THE LEADING MEN: Foster and Graae
By Tom Nondorf
01 Oct 2007
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Hunter Foster as Dr. Frankenstein
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Chatting with singing actors Hunter Foster (Frankenstein) and Jason Graae ("Graae's Anatomy").
TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS
Hunter Foster is out to prove that 2007 can be the year the Foster-Frankenstein combo conquers the world, what with sister Sutton playing Inga in Young Frankenstein at the Hilton Theatre and Hunter as Victor F. in the new Frankenstein musical at 37 Arts with book and lyrics by Jeffrey Jackson and music by Mark Baron.
Question: How are things going?
Hunter Foster: Good. We're in rehearsals right now, and my sister's down the street in the other one, so this season will have lots of Frankenstein.
Q: Is it merely by chance that you and Sutton ended up in such similarly themed projects?
Foster: It's very weird. We never planned something like this, but it's cool. She's having a good time doing her show, and we just started doing ours. I talk to her regularly about it. It's kind of wild that we're doing the same kind of show. Ours is obviously not funny.
Q: You hope it's not funny!
Foster: [Laughs.] If we're the funniest Frankenstein, then we're in trouble.
Q: Was there at some point the odd phone call to her saying, "You're not alone"!
Foster: She'd been involved with Young Frankenstein for a year. They had a reading last February, so maybe less than a year. I texted her when she was in Seattle in rehearsals and previews, and basically I said, "You're never going to believe this, but I'm doing Frankenstein Off-Broadway." She sent me a text saying, "What????"
Q: Your show is more closely based on the Mary Shelley novel than the Universal films of the thirties. What will surprise people unfamiliar with the book?
Foster: The closest movie that people would know to the Shelley novel would be the Kenneth Branagh film with DeNiro, which is the closest a movie has come to doing the original novel. I actually saw the original ABC miniseries back in the seventies, which is the first time I ever saw "Frankenstein." Actually, [for] Steve Blanchard [who is playing Frankenstein's Monster] and me, [it was] the first time we head seen any incarnation of "Frankenstein." We're not doing a horror show…it's not going to be blood and guts — our approach is to be a little more artistic — basically about the relationship between Victor and the Monster, in the same way as father and son, man and his creator, that's the kind of relationship we're trying to explore. It's a real, fleshed-out story.
Q: What can audiences expect from Blanchard as the Monster?
Foster: You're going to see his face for the first time because he's been behind a mask for years [in Beauty and the Beast]! He's great. He's not going to be green, he's not going to wear bolts or big platform shoes, he's just going to be him. It's almost like the play The Elephant Man, you know, how the characterization was all in the acting. I think that's a challenge for Steve, and he gets to act the part as opposed to wearing prosthetics or wigs or fangs or whatever.
Q: Is it fair to say this is a bit of a departure for you from the comedies you've had most success with?
Foster: Sure. I was saying the other day that I'm usually in shows that satire things like this as opposed to being in one. It's odd actually being in a serious legitimate musical, but it's also a challenge and you always want to challenge yourself…I've done enough comedies where I know how to get laughs. This is a completely different thing. [Victor's] through-line is not about being funny. It's great to do something completely, completely new and not have to worry about being funny.
Q: No sitting backstage and wondering why certain lines aren't "landing."
Foster: No, don't have to worry about that at all. That's always the problem when you are doing comedies. You're always like, "Why am I not getting a laugh?"
Q: Are you someone whose offstage demeanor changes when playing a serious role?
Foster: I think so. I think you get a little more intense about it. I think with a comedy, it doesn't have to be so intense. Comedy is more technical; in a drama like this, you really have to delve in and understand these characters . . . really understand who these people are. Offstage I'm more focused and concentrated and intense as I can possibly be.
Q: One of your trademarks is said to be your spiky hair. Will Victor Frankenstein be spiky?
Foster: No, I'm actually growing my hair out, so I'm going to have a little bit longer hair than I'm used to having.
Q: Please straighten out some biographical info for us. Where were you born and raised?
Foster: I was born in Lumberton, North Carolina. That never comes up anywhere. I lived in Georgia till I was 18. Most of my time was spent in Augusta, Georgia. In fact, that's kind of my hometown. We moved to Michigan right after I graduated high school, and I spent two years working professionally in Detroit, and I went to the University of Michigan for three years after that.
Q: Did the U of M prepare you for the actor's life?
Foster: I thought it really got me ready for New York. The facility was so good, and you had so many opportunities to do different shows. You could do O'Neill, you could do Sondheim, you could do an opera…I tell kids to go to school if they can because you kind of become an adult in school and then you're not just coming here as a kid. You grow up a little bit. You learn the ropes from people who have been to New York and have been in shows. It was good for me because I learned a lot just talking to, meeting people who had been in shows in New York.
Q: Did you have some low moments in New York before the tide turned?
Foster: Sure, yeah. I was working two jobs — I was working at the Bank of Tokyo in the day and working at The Gap at night and was making just no money, and for a few months there, I was wondering if I could [make it]. It was just so expensive to live here, and I just didn't know if I could make ends meet till I got [an acting] job. You're just pounding the pavement going to open calls, doing whatever you can just to get your foot in the door. Yeah, it was difficult!
Q: Tell us about your Bonnie and Clyde.
Foster: It's a new musical by me and Rick Crom — almost a Mel Brooks kind of comedy about Bonnie and Clyde. There have been a couple drama versions of the show, and obviously there's that great film, and we tried to do this slapstick kind of screwball comedy with the two of them, with J. Edgar Hoover chasing them down. We're doing a big presentation in December at the York Theater, so we're just starting to get that underway. Hopefully somebody will want to do it.
Q: Do you envision a future writing or acting or both?
Foster: I think continuing to do both. You see a lot of actors in Hollywood who go back and forth between directing and writing. I think that you can do it all if you have the time. That's my problem is I don't have enough time!
[Frankenstein begins performances at 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, Oct. 10. Tickets are on sale now at TicketMaster.com or at (212) 307-4100. For more information visit www.FrankensteinTheMusical.com.]
Continued...
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