such daunting tasks for one-night-only, Dale jokes, "I may break my foot!"

Of the 19 featured tunes, Dale sings the showstopper "Paddle Your own Canoe," "How Much Do I Love Libby," "Ordinary People," "Blow Us A Kiss," "Never Trust a Lady," "What To Do With 'Er" and, among others, the title tune. He has duets with GrovÈ, but is disappointed not to have one with Close.

Busker Alley is based on the 1938 British film St. Martin's Lane [a.k.a. The Sidewalks of London], which starred Charles Laughton and Vivien Leigh in her last role over there before beginning production on Gone with the Wind.

JAY Records will record the evening for release as a cast album.

York Theatre Busker Alley benefit tickets are $100-$250 and available at the Kaye Playhouse box office or by calling (212) 772-4448. For special donor seating - prime orchestra seating for donations of $500 and $1,000, which include a post-show reception with the cast and creative team, limited edition posters and a program listing. Call the York at (212) 935-5820.For more information, visit http://kayeplayhouse.hunter.cuny.edu/ or www.yorktheatre.org

Don't Pump Up the Volume

The cast of Scott Siegel's Broadway Unplugged III, Monday at 8 P.M. at Town Hall [123 West 43rd Street] is all-star and no one will be complaining about the sound.

The annual Unplugged is a step back into that memorable time on Broadway when there was no amplification to throw singers' voices to the last row [and sometimes down the street]. It recalls a period when Broadway musical stars did it the hard, pure, unadulterated way.

Among the 20 big-voiced theater and cabaret artists performing tunes from great [and some not so great] Broadway shows will be two-time DD nominee Nancy Anderson, DD nominee Sarah Uriarte Berry, Tony winner Chuck Cooper, DD Ensemble winner Lisa Howard from Ö Spelling Bee, Cheyenne Jackson, DD nominee Eddie Korbich, two-time Tony nominee and three-time DD nominee Marc Kudisch [soon to be seen in The Apple Tree], Tony and DD-winner Beth Leavel of The Drowsy Chaperone, DD nominee Norm Lewis, Liz McCartney, Tony and DD nominee Euan Morton, Tony and DD-winner John Lloyd Young from Jersey Boys.

Ross Paterson is music director and arranger, accompanied by his Little Big Band. Dan Foster is directing.

Since events of this nature are expensive to mount, Siegel is thankful to lead sponsors Thoroughbred Records, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, TheaterMania.com and the estate of Edythe Kenner.

Tickets are $25-$75 and available at the Town Hall box office and through TicketMaster, (212) 307-4100 or TicketMaster.com.

Unplugged II on CD

Broadway Unplugged II, presented in September 2005, has just been released on Bayview Records. It features 21 unamplified Broadway and cabaret performers belting to the rafters from such shows as Annie Get Your Gun, Babes in Arms, Company, Earl Carroll Vanities, Follies, Kismet, 110 in the Shade, South Pacific and The Wiz.

Ron Bohmer, Liz Callaway, Mary Bond Davis, Sutton Foster, Cheyenne Jackson, Eddie Korbich, Marc Kudisch, Norm Lewis [Les Miz], Deven May, Euan Morton, Christiane Noll and Emily Skinner are among the artists.

Music director is Ross Paterson, conducting his Little Big Band. Peter Pinne produced.

Six Songs, Nine Composers, But One Night Only

Guests will circulate throughout the five floors of Playwrights Horizons [416 West 42nd Street] on Monday to hear six new songs from upcoming shows in Songs on Five Stories. Entertainment begins at 7:30, following a gala dinner at Theatre Row's Chez Josephine. There will also be a post show reception.

There will be tunes from upcoming musicals by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, Michael Friedman and Rinne Groff, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa.

DD nominee Judy Blazer, three-time Tony nominee [and a winner in 1993] Andrea Martin [who also has four DD noms, with a win in 1993], Tony and DD nominee Kelli O'Hara and two-time Tony and three-time DD nominee Mary Testa will be among the artists singing onstage, backstage and in rehearsal spaces.

Tickets are $150 [performance and reception] and $325 [dinner with select playwrights and board members, reception]. They may be ordered by calling (212) 564-1235 or online at http://www.playwrightshorizons.org.

