By Wayman Wong MR. ADAMS’ BUTT, MR. ADAMS …
This month, Adams plays Brett Mansford, a jet-setting pilot and playboy in Plane Crazy, Suzy Conn’s new musical comedy about stewardesses during the swinging sixties, "when stews were sexy and the world was sexist." It plays Sept. 15-25 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and stars Allison Spratt, Hollie Howard and Jodie Langel. Adams says, "It focuses on Faith, who’s a virgin from Toledo; Holly, an aspiring actress; and Janet, who jumps in bed with anyone. Brett falls for Janet, and she thinks he’s a jerk, but he genuinely loves her. Jodie and I sing a great duet called ‘Dancing on Air,’ and I get a heartfelt and beautiful solo: ‘I Will Take Care of You.’"
Next, Adams, 31, will sing at "Kurt Weill: Hard Times and War," a concert sponsored by the Lotte Lenya Competition for Singers, on Oct. 20 at Lincoln Center. "The first year I entered, [opera legend] Teresa Stratas was one of the judges and gave me unbelievable feedback. So when I went to the finals, I had a swelled head and faked my way through it. I didn’t win and afterward, Stratas grabbed me and cussed me out: ‘You’re too good to do that crap. You always have to sing from the heart.’ She really opened my eyes. The next year I said, ‘I’m gonna f****** win this thing’ and I did."
Adams has toured the U.S. and Canada in 2 Pianos 4 Hands, and for two years, played Raoul in both the Los Angeles and national touring companies of The Phantom of the Opera. "I learned more in those two years than my four years at Juilliard. I’d love to play the Phantom someday." However, as a sports fan who named his Lhasa apso Espen after the ESPN network, perhaps his most favorite role has been that of head coach for the Special Olympics: "An ex-girlfriend got me involved. It was a big challenge teaching basketball to people with learning disabilities. But if I had a horrible week, they always lifted me up. Even though the scoreboard was there, they’d ask: ‘Did we win?’ If we did, they’d embrace me and it was so rewarding."
07 Sep 2005
Richard Todd Adams is one Broadway caliber "Leading Man" who’s not afraid to work his rear end off — literally. In last month’s Fringe musical The Day the World Went Queer!, the six-foot-two hunk from Galveston, TX, did something cheeky: He wore a leather harness and "ass-less chaps" that bared his behind, and to top it off, the rich and robust baritone belted "Nobody Wants a Daddy [Who’s a Bottom]." But it was all for laughs in this madcap satire by Jonathan Matthew Gilbert, Lavell V. Blackwell and Joshua H. Cohen. Adams was a riot playing Grant, a strait-laced straight guy who "turned gay" when his town legalized same-sex marriage. He says, "I can’t believe I was onstage with my ass hanging out, but it was fun and I love doing comedy."
WHERE THE GUYS ARE
There’s so much to see in New York: The New York Musical Theatre Festival has become an amazing must-see for musical lovers. This year it’s back with 34 new shows, 105 events and 318 performances and runs Sept. 12-Oct. 2. If you’re looking for "Leading Men," there’s David Ayers in Tom Jones, Matt Bogart in People Like Us, Bradley Dean in The Big Time, Kevin Earley in It Came From Beyond, Ivan Hernandez and Doug Kreeger in Yank!, Jeremy Kushnier in Rooms, Deven May in The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde, Anthony Rapp and Benjamin Schrader in Feeling Electric and Shonn Wiley in The View From Here. Visit www.nymf.org. . . . Sabrina Gordin and the NYMF will present Guilty Pleasures! on Sept. 18 at 8 PM at Makor, 35 West 67th Street. Among the guys who’ll be rocking and knocking themselves out at this concert: Josh Kobak, Ryan Link, Greg Reuter, Jai Rodriguez and Brandon Wardell.
Norm Lewis plays Valentine with all his heart in Two Gentlemen of Verona, now through Sept. 11, in Central Park. He’ll also appear in Scott Siegel's 2nd annual Broadway Unplugged concert on Sept. 19 at 8 PM at Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St. (212-307-4100). Everyone will sing without amplification, and it’ll be music to your ears. Among the other "Leading Men" on the lineup: Chuck Cooper, Rob Evan, Cheyenne Jackson, Marc Kudisch and Michael McElroy. . . . Boy, this is the moment for Evan because he’ll head a tour of Jekyll & Hyde: The Concert, which kicks off Sept. 10 in Birmingham, AL. Plus, you can catch him in the marvelous Music of Frank Wildhorn revue, which plays Sept. 12 at 7 PM and Sept. 19 at 7 and 9:30 PM at Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (212-239-6200). There, he does a soaring "Sarah" from The Civil War and "If I Should Lose My Way," a dynamite new duet with Tracy Miller that Jack Murphy and Wildhorn have written for the show. Civil War buffs will be thrilled to hear that a revised version will play Gettysburg next summer.
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.
