Praising Caine

Last season brought two powerful Broadway revivals of all-male ensemble shows, Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men and David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. Now, hoping that lightning strikes thrice, comes a new production of Herman Wouk’s incendiary 1954 courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial that will open officially at the Schoenfeld Theatre on May 7. Though the reviews aren’t out yet, the show has already received Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play.

Adapted by Wouk from his Pultizer Prize winning novel, the play is based on events that the author experienced while serving in the Navy. It focuses on the trial of two lieutenants who deposed their unstable commander, Philip Francis Queeg, in the hope of saving their ship. The cast of 20 is led by David Schwimmer, Zeljko Ivanek, and Tim Daly, all under the direction of four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks. (Ivanek and Zaks have been award-nominated by both the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle for their work. )

“It’s a great group of guys,” says Schwimmer, who portrays defense attorney Lt. Barney Greenwald. “Everyone is doing this show for the right reason, which is why it feels like such an ego-free environment. This is the largest cast I’ve ever worked with on stage, and I really love the idea of being in such an ensemble piece. I’m always attracted to stories that have that kind of feel.”

While it might appear that Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller for 10 seasons on the hit NBC sitcom Friends, is the latest instance of Broadway stunt casting, nothing could be further from the truth. The 39-year-old actor has worked steadily on stage since graduating from Northwestern University. Moreover, he co-founded Chicago’s Lookingglass Theater in 1988 and remains involved in all of that company’s decisions. “Even when I was on Friends, I made sure to do a play every year or two on my hiatus,” he says. “But now that I’m no longer committed to a series, I have the freedom to do this kind of run on Broadway.”

Although he could have chosen a traditional star vehicle for his Main Stem debut, Schwimmer says that his major considerations in choosing this project had nothing to do with the size of the part or the prominence of his billing. “What I was looking for was a good story and a challenging role,” says the actor, who comes from a family of lawyers. “When I first read the script, I was absolutely riveted. The writing is so terrific and so relevant. That said, I don’t mean that I think people will see Queeg as the equivalent of our political leaders, and I think the audience will be intelligent enough to differentiate between World War II and the current war. But I believe Herman’s goal was to get people talking and thinking, to push their buttons and not just take one particular stand.”

Greenwald is a plum role, previously played by such great actors as Henry Fonda in the original Broadway production and José Ferrer in the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny, which is quite different from the play. Says Schwimmer, “I know I have tough shoes to fill — especially Henry Fonda’s.” The opportunity to work with Zaks was another prime consideration in taking the part: “As soon as we sat down for the first time to discuss the script, I felt very comfortable with him,” Schwimmer remarks. “Obviously, his work speaks for itself, but what I’ve learned is that he’s really an actor’s director. Because he was an actor himself, he really knows how to talk to us while staying true to his vision of how to tell the story.”

Schwimmer may be picking up some tips from the veteran Zaks, since he himself hopes to do more directing. In fact, he has been talking with playwright Neil LaBute — in whose play Some Girl(s) he starred in London — about directing the Los Angeles production of his Fat Pig. “I really love both acting and directing,” Schwimmer enthuses. But one thing he doesn’t like to do is repeat himself, which is why he has no qualms about not starring in the upcoming New York production of Some Girl(s). (Eric McCormack will play the lead.) “I told Neil that I am really looking forward to seeing it,” Schwimmer relates, “but I didn’t want to do the play here. Once I’ve done something, I don’t have the desire to return to it. I always like new challenges.” Does that statement apply to Friends as well? “The only talk about a Friends reunion has come from the tabloid press,” says Schwimmer. “We’ve never discussed it. It was a great show, but it was what it was, and it’s time to move on.”

For Daly, another former NBC sitcom star (Wings), the role of prosecuting attorney Lt. John Challee marks his trip back to Broadway since his award-winning debut performance in Tina Howe’s Coastal Disturbances nearly 20 years ago. Like Schwimmer, Daly discussed the script over a meal with Zaks — whom he already knew — and was equally impressed with the director’s vision. “I wanted to know if he saw the play as a one-sided affair or whether this was a real trial,” says the actor. “I didn’t want to be just the witness to the slaughter. I think that, in Jerry’s point of view, this is a real battle of the titans. Challee is a very smart lawyer, a character who plays an important part in driving the play.”

Daly never served in the military but his father, the late actor James Daly, was in the Navy: “He spent time on destroyers on the North Atlantic, so I’m thinking a lot of what he told me about those days. He said there were long periods of excruciating boredom punctuated by short periods of intense fear and chaos.” Tim Daly has worked hard to perfect his performance as Challee, studying as much law and military history as time has allowed — even though, when he was younger, “I never thought about being a lawyer. It seemed like it would be doing homework all the time. Of course, standing up in the courtroom and being theatrical is very appealing. Acting is sort of a congenital disease in our family. I wonder what my father would think about two of his children being on Broadway back to back. [Tim’s older sister, Tyne Daly, co-starred in the recently closed Rabbit Hole.] I think he would be simultaneously proud and really jealous.”

Ivanek’s hiatus from Broadway has been considerably shorter than Daly’s; less than a year ago, he was the brutal cop Ariel in The Pillowman. But that assignment was very different from taking on the iconic role of Queeg. “Not since I did Hamlet have so many people said to me, ‘Ooh, you’re playing that part,’ ” he says. “It does come with some very heavy baggage, from Lloyd Nolan to Humphrey Bogart to Michael Moriarty, who I saw do the revival when I first came to New York in 1983. So I had to absorb all that before starting on my journey, but then I had to try to forget it, go back to the text, and figure out why this man believes what he does — how he functions in the world, how he justifies his actions.

“I think Queeg believes everything he says,” Ivanek continues. “He may be an extreme example of this, but we all have a vision of ourselves that we present to the world and a way we want people to perceive us. What’s wonderful about the play is watching his vision of himself unravel once he can’t sustain it anymore.” Fortunately, Ivanek isn’t one to take a role home with him. “There is a certain kind of tunnel vision that you get into onstage,” he says, “but then the curtain call happens and you leave it with the audience.”