Soul for Arts Sake

Amas Musical Theatre's Monday night benefit, Broadway Soul, will be a concert tribute to America's great jazz composers. The event, to be followed by dinner, begins at 7 P.M. at New World Stages [340 West 50th Street], where the company presents their shows.

Founded by the late veteran stage and TV star Rosetta LeNoire in 1987, Amas [Latin for "you love"] was a pioneer in performing arts diversity and multi-ethnic casting. Donna Trinkoff is producing artistic director.

Conceived, arranged and directed by Chapman Roberts, Broadway Soul salutes the music and lyrics of Alberta Hunter, Louis Jordan, Billy Strayhorn, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and, among others, Duke Ellington. Tony nominee B.J. Crosby and Freda Payne will be among the 14 performers. Will Barrow is music director, with choreography by Leslie Dockery.

Maurice Hines will receive the Rosie, the award named in honor of Ms. LeNoire. A Rosetta LeNoire Scholarship will also be given to a college-bound student from the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Amas' arts education program.

Tickets are $75 and $125 [performance only], $200 [performance, cocktails and dinner] and $500 [premium seating, etc.]. For tickets, call (212) 744-1048 or (212) 563-2565.

A Trilling Evening

A huge array of theater stars will be on hand Monday night at 7:30 for Broadway High Note: Theater Stars Go Classical, a benefit for Greenwich House Music School, founded in 1905, at the Minetta Lane Theater [18 Minetta Lane, near Bleecker Street].

The roster of 16 performers includes Nancy Anderson, Eddie Korbich, Ray Jaramillo McLeod, Christiane Noll, Max von Essen, Jim Walton, Michael Winther and cellist Peter Sachon.

Tony Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz will debut an aria; and there'll be songs from several other composers.

Cathy Venable is music director, with Jim Caruso [Cast Party, Broadway at Birdland] producing.

Funds raised will be matched by an endowment challenge grant from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. Interest from the endowment will provide critical financial support for the Greenwich House Music School's scholarship fund and education outreach programs.

Tickets are $75-$150 [includes reception with the artists] and are available at the Minetta Lane box office or by calling (212) 242- 4770.

Gershwin Rhapsody Overlooking Central Park

Monday's Jazz at Lincoln Center's Fall gala and dinner, Manhattan Rhapsody: A Celebration of George Gershwin, at 7 P.M. in the Frederick P. Rose Hall [Broadway at 60th Street] will, undoubtedly be dedicated to veteran TV newsman Ed Bradley, who was to host the event.

Appearing will be Patti Austin, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Michael Feinstein, Angela Lansbury, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marcus Roberts, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and the American Composers Orchestra.

A limited number of concert-only tkts are available. If you're in an unlimited financial bracket, spring for the $1,500 tkt which will give you unlimited access, cocktails and as many servings as you wish.

For more information, call the JALC Special Events Office, (212) 258-9961 or contact [email protected].

The Puck Stops Here for Tom Stoppard

Among those dining, dancing and saluting Tom Stoppard, whose The Coast of Utopia trilogy at LCT is one of the most anticipated events of the season, at Monday night's Williamstown Theatre [Williamstown, MA] Festival gala at the historic Puck Building [293 Lafayette Street, at Houston] will be Marshall Brickman, Bob Crowley, Blythe Danner, Rick Elice, Paul Newman and Roger Rees [WTF A.D., who created roles in two Stoppard plays].

Joanne Woodward, a former WTF trustee, is gala chair. The honorary chairs include Marge Champion, Dana Ivey, Bebe Neuwirth, Gwenth Paltrow, Ann Reinking, Jean Kennedy Smith and Kathleen Turner.

Providing entertainment will be three-time Tony-nominee Kate Burton, Matt Cavenaugh [Grey Gardens], Nikki RenÈe Daniels [Les Miz], Malcolm Gets, five-time Tony nominee Bill Irwin [who took home the 2005 Tony for Best Actor for Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf] and three-time Tony nominee Faith Prince [a winner for Guys and Dolls].

Sir Tom was nominated for five Best Play Tony Awards, and won three times [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, The Real Thing]. His work has been nominated for four DD Awards.

Williamstown, located in rolling Berkshire hill country, has been presenting lively summer theater for over half a century. The company received the 2002 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

Gala tickets are $350 - tables for $10,000. To purchase, call (212) 395-9090 or (413) 458-3200.

