Ellis Nassour

The Tony Awards will mark 64 years of excellence on Broadway on Sunday, when the ceremony emanates live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS in a three-hour telecast beginning at 8 P.M.

Prior to that, a number of special awards will be presented: The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center [Waterford, CT] will receive the Regional Theatre Tony. David Hyde Pierce will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Award [named in memory of the late American Theatre Wing president]. Tony Honors for Excellence will go to the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, B.H. Barry, and Tom Viola.

And there will be two Tony Awards given for Lifetime Achievement: to playwright/director Sir Alan Ayckbourn and Tony and Drama Desk Award- winning actress Marian Seldes.

Ms. Seldes, who will be 82 in August, has long mesmerized audiences with unique, multi-layered performances that have ranged from farce to extreme drama. She's celebrating over 65 years in New York theater.

What has kept her working all these years? "I like to think that I don't play anything as usual, as expected, in a stereotyped way. Sometimes, say if you're in a recurring TV role, you constantly replay the part, but if you do plays you don't play the same part over and over. That's the magic of my life in the theater, certainly with the living playwrights I've worked with. They don't repeat themselves."

She considers her good fortune to have played in the works of Tennessee Williams, Peter Shaffer, Edward Albee, Neil Simon and Terrence McNally. "And that's only five," she quips. "I could go on."

Of that list, there were many she never dreamed she'd get to work with. "With some playwrights," she says, "you sense that you might fit into their work but that magic element of opportunity never comes. It's the fate of the theater that if you work hard enough and live long enough, you do get to work with a great many."

She states that with age her roles have become more and more interesting. "That's why I'm able to matter to audiences - because of what I've been able to act in and the characters I've played. In film, the older you get the more difficult it is to get work. In theater, the longer you last, the better for you. It's wonderful to see a beautiful or handsome actor, but that isn't the standard in the theater. It's the talent that's our standard.

"The days of handsome leading men and gorgeous leading ladies are gone," continues Ms. Seldes. "One of our greatest actors was Jason Robards Jr. And one of our greatest actresses was Kim Stanley. It was their talent that was so great.

"Both were unbelievably wonderful in that when they played someone handsome or beautiful they became handsome and beautiful," she continues. "As was the case with Kim Stanley in Bus Stop [she originated the role of Cherie] - beautiful; and Picnic [in the role of the plain sister Millie to Janice Rule's Madge] - plain. They could be anything, anything!"

For Marian Seldes, the rehearsal process is thrilling. "Finding your way and trying different things is wonderful." She has and will work with veteran directors, and those making their debuts."

Her loyalty is always to the playwright. "Most actors talk about the terror of opening night and the critics, but if I feel I've come near what the author wants, I'm very satisfied. I welcome the critics. Let them come! I'm doing what I know the playwright wants and what I love to do, and I won't be destroyed if it's not highly praised."

She wonders if the public realizes that the director is never chosen without the 100% approval of the author. "Therefore, although according to theater protocol, you follow what the director asks of you because you know he or she's in tune with the author. And in the case of Edward and the two of the plays of his I've done, he'd already directed them. So I absolutely knew what he wanted."

Ms. Seldes spoke of Tennessee Williams. "If he was a shy man - and, indeed, he was, he was so convivial. He was famous for his laugh and not taking himself seriously. Tennessee was easy to be around, lovely to be around. You never felt his ego. What I found surprising for so brilliant a writer was how depreciating he was of his gifts."

No one should be surprised with the number of accolades heaped on this actress, for Ms. Seldes has worked with giants, "the gold standard," and admits a lot rubbed off on her.

She's performed with John Gielgud in Albee's Tiny Alice, where she stood by for Irene Worth; also Crime and Punishment; and, at a mere 18 years of age, Medea. Then with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, in Albee's A Delicate Balance; a young Audrey Hepburn in Ondine; Gladys Cooper, Siobhán McKenna, and Fritz Weaver in The Chalk Garden; Tallulah Bankhead and Ruth Ford, the short-lived revival of Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore [which co-starred Tab Hunter]; and John Wood [and later John Cullum] and Frances Sternhagen, Deathtrap.

She followed opposite Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Perkins and Richard Burton in Equus; Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland, The Gift of Time [featured but also Ms. de Havilland's standby]; George C. Scott, The Wall; Gladys Cooper and Siobhan McKenna, The Chalk Garden; Katharine Cornell and Henry Daniell, That Lady; and Lillian Gish, Crime and Punishment.

