Loose Lips

FITS LIKE A GLOVER
When I read the script for Jon Robin Baitz‘s The Paris Letter a few weeks ago, I immediately envisioned John Glover in the role of Anton, the gay (in all senses of the word) bon vivant who narrates this provocative drama about friendship, love, and betrayal. And it seems that I wasn’t alone. Says Glover, “I went to see my friend Lawrence Pressman do the role in Los Angeles and I thought, ‘I’d love to play that part.’ And it turns out there’s a higher power, because they offered it to me for the New York run. Larry was the first person I called when I got the role, and he was so gracious.”

So, what was the role’s main attraction? “Anton has got a soul that is so huge,” Glover remarks. “It’s bigger than one’s arms can reach, and he has such passion. Plus, the play is so complex; it’s like a Rubik’s Cube puzzle.” While the role almost seems to have been written for Glover, he is using some other inspirations for his portrayal: “I was really good friends with Roddy McDowall, and there are parts of him in Anton. There are also bits of [director] Nicky Martin. I’m using so many people I know, and I hope they all recognize themselves.”

Glover also points to the cast — which includes fellow Tony Award winners Ron Rifkin and Michele Pawk — and the show’s red-hot director, Doug Hughes, as factors in his decision to leave his beloved L.A. home for the summer. “I’ve been hearing about Doug for a while,” he tells me, “and he really has gone beyond expectations. He’s so intelligent, and he really thinks in images. I think it’s partly because he grew up in the theater. [Hughes’s parents are actors Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg.] He also creates such a collaborative spirit in the rehearsal room. It’s so wonderful to watch him and Robbie [Baitz] work together.”

The Paris Letter marks Glover’s first New York stage foray since Sorrows and Rejoicing at Second Stage. The reason: For the past few years, he’s only had brief hiatuses from the TV series Smallville, on which he plays Lionel Luthor. As it happens, he’s in New York at the same time as one of his co-stars on that show, Annette O’Toole: She’s performing No Standards, a cabaret act with her husband, Michael McKean, at Feinstein’s at the Regency through June 4. “They are just an amazing couple,” says Glover. “They have this wonderful party right before New Year’s where all these great people just come and sing in the living room — except for me. When it comes to singing, I’m like Lucy Ricardo.”

DRUMMING UP BUSINESS
You and I might not think it’s the wisest idea to let 400 people have free reign over two-foot-high African drums, but David Warren, director of the interactive show Drumstruck, feels very differently. While the main focus of this show is the performance of the 11 extraordinary African percussionists on stage, audience members are encouraged to play the drums that are placed on their seats. Says Warren: “In traditional theater, the people on stage tell the story; but with this show, we all tell the story.”

Drumstruck is a drastic departure for Warren, who is best known for more elegant entertainments such as Holiday and The Dazzle. “Last December,” he relates, “the Dodgers asked me to go to Sydney to see the show. I figured, if nothing else, it was a trip to Australia. But I was totally blown away by it, and I decided the one thing that it was missing was me! So, a couple of months later, I went to Johannesburg to meet with the show’s creator, Warren Lieberman, and the cast. We worked there for about five weeks, re-shaping the show. Let me tell you, if you ever want to feel like a gawky, rhythm-less white guy who speaks only one marginally useful language, go direct a show in South Africa.”

GOING BANANA
Virginia Scott is getting very comfortable at the cozy Ars Nova Theater. Planet Banana, the unusual lounge act-love story that she directed, is playing there until June 4. Meanwhile, her newest directorial project, Pentecostal Wisconsin, will play there on May 31, June 7, and June 28. “Ryan Paulson [the show’s star and writer] actually grew up in the Pentecostal Church — that’s where they speak in tongues — and this is his true story about falling in love and finding his way out of the church,” Scott tells me. “About six years ago, he came to New York just like the character in Midnight Cowboy; his brother got him a bus ticket and he arrived with $200 in his pocket. Right after that, he auditioned for a show I was directing. I didn’t cast him as an actor but I put him in the band because he played guitar. We kept in touch through the years, and I always felt he had this great storytelling potential. So, eventually, I convinced him to do this show.”

THE STAR SYSTEM
Amy Irving, Rosie Perez, and Grant Shaud will perform as part of the Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathon 2005, which runs May 25-June 26. Debra Monk will co-star with Christopher Durang in a revival of his comedy Laughing Wild, beginning June 3 at the Huntington Theater in Boston. Steve Rosen, who is currently making his Broadway debut as Sir Bedevere in Monty Python’s Spamalot, will take his turn in Ars Nova’s Broadway Spotlight on June 13.

More stars will arrive later in the month: TV favorites Sharon Lawrence, Edward Hibbert, and Cynthia Watros will head the cast of No Time for Comedy at the Bay Street Playhouse, June 14-July 3. The one and only Mandy Patinkin will headline the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre’s Annual Gala on June 16 at Carnegie Hall. And the very busy and very talented Brian Stokes Mitchell will host Curtain Call!, a benefit for the NJPAC Women’s Association, on June 23.

CELEBRATIONS
Rosie O’Donnell, Euan Morton, Lisa Kron, Marga Gomez, and Reno were among the celebrants at La Mama on May 19 for the opening of the revival of Dress Suits to Hire. This production of the two-person show starring Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver marks the 25th anniversary of the legendary downtown theater troupe Split Britches.

Saying their “goodbyes” to City Center Encores! musical director Rob Fisher on May 23 were Patti LuPone, Emily Skinner, Rebecca Luker and husband Danny Burstein, Sheldon Harnick, Kathleen Marshall, and Dick Latessa. Also on hand for this joyous send-off were the lovely Nancy Anderson (who has snagged the female lead in the upcoming national tour of Dr. Doolittle) and her handsome fiancé Manoel Feliciano (who is set to play Tobias in this fall’s Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd).

At the Vineyard Theater’s annual benefit on May 23, artistic director Doug Aibel got a big surprise: a star-studded tribute to him. On hand for the festivities, which also honored TheaterMania.com, were Betty Buckley (who sang beautifully), Ann Harada, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kathleen Chalfant (who jetted in between rehearsals for the Berkeley Rep production of Honour), Judy Kuhn (who opens next week in the Intiman Theatre production of Three Sisters), Kieran Culkin, Anna Paquin, Polly Draper, and Kerry O’Malley (currently thrilling audiences in Flight), plus composer Polly Pen and playwrights Paula Vogel, Doug Wright, and Nicky Silver.

********************

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