Loose Lips

Rebecca Luker has made quite a career of playing such ingénue roles as Magnolia in Show Boat, Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, and Maria in The Sound of Music. But now she’s finally — and very happily — moving into new territory, playing mothers in Indian Blood, A.R. Gurney‘s new play at Primary Stages, and the Broadway production of Mary Poppins, in which she’ll be Mrs. Banks.

Indian Blood is set in Buffalo in 1946. Says Luker, “I’m the mother of the narrator of Eddie, who’s 16 and learns a lot of lessons about life during this three-week holiday period. My character, Jane, is in some ways the typical housewife of the era, but she’s no Donna Reed. She’s a little wry and edgy and rebellious; she’s the kind of person who doesn’t really care what anyone thinks. I never get to play women like this.”

Luker first heard about the part directly from “Pete” Gurney a couple of years back, when her husband, Danny Burstein, was starring in Gurney’s Mrs. Farnsworth at the Flea: “We were at a birthday gathering for Jim Simpson [the play’s director]. Pete said that he had written this play and he really saw me as Jane, but it wasn’t a firm offer. So I asked to read the play, and I fell in love with it by the end of the first page. I am so grateful that I’m getting to do it. Mark Lamos is the best director I’ve ever worked with — and what’s really fun is that I’m working again with Kathy McGrath, who played my mother in The Music Man, and John McMartin, who played my dad in Show Boat.”

As for Mary Poppins, Luker admits there was some buzz about her going up for the title role. “Even my agent wanted me to be seen for Mary,” she tells me, “but I knew they were going to go with someone really young like Ashley Brown. And I’ve done enough leads on Broadway; I’m happy not to have to carry the show. Plus, I like Mrs. Banks so much. She’s a real person who’s flawed and funny and moving, and who gets to take a real journey. At the beginning, she’s having trouble being the right kind of wife, but in the end, she’s the person who brings her family together. It’s more of an acting role than a singing role — especially since they cut ‘Sister Suffragette,’ which was in the film. But the new composers, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, have written me a beautiful song called ‘Becoming Mrs. Banks.’ Right now, my only concern is my British accent. I’ve done a lot of them, but I really want to it be right this time.”

A JONES FOR THE FANTASTICKS
Tom Jones is thrilled that The Fantasticks is returning to Off-Broadway just five years after it finished its 42-year run at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. Why? Because audiences old and new will get to see the beloved musical in a production he’s really proud of. “When it closed, the show wasn’t the way I wanted it to be remembered,” says Jones, the Fantasticks librettist and director of the current production at the new Snapple Theatre Center. “This gives Harvey [Schmidt, the show’s composer] and I the chance to do it right. We considered doing an English language version of the revival that was done in Tokyo a couple of years ago, which was totally revisionist, but it needed a really big stage and a big orchestra.”

The biggest change Jones is making to the script is rewriting the song “It Depends on What You Pay.” As he explains, “Over the years, I grew increasingly uncomfortable with getting laughs from the word ‘rape.’ I’ve finally solved the problem by writing new lyrics that keep the playfulness but don’t use that word. I know some people are going to hate that I changed it, but others — including myself — would’ve hated me if I didn’t.”

Jones is particularly pleased with the cast, of which he is a member; he’s reprising his original role of Henry, using his old stage name, Thomas Bruce. “This is the first time since 1960 that the whole cast has been assembled for a full rehearsal period,” he says. “I think Sara Jean Ford, who is playing The Girl, is going to be a big star. Leo Burmester, who’s playing Hucklebee, gave up a much more remunerative job to do our show because he did it in high school. And Martin Vidnovic, who’s playing Bellomy, played El Gallo when he first came to New York. He’s just so funny.”

As it happens, Jones will have two revivals on the boards this season: The Roundabout will present a new production of his and Schmidt’s 110 in the Shade in the spring, with Audra McDonald as Lizzie. Says Jones, “I’m really looking forward to it. Audra is such an incredible singer, actress, and persona. I’ve been talking to the director, Lonny Price, and he’s made a lot of interesting suggestions. I don’t think we’ll change the shape of the piece or write any new songs, but I might re-do some lyrics.” He adds that no actual decisions have yet been made about the rest of the cast, “but we have decided that we’re not to make an issue out of Audra being a person of color.” When pressed, Jones gives his wish for the role of the charismatic con man Starbuck: “Hugh Jackman is at the top of my list. I doubt that’s going to happen, but I’m sure we’ll find someone wonderful.”

CROSS-COUNTRY CASTING
Former 42nd Street star Patrick Ryan Sullivan has the tile role in Sweeney Todd at the Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado through August 24; Broadway veteran Ken Ruta is playing Prospero in the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of The Tempest, through August 11; Geraldine Hughes reprises her award-winning solo show Belfast Blues at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, August 3-September 13; Patricia Kalember heads the cast of the Westport County Playhouse production of A Marriage Minuet, August 3-20;
T. Ryder Smith and Leo Marks star in the world premiere production of Lincolnesque at the Old Globe in San Diego, August 5-September 10; Jenny Bacon, David Chandler, and Andrew Weems co-star in the California Shakespeare Theatre’s The Merchant of Venice, August 9-September 3.