InDepth InterView: Joel Grey

This weekend I had the honor and privilege of conducting a comprehensive InDepth InterView with legendary star of stages and screens worldwide, both large and small - and winner of an Oscar and a Tony award along the way - who will be directing Glenn Close and many more in a special benefit reading of Larry Kramer's Pulitzer-prize winning AIDS crisis drama THE NORMAL HEART on Monday night, unquestionably one of the greatest dancers and performers of all time: Mr. Joel Grey! In this extensive interview we discuss his daughter Jennifer Grey and his feelings and advice to the DIRTY DANCING star on her participation in DANCING WITH THE STARS and teaching her some tricks of the trade, in addition to the first word of the upcoming Kathleen Marshall-helmed revival of ANYTHING GOES co-starring Sutton Foster coming to the Roundabout early next year as well as his thoughts on co-stars Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel and Sutton Foster as well as working with directors like Bob Fosse, Hal Prince, Joe Mantello and Kathleen Marshall! We also discuss much, much more! It may be gray outside these Fall days but it's all Grey at BWW!

Joel Grey has dominated every area of entertainment - even winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar over Al Pacino in THE GODFATHER - so it should come as no surprise that he attracts the most visionary and innovative directors of our age, as well as possesses a prescient sense of what the future holds. From Bob Fosse to Lars Von Trier, Michael Bennett and Hal Prince to Kathleen Marshall and Joe Mantello, CABARET to DANCER IN THE DARK - Joel Grey has been an instrumental part and a performative pioneer in the development of the movie musical and his participation in any project automatically doubles the prospective, potential interest the entity may hold even by his sheer agreeing to be in it. A little bit of WICKED, Gaga to GLEE, THE NORMAL HEART in 1985 to THE NORMAL HEART now, twenty-five years later - we tackle nearly every pertinent topic and get down to what makes the Emcee himself truly tick.

In this complete InDepth InterView we discuss his participation in WICKED and working with co-stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as well as the many gifted directors he has worked with over the course of his lengthy stage and screen career in musicals - Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Hal Prince, Lars Von Trier, Kathleen Marshall as well as WICKED director and NORMAL HEART co-star Joe Mantello - and his insights on GLEE, performing alongside Lady Gaga and Bono, his numerous recent television appearances on hospital dramas (GREY'S ANATOMY, HOUSE, etc.) and his favorite leading ladies of all time (clue: one involves a "Z"!). Grey is anything but his name-sake and on a dull, drab, rainy New York day (like yesterday) - he is a true white lightning bolt of energy, excitement and introspective illustrations of his incomparable life and career and aren‘t we lucky to have him! Be sure to check out his work onstage on Monday, tickets are available to THE NORMAL HEART at the links below! Proceeds from the performance will benefit The Actor's Fund and Friends In Deed.

Da OG Emcee

PC: You're such an inspiration! I met you when I was thirteen at the stage door of CHICAGO. You're part of the reason I do what I do here at BroadwayWorld.

JG: Oh, wow! Thanks so much for that! That's such a great thing to hear!

PC: What do you think of our site and internet theatre journalism in general?

JG: I think it's fantastic. And, also, it's the way the world is.

PC: So, you approve of it.

JG: It's the new world.

 

PC: What do you think of your clips being on YouTube and having a million hits for things like "The Money Song? What do you think of that and my generation experiencing you that way?

JG: Umm... (Pause.) It's weird! (Laughs.)

PC: You don't have a problem with it, though?

JG: Oh, no! You see everything on there. It's not like I'm the only one, right?

PC: I assume your daughter learned everything from you in DIRTY DANCING and, now, DANCING WITH THE STARS.

JG: Oh, you think so, do you? Laughs.)

PC: Yes, I do! Even through sheer osmosis!

JG: I just think she's so exciting. I'm so thrilled for her.

PC: Fifteen million viewers agree!

JG: I'm so thrilled that she gets to do what she does so well after a sort of hiatus from the business and everybody is seeing how great she is - and I've always known it!