Among contemporary "giants," she's played opposite are Judith Anderson, Medea, which was her Broadway debut; Kevin Kline in Ivanov;a very young Victor Garber, Deathtrap; and Nathan Lane in Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams; and Angela Lansbury, Deuce. Ms. Seldes reunited with Fritz Weaver in Ring Around the Moon, anchored 45 Seconds from Broadway; and the revival of Dinner at Eight, which featured Christine Ebersole.

"John [Gielgud] was my theater god," she effuses, her face radiating. "I credit him with molding me as an actress. I also loved the Lunts, but I never had the pleasure of working with them onstage. However, Alfred directed Ondine [1954], where I was featured opposite Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn."

In spite of the many difficulties with the ever-changing script during previews, she says "It was one of the most incredible joys of my career to work with Angela Lansbury in Duece." As much respect as she had for Ms. Lansbury, it grew as they faced daily challenges. "We were troupers. We didn't throw in the towel."

She called working with Lane in Dedication "such a happy experience. Nathan is so delicious. We know and love him and he's a genuine star, but that's not who comes into rehearsals. An actor comes. He's a member of the company and when we have our break, he's usually studying the script or doing something quiet by himself. We might have coffee, but we don't jog around the block.

"Because Nathan's funny, successful, and all that," she continues, "you have a sort of vision of him. But he's a marvelous actor with an incredible range. I've benefited from his bountiful generosity. You can share with him, take from him, give to him. It makes rehearsing a joy!"

Then there is her devoted friend and frequent companion Brian Murray, whom she co-starred with in The Butterfly Collection and The Play About the Baby. "He's a miracle to work with," she states with sincerity. "He's just marvelous in every way, and a wonderful director. You would think that being so good, he wouldn't be receptive to the suggestions of other directors, but he is. He's one of the truest actors I know."

In the playwright department, of course, there's Albee. She spends moments trying to evoke words to explain what it's like being in his company. Finally, and in her famous whisper, she states, "He's a mixture of sensible and sensitive. He's quiet, fair and honest. When you're with Edward, you feel safe. You choose your words carefully. He brings that out in whomever he's with. When you truly admire someone, you don't want to waste their time. You want your time with that person to be meaningful. Just meeting someone you admire, even if there's only a brief connection, it's so thrilling."

Albee's writing, she goes on to say, "is so brilliant. It's like music. As a singer would sing the notes, if it were music; the actress plays the words. And they're perfect. Edward is so concise and funny. His most serious plays are screamingly funny. You see Virginia Wolf, which could be a tragedy, and there are moments where you're falling about laughing. And so are the characters! The experiences with Edward are so important in my life."

At a theater panel, a guest pointed out to Albee that sometimes Ms. Seldes isn't always faithful to every word in the script. He replied, "That's okay. She gets enough of the words right."

Among the list of first-rate actresses who've inhibited his leading ladies, she appears to be his favorite. "None has the extraordinary variety that Marian can bring," he states emphatically. "She always astonishes me."

While doing the playwright's Three Tall Women and The Play About the Baby, people often asked her "What does the play mean?" Ms. Seldes replied, "It means whatever you took from it when you watched it. No, Edward doesn't spell everything out. Yes, his plays have mysterious qualities. But that's the way it's supposed to be. It isn't all cut and dry. It isn't something you've seen before. And, best of all, it's not something you're going to see again.

"When we were young, the stories we were told made sense," she continues. "They ended happily. As Oscar Wilde says, 'The good end happily and the bad end unhappily. That is the meaning of fiction.' But, growing older, you get to a twilight zone where the good doesn't always end happily and the wicked maybe do. It's all in the writer's creative slant, and that can be unsettling. Edward's plays can unsettle people."

Because the theater costs a certain amount and the majority of theatergoers don't casually go anymore, explains Ms. Seldes, "it has become an adventure and it's planned out weeks ahead - hiring the babysitter, what to wear, where to park, where to eat, and so on. So it surprises me when people take tirades out against what they come to see. I wonder to myself, 'You must have researched it a little. You've made all these plans. What were you expecting?'"

Actors do become intimately involved with their work. "When most actors read a play the first time, it unfolds for them," she points out. "They see the character instantly. You can't not. And they hear the voice. And they feel in their body what their character is."

She notes that, unlike in England, actors in America rarely have the commodity of time to prepare before going onstage. "It's so vital," says Ms. Seldes, "and yet we never have enough time to go as deeply as we wish. There's always more, especially if it's a wonderfully-written character. That's the blessing of being in a long run - and I've been lucky to be in some. You can keep discovering and improving."

