TV Stars - Really? They Started On The Legit Stage

Many times the general public associates an actor with a role they play on a long-running television show, not realizing that often that thespian had an active career on the stage first. Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston on Law and Order, Jason Alexander on Seinfeld, and Patricia Heaton on Everybody Loves Raymond are a few of the many actors who first trained for, cut their teeth on, and professionally performed on the legitimate stage.

The fact is the technique most often taught to American stage actors - some form of the Stanislavski Method - works very nicely on both TV and film. Although there are adjustments to be made going from the stage to television, a well-trained stage actor can usually make those adjustments fairly quickly.

The biggest changes have to do with the subtlety employed by those acting for the camera. Stage actors find that physically and vocally less is more in front of the camera. Additionally, a good film or television actor has a sound sense of how to use the camera frame to their best advantage. An actor like Michael Caine is a master at this.

For someone who has only done television or film, acting on the stage can be difficult. The stage demands that actors sustain a character for long periods of time, something the electronic media does not do. Overall, stage performing also calls for bigger actions than those needed for television and film. If someone has never been trained for the theatre, this can be intimidating.

Of course the scariest thing about acting on stage is the fact that you’re in front of a live audience and if you make a mistake, you don’t get a Mulligan. Even when a television show is done in front of a "live audience," there’s less pressure for the actor to be perfect. If they "go up" (that is, forget their lines), they can make a joke and get a laugh while "cut" is called. They then get to try the moment, action or scene again. There is no "cut" in a live stage performance; there is only "covering" for a flubbed line, a missed entrance, or a misplaced prop.

Here are a few actors that you’ve become familiar with on television who first acted on the legitimate stage.

Jerry Orbach

Orbach, who passed away in 2004, was best known as the wisecracking Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law and Order. As a young man, he attended the University of Illinois and Northwestern University where he studied drama. After going to New York, he continued to study for the stage. He became closely associated with musicals, creating the role of El Gallo and singing the well-know opening number "Try to Remember" in the long-running musical The Fantasticks. He won the Tony in 1969 for his portrayal of Chuck Baxter in Promises, Promises; he sang the hit song "I’ll Never Fall in Love Again" in that show. He also played leads in Chicago (Billy Flynn) and Forty-Second Street (Julian Marsh). Most Law and Order fans don’t realize that Orbach had a beautiful, resonate singing voice.

Bebe Neuwirth

Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth has recently become a regular on Law and Order, where she plays the role of Tracey Kibre. However, it was on the sitcom Cheers that she found fame by playing Lilith Sternin-Crane - a tough, tense psychiatrist and wife of Frasier Crane. Neuwirth trained at the Julliard School and first made her name as a dancer and actor in the national tour of A Chorus Line (1980), where she played Cassie and Sheila. In 1982, she appeared on Broadway in Dancin’, directed and choreographed by the legendary Bob Fosse, and in the musical Little Me. She cemented her reputation on the Great White Way by playing the lead in Bob Fosse’s revival of the musical Sweet Charity (1986), for which she won a Tony. Neuwirth is an amazing, charismatic musical performer, who commands the stage with her voice and body.

Jason Alexander

Best know as Jerry Seinfeld’s obnoxious best friend George Costanza in the sitcom Seinfeld, Alexander, who was born Jay Greenspan in Newark, NJ, is another former Tony winner. While he was an undergraduate at Boston College, Alexander was cast in Stephen Soundheim’s Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along. He won the Best Actor in A Musical Tony for his role in Jerome Robbin’s Broadway (1989). In the first few episodes of Seinfeld, he wasn’t quite sure of how to play George Castanza so he imitated Woody Allen.

Sam Waterston

On television he plays tough, no nonsense D.A. Jack McCoy in Law and Order (1990), but originally Waterston was best known for his stage roles. He went to Yale, where he did not study acting, but did taking acting classes at the American Actors Workshop in Paris. Waterston played numerous roles in New York, including Jonathan in Oh, Dad, Poor, Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling so Sad, Hamlet in Hamlet, and Signoir Benedick of Padua in Much Ado About Nothing, for which he won the Drama desk award for Best Actor. Prior to becoming associated with Law and Order, he was best known for his work in straight plays, both new and classic. On stage, Waterston perfected an elegant, refined style, displaying an ability to make precise and subtle acting choices.

Barry Bostwick

On the Michael J. Fox sitcom Spin City, Bostwick played the dimwitted mayor Randall M. Winston Jr. in 70 episodes. Since that time, he’s appeared on numerous hit TV shows as a guest star, including Scrubs, Cold Case and Law and Order. But Bostwick has deep Broadway roots that include the creation of the role of Danny Zuko in Grease, for which he received a Best Actor in a Musical nomination, and the creation of the lead role of Jamie Lockhart in the musical The Robber Bridegroom, for which he won the Tony. Bostwick, who also played in numerous straight plays, was known for his high energy and slapdash style. While performing in his award winning run as Jamie Lockhart, Bostwick broke his arm when he fell swinging across the stage on a rope. He proved he was a trouper though when, after a short recuperative period, he got back on stage with his arm in a cast and continued to play Lockhart, rope swing and all.

