By Michael Buckley
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Now in its second season, "Damages" (Wednesdays, FX, 10 PM ET) deals with several legal eagles and a cunning condor named Patty Hewes, played by series' star Glenn Close who, to date, has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the role.
Also a first-season Emmy winner, Zeljko Ivanek (as Ray Fiske), is just one of many New York stage actors who, because the drama shoots on the East Coast, comprises the regular and/or guest casts.
"There's a type of New York actor who looks realistic," claims "Damages" co-creator Daniel Zelman, "who has a wider range, and lends the show authenticity." Todd A. Kessler (he and older brother, Glenn Kessler — who was unavailable for an interview — are the show's other co-creators) notes, "We wanted to use the amazing tapestry that is New York City as a character in the show. We wanted to do outdoor scenes, instead of being inside courtrooms — and we considered Los Angeles isolationist."
States Kessler, "We were writing together, and the three of us realized that we wanted to create a show about professional lives and power, about a mentor [Close] and protégé [Ellen Parsons, played by Rose Byrne]." Zelman adds, "We wanted to explore very successful people acting in self-destructive ways."
At the top of the list of stage actors, Zelman insists, "is Glenn Close, herself, a three-time Tony winner [The Real Thing, Death and the Maiden, Sunset Boulevard]." Other "Damages" actors with stage credits include Tom Aldredge, Clarke Peters, Tom Noonan, Ted Danson, Peter Riegert, Michael Nouri, plus Oscar winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden, and Tony winners James Naughton, Debra Monk, and Philip Bosco.
Bosco, says Kessler, "is such an amazing part of our show. We've done several Q&As with people, and repeatedly he emerges as their favorite character. In a world where people are untrustworthy and manipulative — which is the world of ‘Damages' — his presence, and everything about him, makes you trust him, and like him. He really fulfills a phenomenal role for us on the show."
"I'm supposed to be the uppermost segment of the legal profession," says Philip Bosco, who plays Hollis Nye. "I'm supposed to behave the right way. Patti Hewes [Close] is voracious. She does anything to win."
A Tony winner for Lend Me a Tenor, Bosco's six nominations, thus far, span 44 years — from The Rape of the Belt in 1961 to Twelve Angry Men in 2005. On "Damages" work days, he happily travels to the Steiner Studios, "where the old Brooklyn Navy Yard used to be," from the New Jersey home that he shares with Nancy (his wife of 52 years; they're parents of seven, grandparents of 15). "They're brand new sound stages [built in 2004]." Bosco points out, "It's a wonderful place to work. The accommodations are top-notch. Beautiful, spacious dressing rooms; TV, a shower, great food. The actors love it. The show's been very good. The first season, I did 11 of 13 [episodes], and the second, five or six.
"I finished the second season [not all episodes of which have been seen] a few weeks ago. I hope that I'm included in the third season." (So do Bosco's many fans.)
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Described as "a multi-media literacy campaign charged with reducing the literacy gap between low and middle income families and advancing the idea that 'reading is cool,'" a new version of the PBS-TV brand "The Electric Company" is seen weekly Friday afternoons on PBS KIDS GO!
The original show was produced from 1971 to '77. Rita Moreno appeared on 780 episodes, and coined what became the show's catchphrase: "Hey, you guys!" Moreno tells me, "When we did it the first time, I'm told public-school halls resounded with that yell. Teachers were going bananas!"
There are five "Core Cast" members, who are teens and older: Keith (Ricky Smith, who played Young Harpo in Broadway's The Color Purple), Jessica (Priscilla Star Diaz), Hector (Josh Segarra), Lisa (Jenni Barber), and Shock (Chris Sullivan). Playing the "Pranksters" ("the bad guys," says Reale) are Will Harper (as Danny), Dominic Colon (Manny), Sandie Rosa (Annie) and Ashley Morris (Francine).
The new production features songs, animations, and sketches that teach phonics and other literacy goals in the same way that the old series did. This time around, the 35 half-hour episodes "have mini-musicals inside them," says Reale.
He's a 2003 two-time Tony nominee (book and lyrics of A Year with Frog and Toad, with brother Robert Reale, a nominee for music) and a 2006 Oscar nominee (the lyrics of "Patience," music by Henry Krieger) for "Dreamgirls."