Now that many consider her the First Lady of the American Theater - - - She quickly interrupts, "Easy, now. Easy! Down, boy!" She cracks up laughing. "Let's not even go there."

Ms. Seldes reluctantly admits that theater, acting, hasn't always been fun. She spoke of how long it took her to establish a career as leading lady. She described 1974, which was a turning point year for her, "the most terrible time in my whole career.
She was in her 40s when cast in Shaeffer's Equus. "I wasn't prepared for the public humiliation [British director] John Dexter subjected me to," when during a rehearsal, he yelled "Watch those Jewish hands, Seldes!"

Over the following days, she "went onstage with my eyes stinging...I felt I must have been wrong all these years about the theater. I had thought it was a place of joy."

Ms. Seldes, the daughter of Alice Hall and Gilbert Seldes, a respected critic, editor, best-selling author and novelist, playwright, screenwriter, director of television news and educator [founding dean, Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania], says her parents couldn't be more different. Her mother was from a long line of "Episcopalian blue-bloods" and her father was Jewish.

She feels her childhood on East 57th Street was particularly blessed not only because her father knew a virtual Who's Who of that era including Irving Berlin, Charlie Chaplin, e. e. cummings, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Sinclair Lewis, Picasso, and Gertrude Stein; but also because she got to tag along a great deal of the time with her father to the theater.

Ms. Seldes vividly recalls that her first show was Billy Rose's Jumbo, which as it turned out was the first show Edward Albee's adoptive parents took him to. They were born the same year.

At age 14, she was "totally bitten by the bug" on seeing Chekhov's The Three Sisters, starring and produced by Katharine Cornell and directed by husband, Guthrie McClintic. It featured Ruth Gordon, then in her 40s.

"I'd never experienced anything like that," recalls Ms. Seldes, "and after graduation from the Dalton School I decided against college in favor of going into theater. That didn't go over well with my parents, but I was going to be an actress!"

Her first marriage in 1953 was to successful writer/TV producer Julian Claman, the father of her only child, Katharine [who's a writers and named after Ms. Cornell]. Claman, who was 10 years older, has been described by Ms. Seldes' brother Timothy as charming but also "complex, neurotic and sometimes abusive." Her daughter has said that her father was "difficult and violent." He died at age 50. They were divorced at the time.

It was 29 years before she remarried [1990], to Garson Kanin, the screenwriter of numerous classics of Hollywood's Golden Age, playwright, director and widower of her by then good friend Ruth Gordon, who was over 15 years older than her husband.

She pointed out that she'd known Kanin for years and even worked with him. They began as friends, and soon were inseparable. Many times he asked her to marry him, "but I felt shy about saying yes. Garson's [42-year] marriage to Ruth was so important, as was their collaboration. They were so close and he was absolutely devastated when Ruth died [1985]. But I finally said, 'Okay, let's do it' and Garson was the most wonderful companion you could ever dream of. And, of course, witty and stunningly brilliant. We had great fun. But he was also complicated and serious. Getting to know that part of him was wonderful, too."

Is she complicated? Instead of answering, Ms. Seldes turns the question back: "What do you see?" The writer's reply was: "someone very intelligent, educated and urbane; someone very sure of herself; and someone who has a devilish sense of humor." She remains silent.

It's often said that Ms. Seldes is "always on" and she doesn't totally disagree. "I don't just come into a room. I want to bring something, to give pleasure. You don't go through life merely walking in and out of doors. You have an objective."

Even Loretta Young would envy Marian Seldes' regal way of sweeping into a room. It's
as if she'd been a veteran ballet or ballroom dancer. Her posture, those courtly curtsies, those "Darling!"s, "Sweetheart!"s, and "My pet!"s, and that kiss on the warmly embraced hand, lead some to believe she's not sincere. However, you might also notice that she pays rapt attention when being spoken to. She's not looking in four directions to size up the room or to find her next conversation.

Brian Murray comments, "Marian always makes you feel like you are the most important person in the room, yet, when you get to know her, there's absolutely nothing grand about her."

Though legions of fans may have only a momentary "sweep by" with Ms. Seldes, she makes such a warm and gracious impression that they speak of it as if they've had an intimate candlelit evening with her.

"People love Marian, and for good reason," notes Terrence McNally. "There are no bad stories about her." As far as her craft is concerned, he says, "She's more than a survivor - she's a leader of the movement to make sure theater never goes away."