Folk Legend Honored

Strata restaurant [Broadway at 21st Street] is the site for Monday's 6 P.M. Village Care of New York Legends of the Village fete, which honors Greenwich Village residents for contributions to the community and the not-for-profit organization's services to seniors and people living with HIV/AIDS. Legendary singer Judy Collins will be saluted with the org's William F. Passannante Award.

Additionally, those featured in VCNY's 2007 Legends Calendar will be honored. These include actress Kaye Ballard [whose memoir How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years is in bookstores], civil rights activist Norma Becker, actress Kathleen Chalfant [currently Off Broadway in Great Expectations], actress/playwright Lynn Redgrave [currently performing her Nightingale at L.A. Mark Taper Forum] and Playbill and The Villager contributor Jerry Talmer.

Proceeds will support VCNY's geriatric services including the Village Nursing Home, adult day health and senior centers, out-patient rehabilitation and The Village at 46th and Tenth, an assisted living residence for seniors. For tickets, call (212) 337.5750.

Tuesday Night Should be Fun, Too

Tuesday marks the 10th Anniversary of the Chicago revival, which is still going strong. Congrats, Fran and Barry! You know how to keep a good show going. With that Kander and Ebb score, this is one show that's hard to beat.
--------

The life of an aspiring actor isn't easy. Often it's filled with frustration and desperation. Sometimes, as in the case of Michael Emerson, miracles happen.

With the talent, versatility, excitement and strength that he brings to his onstage roles, Michael Emerson has gone from memorable guest starring roles on hit TV series to a leading role as the mysterious Henry Gale on ABC's Lost, which he has instilled with, as one critic put it, "a creeptastic stillness."

"I really find appealing roles that can be sparsely played," he explains, "that have an empty quality." Empty? Quite a few might say "creepy, scary."

Maybe it's something inherent in the way he approaches creating characters. "It doesn't start off saying 'creepy' or 'scary.' I play around with the character until the director says 'That's what I want.' As far as Henry goes, from reading the script, I had no idea who he was or where it was supposed to go. It wasn't discussed at story meetings. It was just show up and say the words. I was winging it, going on instinct."

Emerson first jumped from obscurity to "overnight stardom" with his extraordinary performance Off Broadway in 1997's Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. The show was an Off Off showcase hoping it might stir up enough buzz to have an Off Bway run.

Kevin McAnarney, the production press agent, daringly suggested to New York Times first string critic Ben Brantley that Emerson was giving an extraordinary performance in an extraordinary play, directed and written by emerging director/playwright Moises Kaufman [The Laramie Project].

"We were a bunch of grumbling, out-of-work actors hoping to find agents," laughs Emerson, "but, thankfully, we rehearsed as if it was Broadway. What happened was unbelievable, unprecedented."

Brantley gave the play the type of rave any Broadway show would die for.

He wrote that it was "the must-see sleeper of the Off Off Broadway season"; and "the Wilde of Mr. Emerson, making his New York debut, is stunning as he progresses from epigrammatic assurance to a public role for which he is no longer writing the script. By the production's end, he is majestically pathetic, a man who is still unable to understand completely what happened to him."

The review resulted in such a barrage of calls for tickets that the phone system blew out. The show had legs - not only going on to a long Off Bway run but also to acclaimed engagements in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Though he'd been working steadily in small roles in film and TV since 1990, suddenly he was besieged by agents. "I was offered movies and a big money role on Broadway," recalls Emerson, "but I decided to stick with the show. I was happy doing what I always wanted to do. I had a regular paycheck and was finally able to quit my day job. And where would I find another part like Oscar Wilde? It was every actor's dream come true. How often does that happen?"

He's returned to the stage, which he says is his first love, regionally, Off Bway and on Broadway as Willie, the poetic attorney fallen on hard times as a skid row alcoholic, in 1999's revival of Iceman Cometh, starring Kevin Spacey; and as the academic, ever boyish husband in the acclaimed 2001 revival of Hedda Gabler, opposite his friend/admirer Kate Burton.

But what brought him national recognition was the recurring role in 2000 of the diabolical serial killer William Hinks on the ABC's top-rated The Practice. That performance was applauded with an Emmy as Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

"William had quite an impact on TV audiences," notes Emerson. "I'm still recognized on the street, for better or worse. He was a rather chilling character and some are still uncomfortable with him. Ironically, like the character, I was never sure if William was a serial killer. It was the topic of much discussion among the actors and [series creator] David Kelley. I was never certain David had it sorted out in his mind."