PC: Tell me about the legacy of CABARET.

JG: I'm so lucky... I love being lucky enough having been in it and that people still like it and think of it as a classic movie. It's great.

PC: CABARET is the greatest film musical of the last fifty years, since SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Did you feel that at the time?

JG: No! No one ever knows those things! (Mischievous Laugh.)

PC: Tell me about your experiences with CABARET with both Hal Prince on Broadway originally, then the film with Fosse.

JG: Well, I was very lucky in that I had Hal Prince guiding the stage production that made it a... classic.

PC: So classic.

JG: An absolutely... just something nobody had seen before.

PC: Indeed.

JG: Then, Fosse went on and made a movie like nobody had seen before. So, you know, I was so lucky to be with these creative men.

PC: Prince is so intellectual and verbose, but I've heard Fosse was not a man of many words and much more direct. Tell me about Fosse filming CABARET and what he was like on set.

JG: He really knew what he wanted to do! We really collaborated very well, especially considering that we came from very different places originally... I think he had another point of view ultimately. But, then he got to be - you know, some of his Broadway things were very entertaining - but, the depth of what he was able to mine in the movie was much closer to the seriousness of purpose that I had. I don't think he knew he was going to be a great dramatic director until then. And, he was.

PC: Without question. CABARET - and, later ALL THAT JAZZ - is really single-handedly responsible for moving the movie musical form into a new form like what we have today.

JG: Absolutely.

PC: Those are the forerunners of GLEE and what musicals have become now.

JG: That's right.

PC: Our lives have become musicals. Do you think the phenomenon of things like GLEE and WICKED is because of that melding of old Broadway with a pop sensibility? That people can relate to the sound?

JG: Oh, absolutely! That's what made WICKED happen. It had this young sound - sort of a pseudo-rock - that was connected to the best of the Broadway sensibility that Stephen Schwartz had that somehow made the whole thing just a new and amazing thing. When you were in it, it was like you were in a rock concert!

PC: In previews the energy was incredible in that theatre. Still is.

JG: Yeah!

PC: What about working with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel?

JG: Oh, I loved them both. Totally, You know... they were my girls! (Laughs.)

PC: Who are your favorite leading ladies since you've worked with all of the best?

JG: Well, Liza and I have something very special. We are part of a world that just seemed to click with the public and have a kind of big effect on the entertainment world, actually.

PC: Without question. Impact is exponential, even now.

JG: You know, what we did [in CABARET] was the forerunner to Bowie and the rock stars that were very out-there - all those out-there performers - many people feel they were inspired by CABARET.

PC: Androgyny in fashion, too. Like Helmut Lang.

JG: Yes. Exactly.

PC: You should get residuals!

JG: Yes! Or something! (Laughs.)

PC: Another genre-busting movie musical you starred in is one of my recent favorites, Lars Von Trier's DANCER IN THE DARK.

JG: So underrated!

PC: Amazingly innovative.

JG: Brilliant performance by Bjork. Great acting by a whole bunch of other people like David Morse.

PC: Oh, yeah! The typewriter scene is a killer!

JG: Yeah! It's just... (Pause.) That was a highlight of my life.

 

PC: I love Lars Von Trier, he's so theatrical - especially this and DOGVILLE and MANDERLAY - what was he like? What was the Dogme 95 set-up like to work with all the stationary cameras and hand-helds?

JG: You do it the way he likes to do it and the only way he knows how to do it, which is: he tells you very little, but the way he has set it up makes you part of his world and you just adapt to it easily.

PC: Did you find you let him lead the way?

JG: Yes, he was a very light touch in that respect.

PC: Did you imagine the film would look like it does based on the script?

JG: No, I had no idea it would be as thrilling as it was. The whole reason I did it was because of his first big film.

PC: BREAKING THE WAVES?

JG: Yeah. I was like, "I don't care what he wants me to do, I'm comin'!" (Laughs.)

