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MICHAEL ELKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ewis J. Stadlen is cleaning up
playing a dirty old man in the
bawdy Broadway revival of
A Funny Thing Happened on
the Way to the Forum, at the St.
James Theatre.
As the sex-starved Senex, en-
slaved by his wife's every whim,
he is no master of his domain.
But when his ample wife leaves
him behind to visit her mother,
Senex senses it's time to party—
toga style.
Senex and his son Hero (Jim
Stanek), through a series of mix-
ups and mishegas, wind up pur-
suing the same woman, a young
virgin with a vacancy sign over
her head.
Mr. Stadlen's Senex helps set
the tone for this raucous revival
of the 1962 show with his Tony
Award-nominated romp: It's
Julius Caesar meets the Key-
stone Kops.
He's in good company — the
madcap musical has taken eight
Tony nods. The awards will be
presented Sunday evening in
New York.
A funny thing about Forum,
Mr. Stadlen says, is that "it's ac-
tually a very Jewish play."
How so? 'Well, Burt Shevelove
and Larry Gelbart wrote the
book, (and) the score is by
Stephen Sondheim."
And there's a sense of Jewish
humor that permeates the play,
going back to the original pro-
duction, when Zero Mostel added
his own comedic sense to the mu-
sical as the truth-allergic slave
Pseudolus.
That role is now enacted by
Tony nominee Nathan Lane.
So what was the challenge in
boarding this chariot ride filled
with fun and games?
"The challenge," says Lewis
Stadlen, "was figuring out how
this man (Senex) could justify a
young beautiful woman looking
at him, let alone wanting him."
In a long and fruitful career,
Mr. Stadlen, 49, has not been
wanting for major roles. His film
credits include The Verdict, Ser-
pico, IQ and the telefilm "Judge
Horton and the Scottsboro Boys."
Boys are a popular part of ti-
tles for Mr. Stadlen's stage work.
He performed in The Sunshine
Boys and played Groucho in Min-
nie's Boys.
For Senex, Lewis Stadlen
turned to his recollection of David
Burns, who originated the part
as an overgrown boy with a han-
kering for hanky-panky.
L
Indeed, baseball fan Stadlen
"I remember his voracious sex-
uality onstage," says Mr. Stadlen, once owned shares in a Montana
who has an appetite for things farm team of the Phillies and
theatrical beyond acting. After talks with a fan's pride of taking
flooring critics with his portray- a tour of minor-league teams in
al of wisecracking Milt in Neil Si- Pennsylvania.
mon's Laughter on
PHOTO BY LOREY SEBASTIAN
the 23rd Floor, Mr.
Stadlen took the
show on the road,
serving as director
for a tour.
"I would like to di-
rect more and more,"
he says. "I learned a
lot of lessons during
that time."
One was the im-
portance of the direct
approach.
"I don't think the
actors were fright-
ened of me," he
laments. "With (orig-
inal director) Jerry
Zaks, there was an
element of fear in-
volved.
When you work
for Jerry, you have to
do it his way."
Which is one way
Lewis Stadlen must
like it: Forum marks
his third collabora-
The onetime star of
tion with Mr. Zaks, Nathan Lane, fresh
one of Broadway's from his success in the Candide, for which Mr.
Stadlen was Tony-nomi-
top directors, includ- movie The Birdcage,
ing his most recent is up for a Tony Award nated, is candid about his
feelings about awards:
production of Guys as the truth-allergic
slave Psuedolus in the "There's the part of me
and Dolls.
Broadway revival A
that disdains the whole
If Mr. Stadlen is Funny Thing
at the top of his Happened on the Way idea, while there's anoth-
er part, the celebrity part,
game now, maybe to the Forum.
that gets upset if I'm not
it's because he has a
getting recognition."
better understand-
Mr. Stadlen recognizes that
ing of self. Happily remarried, the
actor also feels a better under- Senex provides him with ample
opportunity to display his talent.
standing of his religion.
"My sense of Judaism is inter- The part and the show bring up
mingled with who I am," he says. a family memory.
"I first saw the show on my fa-
"I am a Jewish actor.
"I always identified with the ther's birthday, in 1963," he re-
cultural aspects of Judaism. calls. "Before the show, we went
What I always lacked was the to dinner, and my father laughed
so hard at the show, he threw up
spiritual context."
But as he grew, so did his un- part of his meal."
More than 30 years later, his
derstanding of his role in the
world. "It wasn't until I realized father once again went to see the
that I was part of something big- show, with his son as a star.
ger, that I was able to feel any "When I started rehearsals, I told
everybody that if my father
peace at all," he says.
That bigger picture includes a doesn't throw up, then we're in
happy family life, with two chil- trouble."
A funny thing happened on the
dren. His field of vision isn't lim-
ited to theater and film. Buy him way to the elder Stadlen's enjoy-
some peanuts and Cracker Jack, ment of Forum: He loved the
and Lewis Stadlen won't care if show — and kept his dinner
he ever gets back from a ball- down. 0
game.
r
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