When Ms. Seldes is informed that some people are intimidated by her, she seems stunned. "Intimidated? By me? I hope not. I have noticed how very polite people are with me. They approach hesitantly and say, 'Miss Seldes, I don't mean to bother you.' It isn't a bother. Oh, no. Not at all.

"One's weaknesses are not so fascinating," she adds, "so I try to give an impression of confidence and well-being. To my way of thinking, that puts the other person at ease. But I'm just as nervous and anxious as the next person. When someone meets me, I'm thrilled. It means they're interested in my work. It means I've communicated something to them. Live. Alive! Not on a piece of film. You've been with that person. I always say, 'Darling, it's the part.' They don't want to hear that. They want to think it's me. It's not."

Timeline:
Studied acting under renowned acting instructor Sanford Meisner, New York's Neighborhood Playhouse;
1949, Featured in TV production, Macbeth;
1954, Film debut, The Lonely Night, a TV docudrama produced by the U. S. Public Health Service on mental health;
1963, Obie Award, The Ginger Man;
1967 to 1991, faculty member, Juilliard School of Drama, where her students included Christine Baranski, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Kline, Laura Linney, Patti LuPone, Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams;
1967 Tony Award, Best Featured Actress, Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance;
1970s, Recurring guest on CBS Radio's Mystery Theater;
1971, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations, Actress (Play), Father's Day;
1977, Obie Award, Isadora Duncan Sleeps with the Russian Navy;
1978, Co-starred in Deathtrap, never missing a performance over five years - an achievement that won her entry into the Guinness Book of World Records;
1978, Tony Award nomination, Best Featured Actress, Play, Deathtrap;
1978, Published autobiography, The Bright Lights;
1983, Outer Critics Circle Award, Painting Churches;
1994, Co-starred in Albee's Three Tall Women, Outer Critics Circle Award;
1996, Inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame - "One of the very proudest moments of my life."
1998, Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Featured Actress, Ivanov;
1999, Tony Award nomination, Best Actress, Play, for the revival of Ring Round the Moon;
2001, Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Actress (Play), Albee's The Play about the Baby;
2000, The Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Award for Excellence in Theater;
2001, Obie Award for Sustained Achievement.
2001 and 2005, Fordham University faculty;
2003, Nominated for her fifth Tony Award, Best Featured Actress, Play, for LCT's Dinner at Eight [a last-minute replacement for ailing Dorothy Loudon in the role of Carlotta Vance];
2003, Edwin Booth Award;
2004, The first annual Seldes-Kanin Fellowship Awards;
2007, She co-stars opposite Angela Lansbury in Duece,
her last Broadway role to date.

TV role highlights:
Club House, Cosby, General Electric Theater, Gertrude Stein and a Companion, Gunsmoke, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Law & Order, Murphy Brown, Murder She Wrote, Othello [Emilia to Walter Matthau's Iago], Perry Mason Remember WENN, Truman, and Wings

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 12:00 AM | Permalink

The multi-award-winning Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park summer series at the Delacorte in Central Park begins tomorrow with performances of the Bard's The Winter's Tale, directed by Tony and DD-winner Michael Greif, and on Saturday with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Tony and DD-winner Daniel Sullivan. The plays are in repertory through August 1. Showtimes, which are weather-dependent, are at 8 P.M.

The rep cast of 30 + for the plays includes Tony and DD nom Linda Emond, DD winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson, DD nom Bill Heck [direct from his acclaimed performance in Orphans], DD winner Byron Jennings, DD nom Hamish Linklater, Jesse L. Martin, Tony, DD, and Oscar winner [and eight-time nom] Al Pacino [as Merchant's Shylock], DD nom Lily Rabe [Merchant's Portia], and Tony winner and DD nom Ruben Santiago-Hudson [Winter's Leontes]

Public Theater A.D.is Oskar Eustis. Andrew Hamingson is exec director.

Print this information - it can be very helpful:

Tickets are free and distributed, two per person, at the Delacorte box office at 1 P.M. day of show. Free tickets will also be offered through Virtual Ticketing, available at www.shakespeareinthepark.org. Users log on between midnight and 1 P.M. to register for that evening's performance. After 1, users can will know if they receive tickets. Recipients, computer chosen at random, are sent confirmation e-mail by 5 P.M. Tickets are claimed at the Delacorte between 5 and 7 - photo ID required. Tickets not picked up release to the standby line. Senior Virtual Ticketing [65 or older] functions the same way.