Patricia Heaton

For 70 episodes, Heaton played Debra Barone, Ray Romano’s wife on the very popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. As a young woman, she focused on theatre arts at Ohio State University and then went to New York where she studied with William Esper. She made her debut in the Broadway gospel musical Don’t Get God Started, but overall during her career in New York she was relegated to small roles. With a few acting buddies, she started a theatre company called Stage Three, which produced new works in NYC. In 1989 they took their successful production of The Johnstown Vindicator to Los Angeles, where casting directors saw and liked Heaton. Slowly her TV career started to take off. But Heaton has long acknowledged that despite the fact that she never made it big on Broadway, her stage training has been instrumental to her success on television.

James Gandolfini

Gandolfini continues his run as the cold-hearted, insecure, narcissistic Tony Soprano on HBO’s hit series The Sopranos. After receiving a degree in Communications from Rutgers University, Gandolfini went on to study acting in the late 1980’s at the prestigious Actors Studio in New York City. After making his professional stage debut in Big El's Best Friend, he appeared in many New York productions. He made his Broadway debut in 1992 as Steve Hubbell in the revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, which starred Alex Baldwin and Jessica Lang. Other New York credits included On the Waterfront, One Day Wonder and Tarantulas Dancing. The same year he first appeared on Broadway, he also landed his first screen role, which was in Sidney Lumet's A Stranger Among Us. Since 1992, he’s appeared in over 20 films. He’s been Tony Soprano in over 70 episodes.

Other actors, who have either made their name or learned invaluable acting lessons in the theatre before becoming part of the electronic entertainment industry, include Martin Sheen, Stockard Channing, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall, Meryl Streep, and Swoosie Kurtz. These actors have labored hard to learn their craft on what was the first acting platform available to humankind - the live stage.

Movies are a little over 100 years old and television is about 75 years old. The formal theatre goes back over 2,500 years! It’s the true learning and testing ground for acting technique, stamina, and skill that, once honed, can then be transferred to any other venue.

Go to a Broadway show or a professional theatre near you - you may catch a performance by someone you’ll see break through on the tube in the next few years. One night, you’ll be sitting in your den or living room watching the next big hit drama or sitcom and say, "Hey, didn’t we see that actor on the stage?" Yeah, you did, before they were famous. Very cool.

By Paul Mroczka sponsored by www.stubhub.com/ . StubHub sells sports tickets, Broadway Show tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world. Please link to this site when using this article.

Related Information of Interest:

7 Tips To Keep Your Pet Safe On Halloween
Children aren't the only ones who should be closely
monitored on Halloween. The holiday can be a scary and
dangerous time for your pet as well.

By following some simple tips you can keep your pet safe and
comfortable without infringing on the family fun:

1. Don't put costumes on your pets unless they are used to
it. Wearing clothing can make pets uncomfortable and even
sick.

2. Candy is for humans and not for their furry friends.

3. Chocolate is toxic to animals. It can make them very sick.
Make sure that the "after Halloween" candy is put away so
your pet can’t get it--especially the chocolate. We hear
from owners every year of pets they had to take to the
emergency room because they managed to find the candy and
eat it. Give them a pet treat instead.

4. If you know or suspect your pet has eaten some Halloween
candy contact your veterinarian IMMEDIATELY. Some candies,
especially chocolate, can be life threatening. If you can’t
reach your veterinarian you can call the ASPCA’s Poison
Control Center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at (888) 426-
4435.

Caution: A $50 consultation fee may be applied to your
credit card.

5. Costumes may look strange to people, but just imagine
what they look like to a dog or cat. Animals aren't used to
seeing that kind of thing, and it could frighten them. So,
it's best not take them trick or treating.

6. If your pet isn’t good with strangers, it’s best to put
her in a separate room away from the door, so she won’t be
bothered by the presence of strangers.

7. If your pet is going to be free in the house, with the
door being opened repeatedly, there is more of a chance that
your pet can get outside. So, remember to make sure he is
wearing his license tags. That way, if he does get away,
there is a better chance of getting him back home sooner.

About the Author

James Kelly is the owner of Travelin Pets, a web site
specializing in providing information and quality products
for traveling pets and their owners.

Visit his website at: www.travelinpets.com
e-mail: tpservices@travelinpets.biz

More things I have learned
Growing old does have one benefit ... experience. So, I am continuing here to share my vast pool of knowledge. Of course my girlfriend can't resist telling me I need to clean the pool, but heres the list anyway.

1. If you do anything that gets your hands wet, soapy or dirty, your nose WILL itch.

2. When you give your email out anywhere on the internet, you will soon learn all you never wanted to know about body part enhancements.

3. A cat does not love you. It simply allows you to live with it IF you pet, feed and clean it's litter box on a regular basis. Otherwise, you're history.

