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ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Lane and Len
By Seth Rudetsky
03 Mar 2008
He then went on to become the associate artistic director at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and while he was there, the pleasant gentleman called him and asked him to audition for A Little Night Music. Len read the script (no music or lyrics yet), loved it and wanted the part of Frederik…but they asked him to audition for Carl-Magnus. Even though Len didn't want that part, he was dying for a chance to sing for Sondheim and Prince. He flew to New York and auditioned, but remembers he had to hold onto the upright piano that was onstage to stop from shaking! Still, it went well, and Hal gave him an updated script to look over and said they'd probably ask him to come back at the beginning of the week before Len went back to Minneapolis. This time the script still didn't have any music attached, but now it had lyrics. Len thought it was now even more brilliant, and when Hal called a day later, told him so. Hal said, "Good, we want you to play Frederik!" Brava! Frederick was supposed to be in his mid-fifties, and Len was only 34, but they figured that as long as he was fairly older than his wife, it would work.
Len went back to the Guthrie and told the artistic director the good news. Unfortunately, he reminded Len that he was supposed to star as Oedipus in rep when rehearsals began, and it wouldn't be right for Len to leave to do a Broadway show because he was the associate artistic director. Shockingly, Len agreed! He called Hal who was vacationing in Majorca (huh?) and told him that he had to pass. Hal was in shock. Not because he was angry, but because he couldn't believe how much integrity Len had. A month later Len's agent called, asked him if he was sitting down and said that Night Music had moved all of their dates later so that Len could do the show! Len approached the head of the Guthrie and asked if he could perform his rep shows in a clump each week so he could rehearse in New York but come back to the Guthrie to do Oedipus, and the Guthrie said yes. So, Len would do a matinee on Sunday, fly back to New York to rehearse Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, fly back Wednesday night and perform, fly back to rehearse Thursday morning, rehearse again Friday, Saturday and fly back to perform Saturday night and Sunday. Sorry, Elaine Stritch, that trumps your train trips to Connecticut. Len Cariou is at liberty!
He went back to Canada and became the artistic director of the Manitoba Theater Center (the original MTC, as he likes to say) and while he was there, Hal told him that Sondheim had written a show for him! Len was thrilled…'til he read the script. He thought Sweeney Todd was really bizarre. He read it again, and although he couldn't figure out how they were going to do all the killings, etc., he knew that if the score was very romantic, it could work.
Len moved back to New York, and one night at 3 AM Hal called and asked him to fly to Europe to play Frederik in the movie of A Little Night Music! The first two actors didn't work out, and finally Len was offered the gig! I love it when the Broadway original gets the film. I wish they'd film Wicked soon, so Idina is still young enough to be Elphaba and not have to play the goat mid-wife ("I see a nose…").
I asked Len if he ever missed a show when he played Sweeney Todd, and he said an emphatic, "No." I asked why and he said, "It was my part." He's old school! My favorite Len story was told to me by his former voice teacher, Paul Gavert. During previews Hal asked the sound designer to turn down Len's body mic because he was louder than the other singers onstage. Hal was told that Len was the only one not wearing a body mic! Brava!
This week I also saw Next to Normal. Shout out to the band for sounding excellent (brava Mary Mitchell Campbell on the crazy sixteenth-note runs on the piano!), and I hope there's a cast recording so I can hear some of the sassy belting in the privacy of my own home. I also saw my friend Jason Little at the Zipper Theater (his alter ego is called Tits Fisher), and he was amazing. The crowd was crazy and so was I…especially when he launched into that Jodie Foster classic "My Name is Tallulah" from "Bugsy Malone." That was my generation's "High School Musical," and it stands the test of time. The brilliance of Jason's show came not only from his high-octane performance but from his eclectic song choices and how they would segue within songs. My favorite was when he suddenly went into the theme from Streisand's boxing movie "The Main Event" and then name-dropped the marketing catch phrase, "A Glove Story." Eww!
All right, I have tons to tell you about the Legally Blonde reality show on MTV and would love to, if I hadn't gotten what amounts to a cease and desist from MTV last week. Essentially, I can't reveal anything until the episodes start airing, so my trap is now officially shut. This week is Celebrity Autobiography, rehearsal for the Rosie Cruise, the MTV Legally Blonde show (aka cease and desist) and the finale of "Project Runway." Can't wait!
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(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals, and he can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com. His first novel is titled "Broadway Nights.")
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