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