At the time, Emerson was unemployed and happy to get a gig on a top-rated series. "The part was extraordinarily well-written," he states. "It was to be one episode, and then, as we began to work, David got excited and kept writing and writing. He may still be writing!"

The opportunity also gave him quality time to spend on the West Coast with his second wife, film, TV and stage actress Carrie Preston [Festen, LCT's 2004 The Rivals; TV's Emeril], whom he met performing Shakespeare in the South. They married in 1998.

[Trivia: They have appeared together on film in the 2004 indie Straight-Jacket, a comedy about a Hollywood sham marriage; and Emerson co-starred in the 2005 indie gay comedy 29th and Gay, which Preston directed. It's impossible to forget one of Emerson's most prestigious film roles: Zep Hindle in the indie horror flick, Saw.]

Last season, he was introduced on ABC's blockbuster Lost as mystery man Ben Linus [later to be found to be Henry Gale] in yet another addition to the series' convoluted but always entertaining plotline. In a not-so-unusual occurence on the show, Ben, out of nowhere, just literaly dropped in on the plane crash survivors. This season he graduated to full lead star billing and commutes regularly between home in L.A. to location sites in Hawaii.

Emerson grew up on a central Iowa farm. He got hooked on acting accidentally. In high school, he says, "I joined the speech club, not the drama club. I always gravitated toward language. I loved debate. We'd got to district and state contests, and I sort of excelled in extemporaneous speaking and humorous declamation. I was a ham!"

It was in college that those skills made him a desirable candidate for campus productions, which he did on a lark "until I was totally consumed by the acting bug."

In 1976, after four years of theater and art courses at Iowa's Drake University, "I couldn't get to New York fast enough," he laughs. "I was ready for Broadway. Unfortunately, Broadway nor Off Broadway nor Off Off Broadway was ready for me! I couldn't even get a job as a spear carrier!

"I thought I was too big for Iowa," he adds, "but found New York too big for me. New York was all I ever dreamed of and, when I finally got there, I never pursued my dream. I was too busy trying to survive."

For ten years, it was all he could do to barely eke out a living. "I worked every - and I mean every! - job imaginable, dozens of them in the theatre district, until my interest in theater evaporated." Among those were stints as a freelance illustrator for the Boston Globe and The New York Times and a salesman at a high-end Times Square crafts boutique.

Emerson relocated to Florida, where after work, he was extensively involved in every aspect of community theater: designing scenery, acting, directing. "Eventually came commercials and training films," he says. "With that, I made half a sensible person's living."

The actor traveled the South in his pickup truck, "becoming everyone's favorite non-union journeyman gypsy actor in classic repertory. When I'd ëgone about as fer as I could go,' I knew it was time to try New York again."

But Emerson says he didn't want to endure what he had in the past. "I decided I was either hitting New York cold, which wasn't a terribly appealing prospect, or I was going to find an MFA program that would allow me to mix with professionals and a higher grade of directors."

He needed to get a fresh perspective on himself, to test how good he was and to expand on what he'd experienced regionally. He was accepted for a Master of Fine Arts/Professional Actor Training program in Alabama.

For two years, he found himself immersed "body and brain" in every aspect of theater. "I was run ragged. There were no breaks, no holidays, no nothing. Just voice training, movement, technique classes on how to deliver the classical texts, fight training, theater history courses, everything. After that, there were rehearsals."

He found the idea of having a "monastic theatrical experience" appealing. "It was an opportunity to leave the world and get focused on intellectual pursuit. However, I was thirty-eight, and felt like the world's oldest graduate student."

As difficult as the study was, he returned to New York a better person and better prepared to develop his career. He met an agent who took him on a non-exclusive basis "and I stayed, ready to fight the good fight in earnest."

However, he got his big break on his own. Emerson heard that Kaufman, founder and A.D. of the Tectonic Theater Project, was auditioning actors over 35 for a reading of an Oscar Wilde play.

"I was familiar with the Wilde plays," states Emerson, "had even acted in a couple - and could do a credible British dialect."

Kaufman, was about to give up on finding the right Oscar when Emerson walked in off the street. He was cast after the first audition, "but it took two and a half years to make it to Off Broadway."

