BROADWAY UNDERCOVER

BU attended a Drama Desk panel discussion at Sardi’s where we caught up with Italian playwright Mario Fratti, who penned the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical Nine.  While he is pleased that Javier Bardem has now been cast in the lead role for the upcoming film version of the musical, he confessed that his personal first choice was Antonio Banderas, who starred in the most recent Broadway revival.  However, Banderas’ wife, actress Melanie Griffith played manager and squashed the deal due to her extraordinary salary demands for hubby.  Too bad, we think Antonio missed the boat on that one.   Fratti is quite proud of the fact, and rightly so, that Nine is one of the few shows that actually recouped its investment in only nine months.  When asked how long it takes him to write a play, he told BU, that it was like being pregnant.  It lives inside of him for as much as nine months, and then he knows exactly what he is going to say.  It takes ten days to write it out in longhand, since he doesn’t like using the computer.  Nine seems to be a magic number for this very charming man.  His next project is a two-character play, Terrorist, which will be performed in Europe.

The panel discussion on dysfunctional families in Broadway productions was moderated by Elysa Gardner, theatre critic for USA Today.  Those participating included August: Osage County cast members Amy Morton, Rondi Reed and Sally Murphy as well as Ian McShane and Raul Esparza of The Homecoming.   Many in the Osage cast are part of the original Steppenwolf Theatre Company out of Chicago and have known one another for years. Reed says, “We do know how very, very lucky we are.  Just because we work together doesn’t mean we get along.  We fight, we yell, we argue.  I think the bar is set pretty high for each other and for ourselves and that causes us to aspire to do the best that we can and we call each on our bullsh*t continually…that’s what keeps you honest and your work at the level that it is.”

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