Tony Awards Preview; Conversations with Gordon Clapp and Mario Cantone

Jack Myers After-Theater Conversation with Gordon Clapp "There's Definitely Life After Television"

One of the most hotly contested categories in this Sunday's Tony Awards is the Best Featured Actor in a Play, where The Pillowman's Michael Stuhlbarg squares off against David Harbour from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and three of the ensemble cast from the exceptional revival of Glengarry Glen Ross: Alan Alda, Liev Schreiber and Broadway newcomer Gordon Clapp as real estate salesman Dave Moss. "I was astounded we were nominated in the same category," Clapp told me in an after theater conversation last week. Several critics believe both Alda and Schreiber should have been nominated in the Best Actor category, although Clapp acknowledges "it's nice to think of it as an ensemble."

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Jack Myers with Gordon Clapp of Glengarry Glen Ross

The critical raves for the performances, production, staging (Santo Loquasto) and direction (Joe Mantello) are especially noteworthy since the original 1984 production of the David Mamet classic is considered a theatrical masterpiece and landmark. By chance, Clapp was in the audience on opening night of the original. "I was hoping we could at least pay homage to the great ensemble actors from the first production," Clapp commented. That original cast had no stars at the time (Robert Prosky, Mike Nussbaum, James Tolkan, J.T. Walsh, Lane Smith, Jack Wallace and Joe Mantegna. Prosky (Hill St. Blues) and Mantegna were both nominated in the Featured Actor category with Mantegna winning for the role of Richard Roma, played by Schreiver in the current production and Al Pacino in the film version. Clapp believes the movie "doesn't capture the spirit of the play, which is darker and moodier. As great as Jack Lemmon and the other actors were, their characters became sympathetic; the play is from a different era and has a different energy.

Gordon Clapp with West Wing's John Spencer and fellow NYPD Blue cast member Sharon Lawrence.

Clapp once used the Moss character for an audition piece, and points out the first act of Glengarry "is a model of playwriting. It tunes audiences into the time, the characters, the world, its language and the plot. In the second act there are huge payoffs for the audience; they feel like insiders; part of our world."

The Williams College graduate and veteran of 12 seasons of NYPD Blue admits his success in his first Broadway role has confused him. "I'm really sorry I didn't get here sooner. I didn't realize what the Broadway experience was going to be like. I love regional theater and never thought Broadway would be so much more special. Broadway is a society unto itself that I really can't describe. It's really opened my eyes to other possibilities; there is definitely life after television."

Fans of HBO's Deadwood may have spotted Clapp in a brief scene in the final episode. "David [Milch] and I talked about developing a recurring character," but Clapp's Broadway experience could turn into an ongoing love affair with New York. "Maybe I belong in New York," he laughed. "Today I was in a car and there was some police activity. I stepped out and asked an officer if everything was under control. He did a double take before assuring me I wasn't needed."

Susan Karlin's Conversation with Laugh Whore Mario Cantone

Sure, anyone can impersonate Cher or Jack. But it takes a master to capture the true essence of Barbara Stanwyck in The Thorn Birds or Bette Davis after her stroke.

Welcome to the twisted, manic fabulousness of Mario Cantone, whose recent Broadway show Laugh Whore is nominated for a Tony Award and is running this month on Showtime. Best known as bitchy wedding planner Anthony Marantino on HBO's Sex and the City, Cantone offers a kinder, zanier version of himself as he runs through 90 minutes of comedic rants, vocal impressions and show-stopping songs.

Mario Cantone

"The first act is what I love, what I hate, skewering celebrities, jobs I turned down, just ripping apart things, and the second act is my family and growing up in Stoneham, Massachusetts -- the hometown of Nancy Kerrigan" -- says Cantone, 45. He begins the second act lip-synching to some hapless straight man (pun intended). "One guy came up and did a belly roll with his hairy belly - it was horrifying!" he laughs. "Other times the guys were so cute I couldn't even concentrate."

The one-man variety show, which ran at the Cort Theater from October to January is a throwback to the old Judy Garland shows with similar stage sets and her trademark long white microphone. Cantone's partner of 14 years, Jerry Dixon, wrote the original music, while two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, who is up for another Tony for Glengarry Glen Ross, directs.

"I've been a fan of Mario since Love! Valour! Compassion!" says Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt. "His one-man show had been gestating for a few years and when I was approached about getting involved in Laugh Whore on Broadway. I jumped at the chance. I think people will be impressed by the range of his talents."

Mario Cantone

Cantone cut his comedy teeth at Boston's Emerson College, performing alongside classmates Denis Leary, Eddie Brill (the comedy talent coordinator for Late Show with David Letterman) and Lauren Dombrowski (a former Mad TV co-executive producer). He spent two decades working his way up to starring roles on Broadway in Love! Valour! Compassion!" and Assassins (which Mantello also directed) and braving the stand-up comedy trenches.

"I wanted to act, but I knew I had to do stand-up, because it was a self-contained way to sell myself," he says. "I spent the first five years doing it riddled with fear. It was scary, I was horrified by all of it, but I kept going. I don't know why, but I kept going."

The persistence paid off. His 2002 Laugh Whore precursor, An Evening With Mario Cantone, caught the attention of Showtime, which not only offered Cantone his own special, but co-produced his Broadway run, and may launch a limited Laugh Whore tour and TV series for Cantone.

"The Anthony character is intense and he can be mean," says Cantone. "This show is much closer to who I am now. They're gonna see the inner child, a softness, but still an angry jaded person. Inside, I'm a raging bitch and sometimes I just wanna go off, but I won't do that with anybody. I don't know how people who are difficult divas do that and then face people the next day."

Susan Karlin is a contributor to Jack Myers Entertainment Report

Jack Myers Entertainment Report's entertainment rating system is based on a maximum of five jacks and a minimum of zero jacks. 0 = awful; 1 = pretty bad; 2 = okay but don't go out of your way to see it; 3 = reasonably good but not special; 4 = very good and worth paying attention to; 5 = exceptional. Opinions are based on my own likes, dislikes and preferences.