Post by jo on May 12, 2017 20:23:45 GMT -5
And TONYs host!
And classical theatre proponent!
nypost.com/2017/05/11/spacey-doesnt-mind-being-25th-person-asked-to-host-tonys/
I like his analogy of the little yellow ball and an actor moving on centre court!
Hey, Hugh Jackman also played in a very famous tennis arena -- at the Rod Laver Arena! He did not emote...but also danced like a ball...doing musical shows!
Kevin Spacey is a much underappreciated actor, especially in the theatrical realm with the current theatre generations -- hope he comes back to Broadway and like Hugh is trying to do ( when he appears in non-musical drama on Broadway), brings back "drama" to the Hamilton-crazed/Wicked-crazed/Evan Hansen-crazed young generation of theatre lovers!
Maybe a little Shakespeare
Jo
And classical theatre proponent!
nypost.com/2017/05/11/spacey-doesnt-mind-being-25th-person-asked-to-host-tonys/
Spacey doesn’t mind being ‘25th person asked’ to host Tonys
By Michael Riedel
May 11, 2017 | 7:07pm
Kevin Spacey promises to throw in a little Hugh Jackman and Glenn Close when he hosts the Tony Awards.
Kevin Spacey, a tennis fanatic, rarely misses the US Open if he can help it. But last fall, as he watched Phil Collins perform at the opening ceremonies at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he had a thought: “Drama happens on this court all the time, and it’s never been used for anything but tennis.”
As it happened, Spacey was looking for a place in New York to perform “Clarence Darrow,” a one-man show about the famed civil-rights lawyer. After quickly doing the calculations — up to 7,000 courtside seats a night — he decided the Arthur Ashe fit the bill.
“Even in the worst seat in the house, people pay good money to watch a little yellow ball fly across the court,” Spacey says. “Well, I’m bigger than the ball and I don’t move as fast.”
And so he’s bringing “Clarence Darrow” to the Flushing stadium for two nights only, June 15 and 16.
But first he’ll have a little warm-up: He’s hosting the 71st annual Tony Awards on June 11 at Radio City Musical Hall (seating capacity: 6,000). As he’s quick to tell you, he wasn’t the first choice: Tina Fey, James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman all passed.
“I’d say I was about the 25th person they asked,” the 57-year-old tells me with a laugh. “But look — it’s a great gig. And I also know from my own career that it’s often the person way down the line who ends up getting the job. Let us not forget that Albert Finney was Lawrence of Arabia [in the 1962 movie] for several weeks of shooting before he was fired and replaced by Peter O’Toole.”
Spacey, who won a Tony in 1991 for his role in “Lost in Yonkers,” has yet to see this year’s nominated shows, having spent most of his time in Los Angeles and London. He says he plans to cram in as many of them as he can once he gets to New York in a week or so. And he’s pleased with the critical acclaim and Tony nod for “Groundhog Day,” since that Matthew Warchus production originated at the Old Vic, the London theater Spacey ran for 10 years.
‘It’s a great gig. And I also know from my own career that it’s often the person way down the line who ends up getting the job.’
- Kevin Spacey
Meanwhile, there’s “Darrow.”
Given his enormous popularity as Frank Underwood, the deliciously Machiavellian US president in “House of Cards,” Spacey should draw a crowd — and make a tidy sum of money. But the size of the stadium had another lure as well: Spacey believes theater should be accessible to all, and so 300 seats at both performances will be free to students ages 18 to 25; another 300 seats will be available to teens at $10 a pop. (For details, visit KevinSpacey.com.)
For those with the means, there’ll be VIP packages that even Spacey says are “outrageously expensive” — $2628.50 a pop — but they involve meeting him after the show.
Spacey performed “Clarence Darrow” two years ago at the Old Vic. Critics cheered his performance as Darrow, whose most famous case was the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in 1915, opposite William Jennings Bryant. Their battle inspired the classic 1960 movie “Inherit the Wind,” starring Spencer Tracy and Frederic March.
Darrow has fascinated Spacey ever since he saw Henry Fonda perform the play in the mid-’70s. Early in his career, Spacey played the lawyer in the 1991 PBS movie “Darrow.”
“He was a remarkable man who was never afraid to put his head above the parapet,” says Spacey. “He had homespun logic and humor, and his summations could last for days. He once spoke for 14 hours without notes. He managed to make prejudice fall away, not with statistics or politics, but by telling someone’s personal story. He defended 102 men against the death penalty and not a single one was hanged.”
“Darrow” is set toward the end of the lawyer’s life as he rifles through his archives and recalls famous cases. Spacey and his director, Thea Sharrock, have reconfigured the production so that it’s performed in the round.
“I’m able to pick audiences for juries and re-create the famous trials,” says Spacey.
Holding the attention of 7,000 people might intimidate any actor, no matter how skilled. But Spacey’s done it before: He took his acclaimed “Richard III” to Greece, where he played to 14,000 people.
“There is nobody there when you’re rehearsing, but then you walk out onstage as the sun is going down and you see this wall of human beings as far as the eye can see,” he says. “It was an incredible experience.”
As for what he’ll do at the Tonys, with its row upon row of gowns and tuxedoes, Spacey is being cagey. Granted, he says, past hosts and song-and-dance men Corden and Harris set the bar high.
“But I love that,” he says. “My intention is to imitate both of them throughout the night,” he adds with Frank Underwood-like chuckle. “I’m going to throw in a little Hugh Jackman and a little Glenn Close, because I think she should be represented, too.”
