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Understudies to the Stars

By Ellen Gamerman

C.J. Wilson jumped at the prospect of playing on Broadway opposite Hugh Jackman. Too bad he spent the entire time backstage.

When "A Steady Rain" ended its run over the weekend, Mr. Wilson, the understudy for Daniel Craig (film's latest James Bond), had spent every performance waiting in the wings. His theater training did come in handy: When he would occasionally run into Mr. Craig in a stairwell, he'd try to act natural. "I didn't want him to think I was going to push him down the stairs," he says.

While some new shows limped along at the box office this season, a handful of star-driven productions prospered. Jude Law helped "Hamlet" gross just over $1 million in its final week on Broadway. "A Streetcar Named Desire" starring Cate Blanchett at BAM in Brooklyn, N.Y., sold out almost entirely within two weeks. Soon after "A Steady Rain" began performances, producers of the two-person drama, which co-starred Mr. Jackman (from the "X-Men" movies), announced that it had broken the record for weekly box-office grosses for a Broadway play.

As audiences seek out Broadway shows just to see their favorite celebrities, journeymen actors working as understudies are finding it a mixed blessing. The actors are paid a salary for standing by, and they say the roles look good on their résumés, but they know they're not likely to perform much. Celebrities know the stakes: People will demand their money back if they don't drag themselves onstage.

Robert Cole, a producer of "A Steady Rain," says he and the other producers might have canceled the performance altogether rather than put in Mr. Wilson or Mr. Jackman's understudy, Danny Mastrogiorgio. The team put off that decision, he says, preferring to make the call closer to the performance if the situation ever arose, which it did not.

Understudies can't be caught unprepared. The replacements for "A Steady Rain," both Juilliard graduates, worked on their characters' Chicago accents with a voice coach and listened to a CD of non-actors from Chicago reading the script. They were backstage during each performance, often rehearsing blocking and running lines (or, as Mr. Wilson put it, "talking to a shower stall in our dressing room"). Even a few days before the play closed, Mr. Mastrogiorgio says he and his fellow understudy were feeling anxious: "Both of us got a wave of, 'Oh my God, imagine if both of us had to go on in the last week.'" ...

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Chicago News Cooperative
Steppenwolf Avoids Stars, Making Its Own Instead

Blog

ArtsBeat


In the very competitive world of New York theater, where casting for star power has become the norm, and the bottom line speaks louder than any line of dialogue, the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago is something of an anomaly: a staunch champion not only of emerging playwrights, but also of homegrown casts.

Unlike many other companies, which lack the clout or the wherewithal to defy producers’ penchant for casting marquee names in major roles, Steppenwolf has stood firmly behind its lesser-known performers.

Part of that commitment can be traced to the company’s ensemble structure. Plays are chosen — sometimes even written — with specific actors in mind. It also helps that the playwrights, often company members, tend to be fiercely loyal to their fellows and to value the chemistry that grows out of working closely together on a gestating play, sometimes for years.

That was the case with “Donuts” and the phenomenally successful “August: Osage County,” both written by a Steppenwolf ensemble member, Tracy Letts, who won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for “Osage County.”

“Tracy is the strongest possible advocate for keeping our own casts,” said Martha Lavey, Steppenwolf’s artistic director and an ensemble member. She said Mr. Letts had a very strong point of view, which is shared by Anna Shapiro, who directed “Osage” in Chicago and New York. “You have to have stalwart artists,” Ms. Lavey added.

“Stalwart” is not a term anyone would use to describe the casting decisions for another recently transplanted Chicago play, “A Steady Rain.” This emotionally fraught police drama by the Chicago playwright Keith Huff earned acclaim during its run at the Chicago Dramatists and later at the Royal George Theater.

When New York producers expressed interest, the two lead actors, Randy Steinmeyer and Peter DeFaria, who are standouts in Chicago, were dumped in favor of Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. The critics were lukewarm on the Hollywood pairing, but audiences ignored the tepid reviews, pushing ticket sales for the play’s 12-week run into record-breaking territory.

Representatives for Mr. Huff, who is working on a screenplay of “A Steady Rain,” said he was traveling and unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Mr. Steinmeyer and Mr. DeFaria continue to work in Chicago. They both said they were pleased for Mr. Huff, whom Mr. DeFaria calls “the most down-to-earth guy you’ll ever meet,” and that neither held a grudge against their megastar substitutes. They don’t mince words, however, in discussing how they were replaced.

Two or three years ago, Mr. DeFaria said, before there was any inkling that the play might be a hit, a producer approached him. “He said, ‘Peter, I have two words for you: Tom. Cruise.’ ”

“And I just thought, ‘This guy is high,’ but that was the kind of star they wanted,” Mr. DeFaria continued. “And then they went and got Wolverine and James Bond.”

Mr. DeFaria said he and Mr. Steinmeyer were aware that the producers wanted to get huge movie stars into the roles: “They were very upfront about it. I guess I just didn’t think it was a real possibility.”

Neither actor saw the play in New York. They might have, they said, if someone had invited them or sent them tickets. Instead, “They offered us house seats,” Mr. Steinmeyer said. “For $120 apiece.”

What Mr. Steinmeyer and Mr. DeFaria lacked was the kind of advocate Steppenwolf has in producer Jeffrey Richards. Mr. Richards, one of Broadway’s most successful producers — his recent shows include “Spring Awakening” and Harold Pinter’s “Homecoming” — is one of Steppenwolf’s most committed supporters. As the lead producer for both “Osage” and “Superior Donuts,” he insisted on keeping the original casts intact.

“Jeffrey took a giant risk with ‘Osage,’ and a giant risk with ‘Donuts,’ ” said David Hawkinson, Steppenwolf’s executive director.

Mr. Richards acknowledged that every production was a risk, but insisted that Steppenwolf’s works were better bets than most. “The quality of the plays, the productions — it’s not to be denied,” he said. “Having a name like Steppenwolf is buying insurance.”

“Superior Donuts” is to close on Jan. 3 after nearly 100 performances. While that sounds like a fairly anemic run, especially next to the 648 for “Osage,” it is robust compared with this year’s revival of “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”

That Neil Simon play lasted only one week. It didn’t have any major movie stars, either.

Jessica Reaves has covered arts and culture for The Chicago Tribune and Time.com.

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Originally posted by jo:
We know who this one's for [/i]


Jo

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Originally posted by jo:


What could he have been carrying everyday to the Schoenfeld???

Jo

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Originally posted by jo:
His dinner ??? LOL!

Prepared by friend Chef Jean Georges V ??


Jo

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Originally posted by jo:
Walking off 8th Avenue to the Schoenfeld on West 45th --