PC: You are attracted to the great minds more than the great paycheck.

JG: And to do something daring and new. And risky! I love risk!

PC: That's obvious from your choices of roles!

JG: I might be scared to death, but I love it! (Laughs.)

PC: What's the riskiest situation you ever got yourself into on Broadway?

JG: I think maybe it was coming up with the character of the Emcee. You know, it was unlike anything I had ever seen before and I didn't know if anybody was going to buy it or like it or be attracted to it. Or even to find it valid. So, it was like standing out on a tight-rope.

PC: THE NORMAL HEART changed so much of the way plays were produced, as well. So risky.

JG: It's very risky. It's one of the riskiest plays ever put on. You know, the actors are at risk and the audience is at risk. It's like doing a play in the intensive care unit.

PC: How insightful - and perhaps ironic - you use the phrase "at risk" for this play.

JG: Oh, wow. Yeah, you're right.

PC: The themes are so prescient. It could have been written yesterday. You did it originally in 1985 and now, what's the difference?

JG: Oh, yeah. It's so disturbing... I mean, so much of that is still an issue. Health care was an issue in that play. Gay marriage was an issue in that play. Gays in the military was an issue in that play. And HIV is an issue that is still out of mind and out of sight and out of resolution.

PC: That's so true. AIDS is such a crisis, still. As much today as then.

JG: It's still dangerous and it's still taking over enormous populations!

PC: We lost so many on Broadway to the disease. Michael Bennett and so many more. Tell me some memories of people we have lost that you want to be remembered.

JG: Larry Kert was one of my closest friends and he was one of the first to go. He was just a buddy for many years. I laughed with him like I laughed with nobody. There are a half a dozen other talented people, good people - and good friends.

PC: Tell me about doing CABARET on the Tony Awards.

JG: I remember in 1966 it was the first cross-country, live performance of the Tony Awards. "Wilkommen" was the opening number.

PC: It was so thrilling! All that technology was all new, right?

JG: Yeah! It was all new! You know, I've been around... I've been in the circumstances of first-time stuff very often and I guess I am addicted to it! I have to say that I must have some part in that being such a recurring thing in my life is to be at risk and on the cusp.

PC: On the cutting edge! You attract the top talents - like Joe Mantello onstage with you on THE NORMAL HEART and directing you in WICKED. Tell me about working with him.

JG: Well, I think he's a fantastic director. But, I remember him in the original ANGELS IN AMERICA and I don't think I ever saw anything better than his performance in that.

PC: So, you're a fan.

JG: Definitely. When I was about to do this reading in Los Angeles - I was in the theatre for WICKED and he was directing something - and he said, "What are you doing next?" and I said, "I'm going to LA to do THE NORMAL HEART," and he said, "You know, that's the only part I ever missed playing in my life when I was an actor."

PC: As Ned.

JG: Yes. So, I said, "Well, why don't you do it with me?" and he said, "I would love to!" But, then he couldn't because of his WICKED involvement with rehearsals and stuff.

PC: Too bad!

JG: Yeah, but he said, "If you ever do it again... ha ha ha" and here we are and he is doing it! It's going to be fantastic!

PC: What a great cast they have assembled for this NORMAL HEART reading. Have you got to work with Glenn Close yet?

JG: Yes! Of course!

PC: How exciting is that! Have you worked together before?

JG: Actually not, we just know each other socially. I love working with her on this, though.

PC: What has the experience of rehearsal been like so far?

JG: Everybody is so admiring and... frightened... of it. You know, it's still a very scary play. (Pause.) And so funny. That's what people forget about, is that when things are very, very powerful in a sad way they have that possibility of also being over-the-top, hysterically funny. We have some big, big laughs!

PC: It's a funny play. It won the Pulitzer for drama, but it still has a lot of comedy in it, too.

JG: Yeah.

 

PC: Has Larry Kramer been to rehearsals?

JG: Oh, we've been on the phone everyday. You know, I played the part originally in 1985. He's always very supportive. We have a very, very good connection.