The Times' and subsequent money reviews changed his life, explains Emerson. "I knew it would never be the same. It was dazzling and pretty dizzy. When it got overwhelming, I'd just go home and hide."

He is absolutely amazed at the reach and power of TV. "More people are seeing me in Lost than will ever see me in all the stage plays I will ever do. Which is sort of humbling. Or troubling. Or both."

[Emerson's frequent co-star, friend and booster Kate Burton has enjoyed her share of the TV spotlight - most recently in the recurring role of Dr. Ellis Grey, an acclaimed Seattle surgeon now in the throes of Alzheimer's Disease, on the hit Grey's Anatomy.

See end of column for other stage names appearing on TV.]

One Night Only - And It's Tonight!

The strength and courage of Christopher and Dana Reeve will be celebrated tonight at a star-studded gala at the Marriott Marquis.

Among the numerous stars onhand will be Nathan Lane, Harvey Fierstein, Donny Osmond, Joan Collins and film/TV actress Olivia Wilde [The O.C.]. Broadway musical talent paying tribute will be Tony winner John Lloyd Young and the cast of the Tony-winning Jersey Boys, Tarzan's Josh Strickland and Jenn Gambatese and Lisa Brescia from The Times They Are A-Changin'. They will be joined by the Reeve children: Matthew, Alexandra and Will.

The Christopher Reeve Foundation will present philosophy, inc.'s Cristina Carlino with the Dana Reeve Hope Award. Bruce C. Ratner, president and CEO, Related Companies [major cityscape developers] and former New Jersey Governor, Drew University president and chair of the Terrorist Attacks [9/11] Commission Thomas H. Kean will receive Visionary Leadership Awards.

Proceeds benefit the foundation's work in funding research and finding treatments and cures for spinal cord injury. For more information, visit http://www.christopherreeve.org/.

Two Nights Only: Cirque du Soleil Goes Arena

Delirium, the first live arena event from entertainment conglomerate Cirque du Soleil, has its Manhattan premiere November 8 and 9 at Madison Square Garden. Produced in association with LiveNation [Phantom ~ The Las Vegas Spectacular], the large-scale show is said to be one of the most massive productions ever to tour.

Created and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, Delirium is Guy LalibertÈ and Gilles Ste-Croix's multifaceted concert event featuring remixed music from various CduS productions. It's touted as a show that "pushes the limit of arena performance through technical magnitude, awe-inspiring musical tableaux, human introspection and creative prowess."

Cirque gave its The Beatles LOVE at Vegas's Mirage added depth and breath with gigantic projections that encircle the auditorium. For Delirium, the projections are the equivalent of four IMAX screens. Some images are even live feeds that create interaction between the show and the audience.

The centerpiece, however, is music: "an urban tribal beat" of a state-of-the-art pumped music, dance and theater by singer/songwriter Nitza plus a large cast of multi-national musicians, singers and dancers who "will transform the arena into joyous frenzy." Get me prime seats now!
In addition to traditional Cirque du Soleil aerial, sport, hand balancing acts and some awesome helium-fueled balloon flying [as seen in the recent engagement here of CduS's Corteo], there's choreography by Emmy-nominated Mia Michaels, who choreographed Franco Dragone's Celine Dion: A New Day at Vegas' Caesars' Palace and numerous pop acts. The stunning costumes are the work of Michel Robidas.

For the first time, lyrics in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Wolof [the language of Senegal] are used instead of the surreal invented languages heard in Cirque shows. Robbie Dillon, who contributed lyrics for the hot, hilarious, adult revue Zumanity: Another Side of Cirque du Soleil at Vegas' New York, New York casino, composed the English lyrics.

Twenty of Cirque's memorable musical moments - originally composed by RenÈ DupÈrÈ, BenoÓt Jutras and Violaine Corradi - have been re-mixed by producer, composer and arranger Francis Collard "to inject hyper-energizing new life."

Among the musicians are famed percussionist brothers El Hadji Fall Diouf and Pape Abdou Karim Diouf of Senegal; GaÔa, an energetic group rooted in Brazilian and Peruvian rhythms; Italian-born percussionist Raffaele Artiglieri; and Brazilian Italo-Cuban singer Dessy Di Lauro.

The music from Delirium has just been released on the Cirque label.