For the new "Dreamgirls" tour, Reale's collaborated with Krieger on some songs. He and brother Robert have written a new musical about a baseball team, and Reale has "a strong suspicion that Red Sox Nation will be produced regionally, next season, but I can't talk about it."
One of Reale's WGA nominations was for "Damages," and his credits include the "Homicide: Life on the Street" series. How do these qualify him for "Electric Company"? Claims Reale, "Kids are really fascinated by litigation and murder. [Laughs]"
Now showing, the new "Electric Company" was made "during a very, very vigorous time," from May to December 2008. Hopefully, there will be another season, but corporate sponsorship, "which has dried up due to the economy," is necessary. "Literacy is important. As a writer, don't you agree? [Laughs] Every year, there's new degradation to the language." Someone with funds needs to see the light.
Among this season's guests are Whoopi Goldberg, Jack McBrayer ("30 Rock"), Tiki Barber, kid comedian Kyle Massey, and rapper Common. From Broadway: Mary Testa, Mark Linn-Baker, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nancy Opel, Megan Lawrence, and Nancy Giles. ("There's such an embarrassment of riches in this town," says Reale.)
Original songs are by Ne-Yo, Mario, and Jimmy Fallon, and there are also music videos featuring Wyclef Jean and Sean Kingston.
Moreno's characters in the original included Carmela ("the straight character"); Millie, the Helper; Otto, the Film Director ("named after Otto Preminger — an inside joke"); and Pandora, the Little Girl ("a brat with curls").
She's sort of pleased that "Hey, you guys!" is something "that really stuck. It was never meant to be yelled out in that manner. When I read the script, I thought about Lou Costello [of the Abbott and Costello comedy team], and the way he used to yell: 'Hey, Abbott-t-t-t!' So I did that with 'Hey, you guys!' The kids loved it."
Married to producer Jenny Gersten (whose latest credit is Hair), Reale tells me, "She's the daughter of Bernie Gersten [executive producer, Lincoln Center Theater]." The Reales have two sons: Gus (10) and Leo (6). Says their proud dad, "They're my private focus group for 'Electric Company' rough cuts."
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Various and Sundry
First-time director Bill Condon and first-time producer Laurence Mark ("Dreamgirls" collaborators) plan a dream show for the Oscars (ABC, Feb. 22, 8 PM ET). They intend to introduce a party atmosphere with first-time Oscar host Hugh Jackman.
Like so many who start on the East Coast and go to the West Coast, Broadway's Boy From Oz is a seasoned (that's the 2003-04-05 seasons) Tony Awards host, who even won a 2004 Emmy in that capacity. Jackman's enlisted director Baz Luhrmann (La Bohčme, "Moulin Rouge") and Tony-winning choreographer (Thoroughly Modern Millie) Rob Ashford to create a production number for him.
Jerry Lewis will be a first-time Humanitarian Award recipient. In 1959, Lewis hosted and had the misfortune of having the ceremony end early — 20 minutes early. After Mitzi Gaynor had sung the closing number, "There's No Business Like Show Business" — backed by the evening's participants, including Elizabeth Taylor, Irene Dunne, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Sophia Loren, Angela Lansbury — Lewis tried to fill the time. He ad-libbed, conducted the orchestra, and had started to play a trumpet (poorly), when NBC ended the telecast.
Condon and Mark promise that this year's ceremony won't exceed three hours. That way, no matter in what direction Brad Pitt ages, he'll get to bed on time.
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Meryl Streep seemed the most delighted SAG Award winner (for "Doubt"). Dressed in a black top and slacks, she exclaimed: "I didn't even buy a dress!" She downplayed her stature, saying, "There's no such thing as 'best actress'...[or] 'greatest living actress.'" She also lauded her "Doubt" colleague: "the gigantically gifted Viola Davis. My God, somebody give her a movie!"
Streep seemed almost as surprised (as at the SAG ceremony) during an Oprah Winfrey interview, when the talk-show icon told Streep that she wanted to play Viola Davis' role, but John Patrick Shanley refused to see her. (Don't look for the writer-director on the "O" cover.)
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May I recommend a must-read for anyone who loves theatre and movies? "In Spite of Myself", the well written, extremely funny memoir of Tony winner (Cyrano, Barrymore) Christopher Plummer.
