Loose Lips

A LEADING QUESTION
You’re not alone if you’re surprised that Marc Kudisch is playing the role of the evil Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. “When they first called me in to audition,” Kudisch tells me, “I assumed it was for the lead role of Potts [which is being played by his good pal Raúl Esparza]. Somehow, it seems like I’ve gone from playing people in their 30s to playing people in their 40s overnight; it’s like I woke up one day and 10 years had passed. But that’s fine. I’m actually doing everything I can to get away from the idea of being a leading man, like shaving my head for this role. I think one of the reasons I’ve been able to work as much as I have is my willingness to do character parts.”

No actor has worked more steadily than Kudisch over the past three years: He’s played Trevor Graydon in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, Tom Ambrose in The Thing About Men, Mike Robinson in No Strings, The Proprietor in Assassins, and Vincent Van Gogh in the The Highest Yellow — a performance that has earned him a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actor. (The ceremony is on May 9). But he’s having the time of his life in Chitty. “I’m basically a nine-year-old at heart,” he says, “and so is the Baron — except he’s a nine-year-old with dangerous weapons. There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who thinks he’s right. He’s like any inherited ruler in that nobody has ever said ‘no’ him to him, so he will do anything to get that car. And let me tell you, that car is cool!”

Just as cool as the flying auto is the show’s wonderful cast, which also includes Erin Dilly, Philip Bosco, Kevin Cahoon, and the fabulous Jan Maxwell as Kudisch’s partner in onstage crime. “She’s a smart, talented lady with a real understanding for comedy,” says Kudisch of Maxwell. “Our approaches and energies are very different, but we’re sort of yin and yang. I think this entire cast has a little bite, and that’s why they hired us — because we need to balance the darkness of our characters and the innocence of the story. It’s really just a fable.”

As if facing the first few days of Chitty previews isn’t enough to keep him busy, Kudisch will spend his off night of April 4 performing in Scott Siegel’s Broadway by the Year series at Town Hall. He’s a longtime favorite of the series’ audiences, and the feeling is mutual: “I love this series dearly,” he enthuses. “It’s the closet thing we have to purity in musical theater.” He will be singing the music of Carousel‘s Billy Bigelow opposite the Julie Jordan of Christiane Noll — and, yes, both performers will be off-mike for these selections. Remarks Kudisch, “I’ve never played Billy before, so this is my one shot to do it. As I said, I’m not a leading man. At this point, if they revive Carousel again, I’ll be playing Jigger!”

FOR A KICK, YOU CAN PICK UP A KRISTIN-ING
New Yorkers haven’t seen much of Broadway baby Kristin Chenoweth recently, but the Tony Award-winning star — who was once engaged to Marc Kudisch! — will return home this month. On April 5, she will make a special appearance at Tower Records Lincoln Center, where she will perform selections from and sign her new Sony CD As I Am. Set for release that day, the disc “covers a wide range of inspirational material, from contemporary hits to raditional hymns and gospel favorites.” Chenoweth will also be back in town from May 12-15 to star in the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Should you miss Miss C. in person, you can still content yourself with seeing her in the new documentary Show Business, set to premiere in the TriBeCa Film Festival on April 25; the DVD of the Lincoln Center production of Candide, which will be released on May 17; the film version of Bewitched, scheduled to hit cineplexes on June 24; and, of course, the hit TV series The West Wing.

THIS IS HER QUESTA
Having made TV audiences laugh out loud for two decades on such shows as Dream On, Just Shoot Me!, and the current Jake in Progress, Wendie Malick is about to show off her dramatic chops: She’s starring in Victor Bumbalo’s new play Questa, about seven Manhattan residents brought together by a violent crime. “As the show begins, my son is killed outside a gay bar — even though I don’t think he’s gay — and I’m having an affair with a priest,” she confides. “It’s a real emotional roller-coaster, very intense and very exciting. I think it’s a beautifully written piece, a kind of ballet almost. It deals with the themes of redemption and forgiveness, which I find so compelling.”

The production is directed by Joe Cacaci and it co-stars Dorian Harewood and Dan Lauria, all of whom Malick has worked with before. “The four of us have been part of this play-reading group, which is a way for old New Yorkers to get back to stage work,” she says. “Joe knew I was looking for something juicy to sink my teeth into, so he asked me to do this. A lot of my TV work is just drinking martinis, which is great fun, but it’s a little bit airy.”

ROCKWELL AND ROLL
Designer David Rockwell’s sets for All Shook Up have really struck a chord with critics and audiences alike. “My challenge was to create a look for the 1950s that was fresh and new,” says Rockwell, who’s also represented on Broadway by the sets for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Hairspray. “One of the big issues I faced is that the first act locations are very familiar and ordinary — the gas station, the bar — so I had to look for unfamiliar way to show them. We made each location out of found objects, such as the shoe store. We made it out of shoe boxes.”

Rockwell has earned particular praise for his re-creation of an abandoned amusement park, which is the setting for most of the second act. “I did a lot of research of rural photography and I used the work of people such as Diane Arbus, Red Grooms, and Maxfield Parrish for inspiration,” he says. But there’s no substitute for firsthand experience: “I was raised in Deal, New Jersey, which is close to Asbury Park, so I know a lot about amusement parks.”

FUNNY BUSINESS
Forty years after scoring a triumph when she took over the lead in Funny Girl from Barbra Streisand, singer-actress-comedian Mimi Hines is taking another huge bite out of the Big Apple. In Mimi Hines: Funny Girl, her not-to-be missed cabaret act at Feinstein’s at the Regency (which continues only through April 2), the 71-year-old powerhouse offers stunning renditions of nine of that show’s hit songs, plus tunes by Jerry Herman, Harold Arlen, and Stephen Schwartz. Giving Hines a well-deserved standing ovation on opening night were such notables as Karen Mason, Georgia Engel, Christine Pedi, Marilyn Michaels, John McDaniel, Jeff Calhoun, Scott Wittman, Harvey Evans, Peter Howard — and, appropriately enough, Simply Barbra star Steven Brinberg.

THAT’S HOW IT LITHGOWS
John Lithgow may be a dirty rotten scoundrel on stage, but off stage he is one of the most generous and respected men in New York. So it’s no surprise that he’ll be one of this year’s honorees — along with L.A. theater impresario Gordon Davidson — at the National Corporate Theatre Fund Gala, to be held on April 4 at the Essex House. The Emmy and Tony-winning star is also the chairperson of the annual Our Time Theater Company benefit, to be held April 11 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The very special event will honor choreographer Ken Roberson and will feature appearances by Phylicia Rashad, Richard Kind, Maurice Hines, and the cast of Avenue Q.