Delirium corporate sponsors include Citi, American Airlines and LG. Still, you must buy tickets [$39.50-$129.50] if you wish to attend. To purchase, visit the Garden box office or Ticketmaster locations, call (212) 307-717 or go online to http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/.

Cocktails and Pasta Buffet Benefit

Nancy Anderson, Orfeh, KT Sullivan, Jana Robbins and, among others, Tony nominee and DD winner Jane Summerhays [Me and My Girl] will perform at Theatre Resources Unlimited's Sixth Annual TRULove benefit, Sunday, November 12, at 12:30 P.M. at Times Square's Tony's di Napoli.

TRU, a supportive network of producing organizations, sponsors monthy panel discussions and such programs as the TRU Voices Play Reading and Musicals Reading Series, The TRU Audition Event and scholarships to the Commercial Theater Institute. In association with Back Stage, they present popular industry panels that bring together actors, production executives and essential vendors.

Attorney and philanthropist Howard L. Blau will receive the org's TRU Spirit of Theater Award. In addition, the honoree for the first Howard L. Blau Award for Musical Theater will be announced for a promising new work of musical theater.

There will be a silent auction, which among several luxury items will include tickets to High Fidelity, Grey Gardens, Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde and SHOUT! The Mod Musical.

Benefit tickets are $75 to $125 [for Circle of Angels contributors]. To purchase, go online to www.truonline.org/store.html.

Fairy Tale At New York City Opera

There are signs that the holidays are fast approaching. Some department stores had Christmas decorations up before Halloween. Holiday store windows are either up or in the design stage. The first major theatrical holiday event is the New York City Opera's lavish production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, an opera the kids [as well as adults] will love.

Hurry. There are only five more performances at Lincoln Center's New York State Theatre: November 11 at 1:30; November 12 at 1:30 and 5:30; November 18 at 1:30; and November 19 at 1:30. For tickets, call Centercharge, (212) 721--6500 or order online at www.nycopera.com.

Early Mel Brooks

Through November 19, Musicals Tonight! is presenting a rare revival of Shinbone Alley, the shortlived [49 performances] 1957 musical based onDon Marquis' archy and mehitabel stories with book by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks and music by George Klemsinger. Performances take place at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre above the Promenade [Broadway and 76th Street].

Eartha Kitt, Eddie Bracken, Jacques d'Amboise, George S. Irving and Lillian Hayman were the original stars. Choreography was by Joe and Rod Alexander and New York City Ballet premiere dancer and Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell was their assistant.

Next up, but not until March, is a rare revival of Kander and Ebb's bittersweet family 1968 Tony-nominated musical The Happy Time.

Musicals Tonight! subscriptions are still available by calling (212) 362-5620. Single tickets are $20 and may be purchased by calling (212) 868-4444 or online at www.smarttix.com.

Nyack Has An Arts Center Again

The former Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center [123 Main Street] in Nyack has reopend. On November 12, for one performance only, they are presenting A Night with Ellen Burstyn. Tim and Scrooge by Neil Berg [100 Years of Broadway show and CD] and former Mad Magazine editor Nick Meglin, plays eight performance beginning November 14.

For tickets, call (866) 811-4111.

Stage Actors On the Move

Lately, you can't help but notice the number of New York stage actors appearing in lead or featured roles on TV.

There'sBroadway veteran, four-time Tony nominee [he won for Coco] and two-time DD nominee [he won for Big River] RenÈ Auberjonois as the ever perplexed Paul Lewiston [Boston Legal]. Auberjonois has been a frequent star of TV as well as numerous stage productions here and regionally.

Next to come to mind are Alex Baldwin [30 Rock]; Craig Bierko, formerly a Broadway Music Man [Boston Legal], Lynn Cohen, most recently walked off with raves opposite Meryl Streep in Mother CourageÖ [Sex and the City, Law & Order]; Blythe Danner [Huff]; Sally Field [Brothers & Sisters]; Victor Garber [Justice, Alias]; Anthony Heald [Boston Legal, Boston Public]; and Stephen Hill, a founding member of Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio [Mission Impossible, Law & Order].