4. Your Co-Workers, on the other hand, DO love you ... at least as long as you continue to give them good stuff to talk about when you aren't around.

5. You are NOT the master of your fate. Your mother is. And when you get married, your wife is.

6. Life is beautiful .. Life sucks ... life is beautiful ... life sucks. Repeat as necessary.

7. There is a chip in all cars that keeps them from starting unless you stroke the dashboard correctly and sincerely mean it when you say "Come on baby .. you can do it".

8. Computers will only work correctly when you DON'T need them to.

9. A kiss is just a kiss, and a smile is just a smile, but a baby is forever.

10. There is no such thing as a ghost that can haunt you ... except in your own mind.

11. Nothing is carved in stone ... other than what will happen if you forget your other half's birthday or anniversary.

12. No matter how hard you try, you will NEVER be able to fold laundry according to your spouse's instructions.

13. Anything you think will happen, won't... and anything you think won't happen, will.

14. Love is a two way street .. unless you are on the freeway and then there may be lots of exits before you get somewhere.

You can see more of Jan Michaels musings or various and sundry humorous items at: Articles Heaven Or, Free Heaven

Russia Defends Iranian Nuke Program; Considers Position Good Customer Service
While the civilized world has reacted with horror at Iran’s plan to harness the energy of the atom, as in bombs away, Russia has steadfastly defended the menacing mullahdom’s nuclear ambitions.

At first, any person distinguished for responsible behavior is taken back by such apparently reckless advocacy, not only because it seems wildly risky, if not outright self-destructive, but also because one does not expect it from people who have decided to present themselves as such reformed friends of humanity and trustworthy politicos that they dress in spiffy garb, instead of in their former universal drab.

We, however, turn to the hard-learned observation that, if anybody’s behavior doesn’t’ seem to make sense, you probably just don’t understand what his or her goals are.

Seen this way, the gremlin in the Kremlin is as obvious as the red power tie we often see dangling from Vladimir Putin's neck. Iran buys weapons from Russia and will now buy enriched uranium, too, and Russia is just servicing the customer.

As V. P., who brought order to Russia by ordering his Russian cohorts around, said, “Once when I was in the KGB and didn’t have a lot to do, I read about the American department store tycoon, John Wanamaker, who once told a clerk, ‘When a customer comes in, forget about me.’ So when Iran comes up, I forget about everything but putting the customer first. It seems like the capitalist thing to do, and in the modern Russian economy, I think there’s at least room for that much free enterprise.”

One would think that there would be some awareness of the geographical limits of his enthusiasm. After all, Russia is a lot closer to Iran than we are. There are also other inescapable aspects of the client relationship that ought to be considered, among them that Vladimir and his gangsta-rich associates look as much like infidels to the Iranians currently steering their ship of state toward the reefs of war as we do.

What Lenin once said about capitalists apparently also applies to reformed communists: they would sell you the rope to hang them with.

Tom Attea, creator of Newslaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway and has written comedy for TV. Critics have called his writing ""delightfully funny" and "witty" with "good, genuine laughs."

Da Wingy Code
Critics say the film is crap. The people say it’s insulting to God. It’s banned, and then it’s not. We have not had such a circus over a new movie release for quite some time now. I almost missed all the hoopla.

Thank you Mr. Ron Howard. Thank you for waking the sleeping masses. Why do we see all these protest over a film that no one has seen yet? It’s everyone’s chance to get his or her 15 minutes of fame I guess. It did bring about an interesting sound byte by the Director of The Da Vinci Code at the press conference at Cannes though. He said to all the people that were protesting the release of the film “Don’t watch it!” I think that’s reverse psychology at its best. He went on to say that those who think that they might be offended by the movie should wait tell they meet someone who has actually seen the film and then discuss the matter and decide whether to watch it or not.

For heavens sake, it’s a work of fiction. Let it be. You won’t turn to dust if you watch it or be condemned to eternal damnation for that matter. The Da Vinci Code movie is just like any other mainstream commercial cinema on the planet, the main objective it to make money. All this extra good or bad publicity only helps it along on that path. But who will explain this to the scores of “faithful” that call for a ban on it. These people are too wrapped up in sentiment.

The one other interesting point to note from all of this was that Ron Howard also reminded everyone that this was a movie and not a documentary. That’s another crucial mistake that people seem to be also making. Somewhere under the arc lights of today’s sharp marketing campaigns that are attached to mega budget productions the line between reality and fiction often blurs. In the process of trying to sell the movie we see it to be packaged as something that really took place. The advertising and marketing people have skills so well honed now that they can almost create any reality that they want. You could say that in many ways it’s the victim of its own success.

Lets not forget that the movie is based on a bestseller. The books are still on the shelves and selling at hyper speed. If the book is still around why ban the movie?

Sasha Masand the founder of Indian Voice Overs is an award winning Television Producer who has been part of the Indian media industry for over twelve years.