By Tom Nondorf
05 Aug 2008
Parlez-vous, Parlato?
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| Dennis Parlato |
| photo by Ron Rinaldi |
Q: How did you end up reprising your El Gallo?
Dennis Parlato: I saw that they were going to do it again and asked Tom Jones if they would consider bringing me back, and he said yeah. I'd been wanting to play this role again ever since the year 2000, when I saw the 40th anniversary performance and thought to myself, "I gotta get up on these lines and get on the sub list" because they didn't have understudies when the show was downtown, so they would call people who had a costume hanging there and say, "We need a sub, c'mon in." But by the time I got it together, they closed downtown. I knew from 2000 that these are wonderful words to say and the story is tightly woven together. It's a great role.
Q: I must ask you what I ask everyone who I talk to in the show, which is, what makes The Fantasticks so timeless?
Parlato: The best thing happens to you that can happen in theatre, where you are brought out of the present time and space and transported into a universal truth area, which has to do with love, tested love, deep love and the realities of the seasons: dying, growing. What more can you ask for?
Q: It's a show where the depth can sneak up on an audience.
Parlato: The Fantasticks is a great example of a seamless presentation of story, spoken word, music and lyrics, and the whole story moves smoothly through those elements. It's very skillful, the writing and the staging. It doesn't pretend to be the most powerful piece ever presented, but it's not just light, frothy, charming romance. It has some bite to it. The second act, I often think, is much more for the adults than for kids.
Parlato: He wanted to get back to his writing. It was my one disappointment. Not that J. T. Waite isn't wonderful, but I've never been onstage with Tom. However, Tom gave me more direction, actually, and insight into the piece than he was able to give me back in 1985 when he was busy with other things.
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| Emily Rabon Hall with Dennis Parlato in Paint Your Wagon |
| photo by Robert Clayton |
Parlato: It was at the Pioneer Theatre in Salt Lake City, and it was a revision of the Broadway version that looked at the father and his daughter in the mining camp and how things develop there. It was a much-improved book written by a Hollywood writer. There were attached producers who hoped to shepherd it to Broadway, but it didn't get picked up. One of the problems turned out to be the attached producers couldn't get the money people they wanted to get to Salt Lake City in time. . . .They couldn't get the money people there in time, and too many members of the cast voted against allowing them to make a video of the production, so it was unfortunate. But it was a really good experience. I got to play Ben Rumson, a really great role with great range of stuff that he goes through, and beautiful ballads. For "Maria," we had more than 15 guys singing that.
Q: I saw that you had been nominated a couple times for Best Villain by Soap Opera Digest. Do you enjoy playing the heavy?
Parlato: On soaps, definitely. If you're not the heavy, it is too saccharine for my tastes. The men, they sweeten them up too much. It's too Hallmark card. I remember once on "Guiding Light," which I was doing for awhile, they decided to have the middle-aged guys have these love scenes, each with their lovers. These poor guys! One was in a bubble bath, and another guy was on a couch in all these awkward positions. Kind of typical, right? The heavy, me, I got to be on a studio beach with my lady, just us ripping each other's clothes off in a nice animalistic way, so there was nothing Hallmark card about it. I was especially glad to be the heavy that day.
Q: Lastly, how do you go about singing a legendary song like "Try To Remember" each night?
Parlato: As simply as possible. It's not about the singing voice or anything like that. Just a simple, poignant invitation to relax and remember.
[The Fantasticks plays The Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street; call (212) 307-4100 for tickets.]
Hither and Yon
With all the talk of Hair possibly making a full-fledged run at Broadway, I had the opportunity to see the group that had the charting massive hit single of "Hair," The Cowsills, at B.B. King's last week, and they sounded nothing short of fantastic. It's not many bands known for a handful of hits that sound great playing new and fresher material as well, but the Cowsill family was blessed with numerous skilled songwriters among their ranks, and you can never beat the sound and tightness of family harmony. I hope they make it back to NYC soon. Head to www.cowsill.com for info on the band, and check out www.bbkingblues.com to see what else is happening at King's…Cowsills bassist, Tad Armstrong, a great songwriter in his own right, besides being a childhood pal of mine, has a new full-length album out. Check out www.tadarmstrong.net for details… Much congrats to one of Broadway's nicest fellows, and a friend of the column, as well as a heck of a rapper, Jeffry Denman, on his impending nuptials to Erin Crouch. Here's wishing you both many encores together…Travis Nesbitt should kill as the new Mark in Altar Boyz… Last month I queried about your favorite instrumental LPs of Broadway shows, and I got some great responses. Some obscure, like a Maury Laws album of the songs from Do Re Mi; some awesome, like Stan Kenton's West Side Story. Mark F. wrote in to alert me that Percy Faith's Subways are for Sleeping is on CD, paired with Do I Hear a Waltz. "You can't not buy that CD!" Mark says. I like the way you think, sir…Topic for August: Best albums of show tunes by a vocal group. The Four Aces' "Hits from Broadway" has gotta be right up there. What do you folks think? Email me, and I'll be back next month.
Tom Nondorf can be reached at tnondorf@playbill.com.
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