Summer Supporter tickets for the plays are available in packages of two tickets/reserved seats for a tax-deductible contribution of $350. Donations can be made at the Public box office [425 Lafayette Street], by phone [(212) 967-7555], or at www.publictheater.org.

Bank of America is Delacorte season sponsor. Additional support is provided by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Time Warner. Bloomberg News, The New York Times, WNYC/WQXR Radio, Penguin Group, and the George T. Delacorte Fund at the New York Community Trust, Continental Airlines, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NY State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For additional information, visit www.shakespeareinthepark.org and www.publictheater.org;or call (212) 539-8750.

A Smashing 10th Anniversary Bash

Who knew?

Ten years ago, Town Hall was left with a programming vaccum when an annual series jumped ship. How to fill that gap? Scott Siegel, author and film historian, held film classes at the Hall and did some brainstorming with the powers that be.

And that's how his and the Hall's acclaimed Broadway by the Year was begat, and begat, and begat. And went on to spawn Broadway Unplugged and the annual three-day Summer Broadway Festival and the annual October Broadway Cabaret Festival.

The 10th Anniversary Broadway By the Year Season will end with a bang on June 14, the night after the Tonys, when the program, created, written and hosted by Siegel will showcase a star-studded roster of theater and cabaret artists to sing highlights from all 10 seasons. The line-up includes Gregg Edelman, Norm Lewis, Julia Murney, and Bobby Steggert. Sure, you can expect some "unplugged" moments.

The songs will come from such musicals as Aspects of Love, Falsettos, Jersey Boys, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ragtime,, and Wicked.

"It was our intention to make this 10th Anniversary season as special and memorable as possible," said Siegel. "To that end, for our final show of the season, we've got something spectacular - something we've never done before. Cast members will perform one song from each show we've celebrated from 1990 to 2010. That's going to be 21 great showstopping tunes."

Scott Coulter is director. Music director/arranger Ross Patterson will be joined by his Little Big Band.

Single tickets are $45-$55 and available at the Town Hall box office, at www.the-townhall-nyc.org, through Ticketmaster, (800) 982-2787, and their web site, www.ticketmaster.com.

Town Hall/Siegel's Broadway Festival is July 12, 19, and 26 with, respectively, Broadway Winners: The Award-Winning Music of Broadway, Broadway's Rising Stars [featuring students selected from regional university theater programs], and All Singin' All Dancin'. Showtimes are 8 P.M. Tickets are available at the Town Hall box office and through Ticketmaster, (800) 982-2787, and their web site, www.ticketmaster.com.

Together Again

Long Island native Robert Cuccioli [or Cucc, as many love to call him] had a life changing experience in only his second Bway outing. He made his Bway debut as Javert long into the run of the original Les Miz but in 1997, when Frank Wilhorn/Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde finally trucked into NY after being a huge hit for months on the road, Cucc became Bway's reigning matinee [and evening] idol. He played the dual role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde,

Following performances, there was pandemonium on West 45th Street between Bway and Eighth as fans awaited the tall [6' 1 ½"], handsome actor's exit. If you stand in front of what's now the Scoenfeld in the wee hours when the Times Square area is relatively quiet, you can still hear the shreiks of devoted fandom.

Cucc's performance, which won him a DD Award and a Tony nom, was derided by many, but, lost in the darkness and whipping his shoulder-length hair back and forth to make a point, Cucc became Bway's reigning hunk.

And every gal's dreamboat.

But his eyes were on a certain stunning young brunette, Jodi Stevens, who possessed a powerful voice. She appeared in several featured roles and was understudy to the two female leads [Linda Eder, Christiane Noll]. Soon they were dating and one of Bway's hottest couples. Everyone thought they were headed to the altar.

Segue 13 years later. Cucc, shorn long ago of his mane, is still a swinging bachelor, but one with an Outer Critics Circle Award for And the World Goes 'Round. He's won great acclaim in numerous regional performances. He was most recently seen in the Off Bway revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive ....

Stevens went on to the short-lived Urban Cowboy, work in major regionals, and become a popular cabaret artist. She took time out to marry and have a child.

Lovers once. Déjà vu, lovers again. But only onstage.

Cucc and Stevens star in Dietrich & Chevalier [St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues], the musical by Jerry Mayer, teleplay writer on such classic TV fare as All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and six of Mitzi Gaynor's legendary NBC-TV specials [he can also lay claim to being an exec producer of TV's The Facts of Life].

