Daniel Radcliffe -- the young star of Peter Shaffer's play EQUUS on Broadway (Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44 St.) appeared on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" Monday, January 12 on NBC-TV.
Talking about EQUUS on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Radcliffe noted that "I've done it about 260 times. I am genuinely having a very good time, we have 4 weeks left and I hope everyone comes and sees us."
He talked about a change that was made as the production moved over to the United States, a change was made to the production. He said that "originally one of the horses in the show was called 'Trojan'. I say 'what's his name?' and the answer is 'Trojan ... and you can stroke him.' We went into the rehearsal room, and I didn't feel that we could say that, because all the American tourists were laughing, so we we decided to call it Hero."
When asked by Conan about the seating on the stage, Radcliffe noted that it's "Cool normally...because it's like an old-fashioned auditorium/ One night, behind me, I hear whispering and I sit down on the block and I hear 'Dan, Dan, look up' for the entire first act of the play. It was these 4 girls trying to talk to me - you know who you are!
This is why I would like to take this opportunity to initiate a new initiative - 'The Broadway Annoying Audience Member Relocation Program' so if you're phone rings more than 3 times, if you have a throat infection which causes you to cough, if you're talking to the actors, or if you can't find what's in your plastic bag after more than 10 seconds... then you're moved to the Conan O'Brien show or somewhere else."
EQUUS will conclude its 22-week engagement as scheduled on Broadway on February 8th, 2009. The play opened in September 2008 at the Broadhurst Theatre, marking the Broadway debut of Daniel Radcliffe. Mr. Radcliffe stars in the revival of Peter Shaffer's play opposite Tony Award winner Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys"). Thea Sharrock directs this production, which marks EQUUS first time on Broadway since its debuted and won the Tony Award for Best Play 35 years ago.
Daniel Radcliffe is the internationally-renowned star of the "Harry Potter" films and will begin shooting the final "Harry Potter" movie shortly after concluding his Broadway run in EQUUS, in which he made his much-heralded Broadway debut, followed by considerable acclaim.
EQUUS is Peter Shaffer's play about a mild-mannered young stable boy (Radcliffe) who blinds six horses in his care, and what happens when a court-appointed psychiatrist (Griffiths) attempts to unravel the mystery behind the boys demonic act.
EQUUS performs Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesdays at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 p.m.
For performance and ticket information call Tele-Charge at 212 239 6200 or log on to www.telecharge.com
Photo: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.
