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THE LEADING MEN: Brian’s Song
By Wayman Wong
01 Feb 2005
HARK, THE ‘HAROLD’ ACTOR SINGS!
In Harold & Maude, the new Tom Jones-Joseph Thalken musical, Eric Millegan plays the suicidal Harold, and this "dream role" has earned him the kind of reviews that some actors would die for. David Rooney in Variety raved about his "winning stage presence and melodious tenor." Based on the 1971 cult film starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, it’s the story of a morbid young man and a high-spirited septuagenarian, and it’s playing through Feb. 6 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ
Millegan, a 5-foot-11 actor from Hackettstown, NJ, says, "I’m so lucky. I’m originating a lead role in a new show with a fantastic cast and good writers. And I love all the songs. The fun thing about Harold is he says he’s not into risk-taking, but he does all these risk-taking things, like staging elaborate suicides." And then there’s Maude. She’s played by the stellar Estelle Parsons, a theatre legend and Oscar winner for "Bonnie & Clyde." With "A Song in Their Pocket," Harold and Maude become fast friends onstage, just as Millegan and Parsons have become off-stage. He says, "Estelle’s a really great actress who’s experienced as hell and on top of her game." And speaking of game, they both love basketball. "I’m a Portland Blazers fan, and she’s a Knicks fan."
Though the show itself got mixed reviews, the University of Michigan grad read them all: "I care what people think — not just critics, but audiences, too. I read all the message boards, like All That Chat and BroadwayWorld.com. Did we connect? Do I suck? As actors, we go through so much rejection, it can’t faze me."
Millegan, who’s been on Broadway as an apostle in Jesus Christ Superstar, also did a reading of another musical that’s based on a movie, "Mask," which starred Cher as a biker mom of a disfigured boy. "It’s an awesome show. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil ["You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling"] wrote this great rock score, and I hope it goes to Broadway." In addition, the baby-faced Interlochen alum has played a young gay man looking for love in the 2003 film "On-Line" and in the 2004 Fringe musical Martha and Me. In the latter, he sang Robert Rokickis’ sweet song "I Love a Boy" ("I simply love a boy, maybe that’s as normal as can be").
As an out actor, Millegan says, "I think it’s stupid [for gay performers to be closeted]. If you’re thinking, ‘I’ll get more jobs if people think I’m straight,’ really? Well, there are tons of straight actors who are unemployed. Getting work in this business is tough, period, gay or straight. I’m playing Harold, who’s straight and 19, and I’m gay and 30, and I got it anyway. I’ve also kissed a girl on ‘Law & Order.’ I did some backers’ auditions as Laurie for Little Women. I did an Off-Broadway play [‘Constellations’] where I got naked and kissed another girl. Ever since I came out in the Advocate last summer, I’ve gotten more straight roles than ever."
After Harold & Maude wraps up, Millegan heads for L.A., hoping to find more film work: "Instead of being in a musical that’s based on a movie, I’d like to be in the movies that get made into musicals. I need to make some money to take care of Charles [his boyfriend of seven years]. I want us to have children. And I still want to do Broadway. If there’s a great role in a new show, I’ll be back in a heartbeat."
For more information, visit www.ericmillegan.com.
WHERE THE GUYS ARE
There’s so much to see in New York: If you love the toe-tapping tunes of the 1920s and 1930s, you’ve gotta catch Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks at Charley O’s on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30-11:30 PM at Broadway and 49th St. (212-246-1960). Liza Minnelli and Eartha Kitt have stopped by, and Wayne Brady even wound up singing with this swinging 11-piece orchestra. Giordano and the Nighthawks are also credited with three cuts on the soaring soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s "The Aviator" — including "Stardust" — though they played on eight of them and backed Rufus Wainwright. Plus, you can catch a glimpse of Giordano with his aluminum bass in the movie’s Coconut Grove scenes. During the filming, Leonardo DiCaprio told him: "I didn’t realize how vibrant and peppy this music was. I had no idea it had this energy!" Giordano, who’s an orchestrator and archivist extraordinaire, says: "I hope this movie turns more people onto this music the way ‘The Sting’ turned people onto Scott Joplin." Though he’s basically a Turner Classic Movies buff, "I’ll be rooting for ‘The Aviator’ at the Oscars for sure!"
Craig Rubano, the MAC Award-winning singer from Broadway (The Scarlet Pimpernel), celebrates his new CD, "Change Partners," Feb. 3-27 at Helen’s, 169 Eighth Ave. (212-206-0609). Also, Peter Yawitz, the Nightlife Award-winning musical comic, plays there Feb. 4 and 11 at 7 PM and Feb. 6 and 13 at 4:30 PM. . . . And the phenomenal Farley Brothers have been extended to Feb. 4, 11, 18 and 25 at 8 PM at Rose’s Turn, 55 Grove St. (212-366-5438). . . . Finally, now that John Tartaglia has left Avenue Q, he's at liberty to add one more performance of AD-LIBerty, his hit cabaret show, on Feb. 21 at 9:30 PM at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. (212-239-6200). And if you want a good seat that night, you better Q up early!
Got comments or questions? E-mail me at waymanwong@hotmail.com.
Until next month, let’s hear it for the "boys"!
Wayman Wong edits entertainment for The New York Daily News. He has been a movie and theater critic for The San Francisco Examiner, a writer for The Sondheim Review and a Drama-Logue Award-winning playwright.
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Stephen Oremus (left), Eric Millegan
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| photo by Ben Strothmann |
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