"This truly is a joyous reunion," says Stevens, "because Robert and I have remained supportive friends through the years. I still fervently believe he's one of theater's great talents."

Co-starring is Donald Corren [Torch Song Trilogy and, most recently, opposite Judy Kaye in Souvenir]. Directing is veteran actress Pamela Hall [Dear World, 1776, Funny Thing Happened...], with musical direction by Ken Lundie and additional musical staging by Gene Castle. Producing is Edmund Gaines, who happens to be romantically involved with Ms. Hall [they're husband and wife].

For those of a certain age, Oscar nom Marlene Dietrich [Witness for the Prosecution, Destry Rides Again, Blue Angel, so many more], one of screedom's long reigning sex symbols, and suave Oscar nom'd Frenchman Maurice Chevalier* [Gigi] were the top film stars at Paramount in the 30s.

[*Chevalier was nominated for two leading roles in 1930 and presented a special 1959 Oscar for his "contributions to the world of entertainment for more than half a century."]

Cast opposite Jeanette MacDonald, he was immediately "drawn" to her but she spurned him. Both were infamous romantics, but though much is recorded of their love trysts, very little if anything exists about their affair. However, it's claimed that, though married to others**, they fell into torrid love; and even after their flame burned low, they remained friends for life.

[** La Dietrich married In 1924, but only lived occasionally with her husband. She often strayed, but they remained married until his death.]

The musical tells of their supposed longtime affair set to songs Dietrich and Chevalier made famous, such as [hers] "Falling in Love Again;" "Lili Marleen" and "The Boys in the Backroom"; and [his] "Louise;" "Mimi," and "Valentine."

Robert Cuccioli may have been an overnight sensation, "but," he smiles, "there were a lot of overnights. There were 15 years of auditioning and working all manner of odd jobs to survive before Jekyll & Hyde."

Ironically, getting into theater was an accident. "I loved music and singing," he states. " I was in the school glee club, had a rock band and played clubs. But, in college, I majored in finance. I did theater and people would tell me I was good. It never occurred to me to try to make it a career."

Instead, he became a Wall Street trader. When the bug bit, 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 NY workshop, which starred Terrence Mann.

After J&H, Cucc spent a lot of time shaking off his dualing twins image. Other than a brief run in an Off Broadway play, he disappeared. "I had a difficult time finding things to inspire me," he explains. "That led me to the challenge of directing, which I love. I was exhausted and I didn't want to sing anymore. Every note in my body had been expended. I began learning about myself - what I wanted, what I didn't want."

Though the musical eagerly anticipated, he notes, "The critics didn't jump to their feet. We did get some good reviews. We were the longest running show of anything that season that got Tony-nominated or even won. Whatever else, Jekyll & Hyde was a crowd-pleaser. Frank was smart. He had the music out there before the show came to town, so we had a well-known score when we opened. I knew what we had, and certainly the audiences were responsive. In fact, many came back again and again."

The show was a learning experience. "One thing it taught me," he says, "was how to be a pop singer, which is something I'm more attracted to than Broadway legit. Some singers can naturally do it because pop's what they've listened to. However; for me, it was another muscle I had to learn, another ear I had to sharpen."

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

Summer Concerts, Times Square

The American Theatre Network in association with author Herbert Goldman,.will be bringing out the stars this summer with Great Entertainers on Broadway from late July through early August at the Times Square Arts Center [669 Eighth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets] in the complex's 300 seat theatre dubbed the Broadway Emporium.

There'll be two and three shows weekly, often twice nightly [7 and 9:30] in specially-priced "packages" called The Diva Series and The Gentlemen Series.

Among the announced artists are Christine Andreas, Liz Callaway, Rebecca Luker, Marni Nixon, and Faith Prince; and Mark Nadler, kicking off the series on July 26, and Richard Skipper [Carol Channing in Concert].

Tickets for the six Diva shows are $264; for the three Gentlemen, $140 - a savings of 20% over second tier pricing. Individual tickets range from $40-$60. They available at TSAC box office, by calling TicketWeb [(866) 468-7619], and at www.americantheatrenetwork.com, where you can find a full schedule of dates and showtimes and additional artists in the series. Proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundations.

Tribeca Goes to the Beach

In another example of the amazing growth and reach of the annual Tribeca Film Festival, Caesar's, Atlantic City, will host the Tribeca Cinema Series: Movies on the Beach July 8-11, the first out of town run of a slate of films from the 2010/Ninth annual fest that virtually took over areas of not only Tribeca, but also Chelsea and the East Village.