Close, now starring in “Sunset Boulevard,” hosted the Tonys in 1992.
“We’re coming up with something that I hope will be very entertaining,” he says. “But not unlike ‘House of Cards, if I give you too many plot lines I will have to kill you.”
By Michael Riedel
May 11, 2017 | 7:07pm
Kevin Spacey promises to throw in a little Hugh Jackman and Glenn Close when he hosts the Tony Awards.
Kevin Spacey, a tennis fanatic, rarely misses the US Open if he can help it. But last fall, as he watched Phil Collins perform at the opening ceremonies at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he had a thought: “Drama happens on this court all the time, and it’s never been used for anything but tennis.”
As it happened, Spacey was looking for a place in New York to perform “Clarence Darrow,” a one-man show about the famed civil-rights lawyer. After quickly doing the calculations — up to 7,000 courtside seats a night — he decided the Arthur Ashe fit the bill.
“Even in the worst seat in the house, people pay good money to watch a little yellow ball fly across the court,” Spacey says. “Well, I’m bigger than the ball and I don’t move as fast.”
And so he’s bringing “Clarence Darrow” to the Flushing stadium for two nights only, June 15 and 16.
But first he’ll have a little warm-up: He’s hosting the 71st annual Tony Awards on June 11 at Radio City Musical Hall (seating capacity: 6,000). As he’s quick to tell you, he wasn’t the first choice: Tina Fey, James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman all passed.
“I’d say I was about the 25th person they asked,” the 57-year-old tells me with a laugh. “But look — it’s a great gig. And I also know from my own career that it’s often the person way down the line who ends up getting the job. Let us not forget that Albert Finney was Lawrence of Arabia [in the 1962 movie] for several weeks of shooting before he was fired and replaced by Peter O’Toole.”
Spacey, who won a Tony in 1991 for his role in “Lost in Yonkers,” has yet to see this year’s nominated shows, having spent most of his time in Los Angeles and London. He says he plans to cram in as many of them as he can once he gets to New York in a week or so. And he’s pleased with the critical acclaim and Tony nod for “Groundhog Day,” since that Matthew Warchus production originated at the Old Vic, the London theater Spacey ran for 10 years.
‘It’s a great gig. And I also know from my own career that it’s often the person way down the line who ends up getting the job.’
- Kevin Spacey
Meanwhile, there’s “Darrow.”
Given his enormous popularity as Frank Underwood, the deliciously Machiavellian US president in “House of Cards,” Spacey should draw a crowd — and make a tidy sum of money. But the size of the stadium had another lure as well: Spacey believes theater should be accessible to all, and so 300 seats at both performances will be free to students ages 18 to 25; another 300 seats will be available to teens at $10 a pop. (For details, visit KevinSpacey.com.)
For those with the means, there’ll be VIP packages that even Spacey says are “outrageously expensive” — $2628.50 a pop — but they involve meeting him after the show.
Spacey performed “Clarence Darrow” two years ago at the Old Vic. Critics cheered his performance as Darrow, whose most famous case was the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in 1915, opposite William Jennings Bryant. Their battle inspired the classic 1960 movie “Inherit the Wind,” starring Spencer Tracy and Frederic March.
Darrow has fascinated Spacey ever since he saw Henry Fonda perform the play in the mid-’70s. Early in his career, Spacey played the lawyer in the 1991 PBS movie “Darrow.”
“He was a remarkable man who was never afraid to put his head above the parapet,” says Spacey. “He had homespun logic and humor, and his summations could last for days. He once spoke for 14 hours without notes. He managed to make prejudice fall away, not with statistics or politics, but by telling someone’s personal story. He defended 102 men against the death penalty and not a single one was hanged.”
“Darrow” is set toward the end of the lawyer’s life as he rifles through his archives and recalls famous cases. Spacey and his director, Thea Sharrock, have reconfigured the production so that it’s performed in the round.
“I’m able to pick audiences for juries and re-create the famous trials,” says Spacey.
Holding the attention of 7,000 people might intimidate any actor, no matter how skilled. But Spacey’s done it before: He took his acclaimed “Richard III” to Greece, where he played to 14,000 people.
“There is nobody there when you’re rehearsing, but then you walk out onstage as the sun is going down and you see this wall of human beings as far as the eye can see,” he says. “It was an incredible experience.”
As for what he’ll do at the Tonys, with its row upon row of gowns and tuxedoes, Spacey is being cagey. Granted, he says, past hosts and song-and-dance men Corden and Harris set the bar high.
“But I love that,” he says. “My intention is to imitate both of them throughout the night,” he adds with Frank Underwood-like chuckle. “I’m going to throw in a little Hugh Jackman and a little Glenn Close, because I think she should be represented, too.”
Close, now starring in “Sunset Boulevard,” hosted the Tonys in 1992.
“We’re coming up with something that I hope will be very entertaining,” he says. “But not unlike ‘House of Cards, if I give you too many plot lines I will have to kill you.”
I like his analogy of the little yellow ball and an actor moving on centre court!
Hey, Hugh Jackman also played in a very famous tennis arena -- at the Rod Laver Arena! He did not emote...but also danced like a ball...doing musical shows!
Kevin Spacey is a much underappreciated actor, especially in the theatrical realm with the current theatre generations -- hope he comes back to Broadway and like Hugh is trying to do ( when he appears in non-musical drama on Broadway), brings back "drama" to the Hamilton-crazed/Wicked-crazed/Evan Hansen-crazed young generation of theatre lovers!
Maybe a little Shakespeare
Jo