The list is even longer when you include T.R. Knight [George on Grey's Anatomy]; DD nominee Caroline Lagerfelt; CarLuke MacFarlane [Scotty on Brothers and Sisters]; Megan Mullally [Will & Grace]; Sarah Paulson, most recently in the revival of The Glass Menagerie [Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip]; Sara Ramariez, Tony winner for Spamalot [Grey's Anatomy]; Tony winner Ron Rifkin [Brothers & Sisters, Alias]; multiple Tony nominee, multiple DD winner and Steppenwolf co-founder Gary Sinise [CSI-New York]; Stephen Spinella [24, and so many more]; Patricia Wettig [Brothers & Sisters; Prison Break; Thirtysomething]; and Tony and DD nominee Vanessa Williams [Ugly Betty].

Drama Desk-winning playwright Jon Robin Baitz is the creator and executive producer of Brothers & Sisters. Rifkin and Sarah Jessica Parker starred in his Off Broadway and film adaptation of The Substance of Fire. Baitz also did the contemporary adaptation of the Hedda Gabler that starred Kate Burton.

2005 Tony nominee for Doubt Heather Goldenhersh, two-time Drama Desk nominee Julie Halston, 1997 Tony and DD nominee Sam Harris, 2005 DD winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jason Ritter are stars or have recurring roles on the CBS comedy The Class, directed by veteran, award-winning James Burrows [Will and Grace, Friends, Fraiser, Cheers], son of famed playwright/director Abe Burrows.

For years, the Law & Order franchise has kept New York actors busy on the small screen, including stars or former stars Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson, Michael Moriarty, the late Jerry Orbach, Paul Sorvino, Sam Waterson and Dianne Wiest.

Among the numerous stage actors in L&O recurring or guest roles have been Dylan Baker, Philip Bosco, Betty Buckley, John Cariani, Chuck Cooper, Tovah Feldshuh, George Grizzard, Zeljko Ivanek, Byron Jennings, Dick Latessa, Jan Maxwell, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Fritz Weaver.

In a turnabout is fair play, Gale Harold, so devastatingly mean in Queer As Folk and who more recently vanished after several episodes this season in the starring role of Fox-TV's thriller Vanished, has materialized Off Broadway co-starring as Doctor Cukrowicz opposite Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino in Mark Brokaw's production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer at Roundabout's Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center Laura Pels Theatre.

Making Sunday's Desperate Housewives more enjoyable these past three weeks has been Laurie Metcalf, best known for her run on TV's Rosanne but who [with ex-hubby Jeff Perry] was a founding member of Steppenwolf, as housewife-with-a-mission Carolyn Bigsby. Unfortunately, that plum role may come to an end this Sunday in an episode that Metcalf literally dominates. Let's just say bad things happen; things that may signal the end of her recurring role. Metcalf has been no stranger to film or TV; sadly, she hasn't been on Broadway since 1995's short-lived My Thing of Love; however, she was quite memorable Off Bway in 1987's Educating Rita by Willy Russell and in 1984's Balm in Gilead, for which she shared a DD for Outstanding Ensemble Acting.

Making the same sort of impact on Boston Legal this season that Michael Emerson made on The Practice in his recurring role is David Dean Bottrell as "peepie" Lincoln Meyer - a role that will surely, hopefully, get him an Emmy nomination. Bottrell is also a director and writer, but best known for his work in sitcoms. However, nothing in those roles gave a hint of what he could deliver as the incredibly creepy, prissy Lincoln.

"I sort of retired from acting fifteen years ago to work as ascreenwriter," says Bottrell. "I was badgered into auditioning for Lincoln against my will. Boy, am I glad I did. It's been a truly great experience. David Kelly's scripts have been fantastic."

Lincoln Meyer returns to B.L. for two additional episodes late this month.

Bottrell acted regionally and here for 12 years in 80s and 90s. As a playwright, his Dearly Departed was presented at Second Stage.

If you're over the top on Boston Legal, as Bottrell surely is, you've got stiff competition. It's hard to top Betty White's frying pan murderess or anything William Shatner does. Did you know that Shatner trotted the boards, and not just on Broadway [where he won a Theatre World Award for his role in The World of Suzie Wong]? But long after TV beckoned, Shatner made quite an imact in Mart Crowley's second play, Remote Asylum [1970; L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre] after his blockbuster Boys in the Band. The play didn't win great critical acclaim, and Shatner went back to TV.

[Photo credits: 1) ABC Television; 2) CAROL ROSEGG; 3) JEAN-FRANCOIS LEBLANC/Cirque du Soleil; 4) RICK DIAMOND/Cirque du Soleil; 5) JOAN MARCUS]