Caesar's, which along with it's forum of gigantic statues, Qua Baths and Spa, and, across the boardwalk, the Pier Shops and Dancing Waters show, is offering a 25% room discount during the series.

For the soon-to-be-announced A.C. slate and more information visit www.CaesarsAC.com/EventsDetail.

Among the Festival hits and favs were:

~ Patricia Clarkson, as a seemingly independent fashion mag editor, and Alexander Siddig, as former associate of her husband, in the lush unrequieted romantic Cairo Time -- directed by Canadian Ruba Nada, who was born in Egypt, and filmed in bustling Cairo, Nile, jawdropping Memphis, and Alexandra locales [the film opens in NY on August 6];

~ Richard Levine's family drama, Every Day, featuring Helen Hunt, Liev Schreiber, Brian Dennehy, Eddie Izzard and Carla Gugino;

~ Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's doc Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work;

~ Keith Bearden's comedy Meet Monica Velour, starring Kim Cattrall as a washed up porn star; and Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me, starring Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, and Casey Affleck.

In another Tribeca Festival first, 12 titles were made available to cable and satellite networks for home viewing. The NY Festival was supported by founding partner American Express.

You might want to stick around for Huey Lewis and the News, appearing July 10th in the 1,500-seat stadium, Circus Maximus. A good reason to return is the huge Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, July 29th - August 1st, which Caesar's and Harrah's among the host venues.

For tickets, roster of chefs and events, and more information, visit www.acfoodandwine.com. Just in time for this festival, sister property Harrah's has just opened the Viking Cooking School, with chef's table, in the Waterfront.

Stars Rally for Dancers

Career Transition for Dancers' Silver Jubilee gala retrospective, presented by Rolex, set for November 8 has become more star-studded. Joining host Angela Lansbury at 7 P.M. at City Center are Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, Tommy Tune, Chita Rivera, and Karen Ziemba. Among the spectacular entertainment will be a revival of the showstopping number from 42nd Street, choreographed by the revival's Tony and DD nom'd choreographer Randy Skinner with a cast of "hundreds." Featured also will be artists from America's greatest dance companies along with more Bway memories - and more stars. The indefatigible Ann Marie DeAngelo returns as producer/director.

Plan ahead for this hot ticket. Show-only tkts will go on sale soon at the City Center box office. Gala patron tickets are $600 - $1,200, with tables for 10 $7,500 and include premium seating, post-performance supper dance and auction. They are available through Marjorie Horne, McEvoy & Associates, (212) 228-7446 X. 33.

CTFD, since its founding in 1985, prepares dancers for their future when dance is no longer an option. The org maintains offices in NY, LA, and Chicago. For more informatioin, visit www.careertransition.org

New to CD

Tony nom Sean Hayes, Tony's host with the most, Tony and DD winner Kristin Chenoweth Tony Goldwyn , Tony and DD winner Katie Finneran [and a nom this season], and the cast of Bachrach/David/Simon's Promises, Promises can be yours June 22 when the cast CD drops [Sony Masterworks]. CD producer is Grammy winners David Caddick and David Lai. The musical is directed and choreographed by Tony and DD winner Rob Ashford.

Promises, Promises earned four Tony noms including: Best Performance, Leading Actor for Hayes; Featured Actress, Finneran; orchestrations, Jonathan Tunick; and choreography, Ashford.

The spooky, all singing, all dancing, all hamming it up cast of Lippa/Brickman/Elice's The Addams Family is also out [Decca Broadway], headlined by Tony and DD winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, Tony and DD nom Kevin Chamberlin Tony nom Carolee Carmello Tony nom Terrence Mann, and Jackie Hoffman.

Frank Wildhorn has laid tracks for the concept recording of the Bway-bound Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure [Sony Masterworks], with lyrics by Jack Murphy [The Civil War] and book by Murphy and Gregory Boyd [Civil War], who also is directing. The work has been commissioned by the David Stratz Center for the Performing Arts [formerly, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center] in partnership with Houston's Alley Theatre, where Wildhorn is an associate artist [and where J&H originated]. Arrangements are by Jeremy Roberts. Jose Llana, Karen Mason, Janet Dacal [In the Heights] as Alice, head a large cast on 15 tunes. Rb Evan [original J&H] appears on a bonus track.