Tales include live-TV days (with Plummer desperately trying to find his way, in the dark, onto the set during a telecast), backstage stories involving Jack Palance, behind-the-scenes with "The Sound of Music", with numerous takes required to film the "Something Good" scene, because Julie Andrews and he became repeatedly "dissolved in raucous laughter," and how, in the movie's last scene, the von Trapps climb a hill, over which "supposedly lies sanctuary," but which actually led to "all that remained of Hermann Göring's home."
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None of the Ricardo Montalban obits I read mentioned that the actor (who died Jan. 12) introduced the Frank Loesser Academy Award-winning Best Song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," in a 1949 "Neptune's Daughter" duet with Esther Williams.
A 1958 Tony nominee, as leading man to Lena Horne, in Jamaica, Montalban played a splendid Vittorio Vidal, the movie star who inspires Shirley MacLaine (as "Sweet Charity") to sing "If My Friends Could See Me Now."
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Not only is two-time Tony nominee (Jerome Robbins' Broadway, A Chorus Line) Charlotte d'Amboise back playing Roxie in Chicago, but also the talented Mrs. Terrence Mann is now in the cast of "One Life to Live" (Weekdays, NBC, 2 PM ET), playing Vice-Principal Dickinson. One of the students, Markko Rivera, is portrayed by Jason Tam, who was Paul in the recent revival of Chorus Line, staring d'Amboise as Cassie.
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Two-time Tony winner (Passion, The King and I) Donna Murphy joins the Eric McCormack-Tom Cavanagh "Trust Me" series (TNT, Mondays, 10 PM ET). Murphy was a regular on "Murder One" and "Hack", too.
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"24" has two Tony winners: Cherry Jones (The Heiress, Doubt) is the President; Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam), a prime minister's wife.
Bob Gunton, a Tony nominee/Drama Desk winner for Evita (he was Juan Peron), is great as Jones' Chief of Staff, Ethan Kanin. No stranger to the Oval Office, Gunton played Richard Nixon in the 1997 TV-movie "Elvis Meets Nixon".
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Starting Feb. 17, Stephanie March returns for six
"Law & Order: SVU" episodes, playing her former character (2000-05) ADA Alexandra Cabot. March, who has an upcoming radio series with husband, chef Bobby Flay, has been on Broadway: Death of a Salesman, Talk Radio, and Off-Broadway: Boys' Life). She's also in "Confessions of a Shopaholic".
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Upcoming "Law & Order: SVU" guests stars: Feb. 10, Lea DeLaria (On the Town), Wendy Makkena (Side Man), Alex Kingston ("ER").
And Feb. 18, Veanne Cox, a 1996 Tony nominee as Amy ("Getting Married Today") in Company, and Donnie Kesharwarz, who played Andrew Vida on nine episodes of "Damages".
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The Spike Lee "Passing Strange" film scored a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. Lee shot the last three Broadway performances (and one without an audience) of the musical, which was developed at the Sundance Institute Theater lab, and edited them for the end result. It stars Stew (born Mark Stewart), who won a Tony (Book) and Drama Desk (Music and Lyrics), and Theatre World winner Daniel Breaker (Shrek): Stew, as a Youth.
Stage to Screens is Playbill.com's monthly column that connects the dots between theatre, film and television projects and people. Contact Michael Buckley at stagetoscreens@aol.com.
09 Feb 2009
"It was a hugely pivotal moment when Zeljko Ivanek's character commits suicide in front of Glenn Close," admits Kessler, "and now he's back [on the show]. We have our ways." Viewers can see Kessler ("as Perry the Doorman, who's now a baggage handler at JFK") and his brother ("Glenn plays FBI Agent Werner, who's partnered with Mario Van Peebles") on the series.
Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman photo by Jeff Vespa
This time around, the catchphrase "is used to good effect," explains head writer and co-executive producer Willie Reale. "It's the call-to-arms for the 'Core Cast.' When something goes wrong, 'Hey, you guys!' is the rallying cry."
Willie Reale (right, with brother Robert) photo by Aubrey Reuben
STAGE TO SCREENS: Colin Hanks, Rita Moreno, "Damages" and "The Electric Company"
