Loose Lips

PARDON ME, MISS JULIE
Off-Broadway favorite Marin Hinkle has spent the last six years living in Los Angeles, first co-starring in the TV series Once and Again and now playing Jon Cryer‘s ex-wife in the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men. But her commitment to theater remains unshakeable, so she spends her summers on the stage. Currently, she’s in New York, playing the title role in the Craig Lucas adaptation of August Strindberg‘s Miss Julie — a part she first tackled three summers ago in the Berkshires.

“I never read a role that made so little sense to me,” says Hinkle. “I agreed to do it because I figured, ‘If I don’t understand it, I should probably try it.’ I’ve also done Craig’s Blue Window, and I am in love with his ability with language. I think he’s a poet, a humanist, and a dreamer.” While she is once again working with her original director, Anders Cato, Hinkle says that she still doesn’t have a complete handle on her character: a rich aristocrat who tumbles into an ill-fated affair with one of her family’s servants, played by Reg Rogers. And that’s okay with her.

“What I’m trying to do is rediscover Julie, rather than repeat what I did before,” she tells me. “I think that means, in part, trying to keep the lid on her — to feel what it’s like to simmer rather than just explode.” But that’s not to say there won’t be some fireworks. “I think there is more of a sexual life to this production,” Hinkle says. “Some of the sex scenes that were done off stage [in the Berkshires], we’re now doing onstage. Anders didn’t want anything old-fashioned or starchy in this production. And because the play really has to do with the idea of status — which is something that modern audiences can’t really connect to — there’s more of a focus on the sex and the power struggle. The challenge of this role is that it’s so complex. I love the fact that I’m going home every night thinking, ‘How can I make this character stronger or clearer?’ ”

The home she’s returning to this summer is one that she found by answering an ad on Craigslist.com. “This is my first time living in New York with a child,” Hinkle tells me, “and when I saw this apartment online, it looked perfect. So I wrote this very detailed message — probably a too-personal one — and when I didn’t get a response after a few days, I started to feel very vulnerable. Then I finally got an answer and it was from my friend Rob Campbell, who’s doing Hamlet down at the McCarter. It was his apartment! He said he wished he could give me it for free, but he couldn’t. That’s okay; it’s a great place.”

MUSIC MAY-KERS
Opera diva Renée Fleming and jazz pianist Fred Hersch will come together at Joe’s Pub on May 19 for a special benefit concert….The great Oleta Adams, who had a smash hit with “Get Here,” gets to The Town Hall on May 20…. Lisa Asher, Baby Jane Dexter, David Friedman, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels scene-stealer Sara Gettelfinger, and Mamma Mia! star Liz McCartney are among the singers who will be saluting the late, great Nancy LaMott at the Duplex, May 23-24 (click here for info).

Also on May 24, the talented Michael McKean and his equally talented wife Annette O’Toole will debut their No Standards show at Feinstein’s at the Regency, and singer Tony DeSare will celebrate the release of his new CD, Want You, with two performances at Birdland. Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick will be the special guest at the MAC/ASCAP showcase on May 25.

As the merry month winds down: Taboo star Euan Morton and Grammy Award winner Julie Gold are among the performers set to appear in the May 26 edition of Jamie deRoy & Friends at The Encore… The legendary Jack Jones has a rare Gotham gig in the Oak Room at the Algonquin, beginning May 31… And, that same night, the even more legendary Eartha Kitt returns to the Café Carlyle for a five-week stay. C’est si bon indeed!

A VERY FINN TIME
Composer William Finn is definitely on a roll. His award-winning musical Falsettos is getting a star-studded production courtesy of Boston’s Huntington Theater, May 20-June 26, with Kate Baldwin, Romain Frugé, Linda Mugleston, Anne L. Nathan, Geoffrey Nauffts, Steve Routman, and 12-year-old Jacob Brandt. Finn, who won a Tony Award for that wonderful score, is up again for the coveted honor (as well as a Drama Desk award) for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, now happily ensconced at Circle in the Square. (If you can’t make it there for some reason, Finn and his cast members will be performing a special concert at the New York City LGBT Center on May 23.)

As if that weren’t enough activity for one summer, Finn’s music — plus songs by Michael John LaChiusa — will be performed by Spelling Bee star Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Joe’s Pub on June 13, June 20, and July 4. Finally, here’s a news flash: Finn is composing new music for The Public Theater’s production of As You Like It, which begins performances at the Delacorte in Central Park on June 25.

WE ARE SO HONORED!
TheaterMania.com will be the special honoree at the Vineyard Theatre’s annual benefit, scheduled for May 23 at the Tribeca Rooftop. Ann Harada, the hilarious Christmas Eve of Avenue Q , will co-host the event with the aforementioned Jesse Tyler Ferguson — and there will be a special performance by the one and only Betty Buckley. It’s sure to be a memory-ble evening.

SMART ROOKIE
According to Dublin-born John O’Callaghan, the title character in Howie the Rookie is the kind of part actors dream of getting, even if Howie is not the most likeable guy in the world. “He is in love with himself,” says the actor of his role. “He thinks he’s a handsome bastard, but he’s kind of a coward underneath it all. He’s picked up a STD, which isn’t surprising, since he’s been sleeping with all these different women; and he’s being threatened by a gangster for killing his fighting fish. When things can’t get any worse for him, they do. But it’s all very funny!”

Still, O’Callaghan isn’t quite sure how his fellow Irishmen will react to the play: “It’s not one of those precious plays about Ireland, so I think some people — especially Irish-Americans — may be offended or horrified. But I also think it’s a universal sort of play, because the underbellies of all cities are pretty much the same.”

O’Callaghan’s involvement came about through the show’s director, Nancy Malone, who is returning to the New York stage after several seasons of helming such television shows as Judging Amy. “We met out in Los Angeles and always wanted to work together,” says the actor. “She’s actually directing us. A lot of people I’ve worked with don’t really direct the actors, but she’s very hands-on. It was an intense rehearsal process. She really gets the piece.”

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[To contact Brian Scott Lipton directly, e-mail him at BSL@theatermania.com.]