Masterworks Broadway has re-released 10 cast CDs in eco-friendly packaging, including Tony winners City of Angels, 42nd Street, How to Succeed..., Mame, Oliver!, and 1776. They join the repackaged Annie, Bye, Bye Birdie, Cabaret, Camelot, ACL, Company, Fiddler, and among numerous others, South Pacific.

New to DVD

Just dropped is the DVD of Yeston/Kopit/Fratti's Nine [Sony Home Entertaiment; $29, Blu-ray $39], the definitive movie homage to Fellini, based on his classic 8 ½. The film is directed by Rob Marshall, who turned Chicago into Oscar gold.

Two-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis shows a completely different side of himself as Guido. The women surrounding him are Marion Cotillard as Luisa, Guido's long-devoted, long-suffering wife and former leading lady; Penelope Cruz, mistress Carla; Judi Dench, Lilli, a new character, his costume designer and blunt confidante; the amazing Fergie, the prostitute Saraghina; Kate Hudson, fashion editor Stephanie; Nicole Kidman, his paramour Claudia; and the still-stunning Sophia Loren, Guido's mother.

Much credit must to Oscar-winning DP Dion Beebe for his mix of color and stark B&W, reminiscent of early Fellini; and two-time Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre. Next in line for honors are editors Claire Simpson and Wyatt Smith, and two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood.

Marshall wanted cast and crew "to inhabit an Italian movie, to move back and forth between the sleek, Mod streets of 60s Rome, through which Guido zooms in his Fiat Alfa Spyder, and the dreamlike fantasies that his imagination. Fantasies that evoke his lust, love, imagination, and frustration to find a path to his future."

After shooting in London, Rome's historic Cinecitta soundstages were "turned into the stuff of a man's imagination." Some of the local, iconic locations, all drenched in glam 60s era costumes and autos, include the Piazza del Popolo, the Via Veneto, and the towns of Anzio, Surti and Anguillara.

Bonus material includes commentary with Marshall and producer/partner John DeLuca, three music videos, and eight featurettes, with the gem being a behind-the-scenes look at Cinecittà Studios with Miss Loren. The studio was where such epics as Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur, not to mention The Godfather series, shot.

When Nine premiered in 1982, it became a massive hit - directed/choreographed by Tommy Tune, running 729 performances. Its inventive, visually striking, high-style design and arresting musical numbers garnered five Tonys and eight DDs.

Something Old, Something Fun Returns

They just don't make movies like they used to. How long have you been hearing that?

Today's movie business is certainly heavy on sequels and presequels, but, ah, yesteryear, when there were movie series. See, there was no TV, so you went to
movie palaces [such as the magnificent Loews Jersey in Jersey City, which still does movie programming] for your nightly doses of entertainment.

One of the most popular series was Charlie Chan, and now you can relive those very politically incorrect days when series came out of the studios on assembly lines [sometimes only an hour or bit more in length*] with Turner Classic Movies Spotlight; Charlie Chan Collection [Monogram Pictures/Warner Home Video; four discs; SRP $40], as, finally, the ruthless master of crime returns.

[*Movies were shorter then, but you always had a full afternoon or evening because there were newsreels, serials, novelty shorts, and cartoons - not to mention all manner of drawings for housewares.]

Several actors headlined as the inscrutable Chan: the originator Warner Oland in the 30s, Sidney Toler from the late 30s into the mid-40s, and Roland Winters, who had a long career in the age of live TV dramas, in film, and in countless sit-coms.

The films in the TCM package are Dark Alibi. Dangerous Money, The Trap -- all from 1946 and starring Toler, and The Chinese Ring [1947], starring Winters. Chan is quick to, respectively, stop the execution of an innocent man, solve a murder on a cruise to Samoa, stop the murder of showgirls, and pounce on the killer of a Chinese princess.

The movies were always chaotic fun because of Chan's Number Two and Three sons; and, a character we could never see onscreen today, jittery Birmingham Brown, hilariously played by Mantan Moreland, a major, but rare co-starring role [akin to pioneer Hattie MacDaniel's Oscar-winning role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind] in an era where blacks were regulated to step&fetch-it roles or, as in the case of musicals star Lena Horne, had their sequences shamefully deleted for Deep South engagements.

Trivia: In The Trap, playing a cop, is Kirk Alyn, the screen's first Superman; and in The Chinese Ring, catch Philip Ahn, who would gain a new generation of fans as Master Kan in TV's Kung Fu series.

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 12:00 AM | Permalink