40 | OCTOBER 31 • 2019 

T

o know George Costanza 
was to love him. And to 
pity him. And to some-
times kinda loathe and hate 
him. But (almost) always come 
back to loving him.
Jason Alexander is best 
known for his role as George 
on nine seasons of Seinfeld (for 
which he earned seven Emmy 
nominations and four Screen 
Actors Guild awards). The actor 
brought range, comedic chops 
and willingness to be the butt 
of most jokes to a character so 
outrageous and memorable that 
viewers around the world are on 
a first-name basis with him.
But long before George was a 
whole other Jason, a celebrated 

Broadway star and Tony win-
ner. And that Jason is headed 
to Detroit’
s Orchestra Hall 
to perform with the Detroit 
Symphony Orchestra for two 
shows only, Nov. 2 and 3.
The song-and-dance man 
was born Jay Scott Greenspan 
in Newark, N.J., to parents 
Ruth Minnie and Alexander 
B. Greenspan — whose name 
Alexander borrowed for his 
own stage name. In a 2014 
master class taught to Boston 
University’
s College of Fine 
Arts, Alexander told the audi-
ence that while a student at BU, 
where he aspired to become a 
classical actor, a professor called 
him into his office.
“He said, ‘
I know your heart 
and soul are Hamlet. But you 
will never play Hamlet,
’
” refer-
ring to Alexander’
s physicality. 
Instead, Alexander says, the 
professor told him, “‘
Learn 
to do comedy and love it.
’
 He 
was right.
” Alexander left BU 
the summer before his senior 
year. Months later, he was on 

Broadway starring in Stephen 
Sondheim’
s Merrily We Roll 
Along — a musical actor’
s 
dream. (In 1995, BU’
s College of 
Fine Arts awarded him an hon-
orary degree.)
After his turn in Merrily, 
Alexander continued on 
Broadway with Neil Simon’
s 
Broadway Bound before 
winning a Tony Award for 
his performance in Jerome 
Robbins’
 Broadway in 1989. He’
s 
appeared in dozens of films 
and TV shows over his 30-year 
career, including Pretty Woman, 
Shallow Hal, Larry David’
s Curb 
Your Enthusiasm and more. 
Married to Daena Title (cous-
in of director Stacy Title) since 
1981, Alexander told that BU 
master class that he has two 
then-college-age sons (Gabriel 
and Noah), who “combined 
have probably seen a total of 
seven episodes of Seinfeld.
”
When asked about the 
influence of his Jewish roots, 
Alexander told Oy! Chicago, 
“I don’
t know that I can point 

to Judaism specifically as 
inspirational or directional to 
my work. I think much of my 
comedic instincts are informed 
by the urban and Jewish 
rhythms that I was surrounded 
with as a child.
” 
Alexander added, “Jews come 
from pretty remarkable back-
grounds and tend to be pretty 
colorful people … living and 
growing up in a largely Jewish 
community helped me create 
and appreciate the canvas of 
characters that I draw upon in 
my work. But Judaism specifi-
cally has not colored either my 
choices or performances terribly 
much.
”
And, in 2015, the Jewish Week 
wrote about the veteran stage 
actor that “
Alexander was every-
thing that George Costanza is 
not. Where George is hostile, 
Alexander is personable. Where 
George deflects, Alexander 
intuits.
”
Although Alexander is being 
secretive about what exact-
ly audiences will experience 
during his visit to Detroit, we 
do know the performances will 
be a hilarious recap of his jour-
ney onstage and on TV — and 
is full of songs, comedy and 
audience interaction. 
He will be joined by pia-
nist and music director Todd 
Schroeder and guest soloist 
Carrie Schroeder, and the 
events will be conducted by 
Robert Bernhardt as part of the 
DSO’
s PNC Pops Series, which 
showcases both the DSO and a 
wide variety of popular music.
We can’
t wait to get to know 
the real Jason Alexander. 

The Tony-winning 
song-and-dance man 
heads to Detroit’
s 
Orchestra Hall. 

LYNNE KONSTANTIN 
 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Stands Up

Arts&Life

music

Jason Alexander
The Real

details
Jason Alexander joins the DSO’
s 
PNC Pops Series Saturday-
Sunday, Nov. 2-3, at Orchestra 
Hall, inside the Max M. and 
Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, 
Detroit. $24 and up. DSO.org.

Jason Alexander 
performs with 
the New Jersey 
Symphony Orchestra

FRED STUCKER