PC: He is a great screenwriter, too.

JG: And THE NORMAL HEART is going to be a film in about a year.

PC: Are you going to be involved?

JG: No, but Mark Ruffalo is supposed to play the lead. He's wonderful.

PC: Tell me about working with Jack McBrayer.

JG: Oh, he's just marvelous. Just wonderful and has just the right touch for this character he is playing. That son of a bitch! (Laughs.)

PC: Are you a 30 ROCK fan?

JG: I don't watch a lot of television, but that's a very clever show.

PC: You attract all the cutting-edge talent, tell me about your favorite current Broadway shows. I love BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.

JG: Yes! I saw it! I liked it very much!

PC: What does the Emcee himself think of guy-liner and emo?

JG: I thought it was insane and wonderful and fresh! I hear it's working on Broadway. I didn't know that it would.

PC: To have my generation's music alongside a new Kander & Ebb score, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS. From CABARET to this!

JG: Well, I've seen SCOTTSBORO BOYS twice now. I'm so excited about it. John [Kander] is one of my very favorite people in the business - and in the world - and I just think it's just a terrific show.

PC: Some of those songs are so poignant and have so many layers!

JG: I know! I think I'm going to go to the opening.

PC: What are you seeing soon?

JG: I'm off to see LA BETE tonight.

PC: Oh, David Hyde Pierce has done this column, what a smart and talented gentlemen he is.

JG: I agree! He's such a good man.

 

PC: Tell me about working with Kathleen Marshall and ANYTHING GOES early next year at the Roundabout. Have you met Sutton yet?

JG: Yes, she's wonderful, of course. Kathleen Marshall is directing. We're gonna have a good time!

PC: Are they interpolating any Porter songs just for you in this one?

JG: No, I don't think so. But, Sutton and I are going to sing "Friendship".

PC: There's like seven different versions of the script, do you know what version you're going to do?

JG: (Laughs.) I guess so! (Laughs.) I have no idea. You'll have to ask Ms. Marshall!

PC: What a great Porter score!

JG: It's gonna be great.

PC: When do rehearsals start?

JG: I think we rehearse at the end of January. It opens in April.

PC: It's too bad you never did a Broadway show with Michael Bennett. Did you know him?

JG: I knew him very well. It was almost always social, but he did stage a number for me for a television show that was so, so good.

PC: What was it? HULLABALOO?

JG: Yes! HULLABALOO.

PC: Donna McKechnie did such outrageous moves by him on that show.

JG: Yes! Yes!

PC: What do you think of Lady Gaga?

JG: I think she's really good.

PC: Liza said the same thing!

JG: Yeah, I think she's talented. I did a benefit one night at Carnegie Hall with Bono and Lady Gaga and Rufus Wainwright.

PC: Oh, really? I didn't know that!

JG: Oh yeah!

PC: Was it great to work with her?

JG: I just saw her because I was on this benefit with her and I thought she was just terrific.

PC: So theatrical. Fosse is an influence, she's said.

JG: Oh, really? I didn't know that.

PC: Do you have any films or TV shows in the can?

JG: No! I've been around, though. I did a whole bunch of HOUSE and all the doctor shows...

PC: You were great on GREY'S ANATOMY.

JG: Thanks. Whenever I get to work with great actors, I'm happy.

PC: What enterprise that you have been associated with, what iconic event - CABARET, CHICAGO, WICKED - will be remembered forever, longer than the others? You've had a part in three of the biggest ones.

JG: Oh, I think CABARET. I think that has its special place in the pantheon.

PC: Define collaboration.

JG: Umm... (Pause.) Collaboration is about listening to someone else and adding your own feelings about that thought. (Pause.) Someone else's thought that you validate and are inspired by, that turns out to be a collaboration.

PC: Thank you so much, Mr. Grey! This was so much fun! Break a leg in THE NORMAL HEART and send my best to Jennifer!

JG: Thanks you so much for this! It was great! Bye!