66 | JULY 13 • 2023 

T

wenty-seven years 
before he converted 
to Judaism, Detroit 
native Curtis Armstrong was 
already acquainted with how 
small a shtiebel is.
That is because when he 
made his off-Broadway debut 
in 1980, the 1975 graduate 
of the Academy of Dramatic 
Art (ADA) at Oakland 
University in Rochester was 
cast as a young Irish revo-
lutionary who was hiding 
in an old Jewish merchant’s 
room upstairs (If you didn’t 
know, shtiebels are places 
used for communal Jewish 

prayers).

 The Jewish merchant 
gives the Irish Republican 
Army boy shelter because, 
as he tells him, “the hunted 
are all on the same side.”

 Titled The Irish Hebrew 
Lesson, the show, which was 
performed at the Colonnades 
Theatre, only ran for 88 per-
formances, but was nominat-
ed for a Drama Desk Award 
for Outstanding Play, accord-
ing to a published account.

 “I am often asked a 
lot of questions about the 
messages contained in some 
of the things I’ve appeared 

in,” Armstrong says. “But 
the truth is, that [The Irish 
Hebrew Lesson] was just 
a job. Its message, per se, 
wasn’t what registered with 
me. I was just hoping it 
would be a step-up to a 
Broadway career for myself.”

 If he wasn’t exactly the 
talk of the town during the 
early stages of his career, 
during the run of The Irish 
Hebrew Lesson, Armstrong 
says he was the toast of the 
town at a lot of Irish pubs 
and taverns. “I couldn’t go 
to any real Irish bar in New 
York City without getting a 

drink bought for me,” he says 
with a laugh.

 “I had already done 
a young Irishman when 
I appeared in a national 
touring company of Da,” he 
continues, “so I was used to 
doing that kind of role and 
effecting an Irish accent.” 

 He credits the training he 
received at Oakland’s ADA 
“for requiring that we were 
at least capable of doing 
different dialects.

 “And if you weren’t,” he 
adds,“you were taught.”

 The Irish Hebrew 
Lesson helped Armstrong 
land an audition with Peter 
Schaffer, who needed an 
actor to replace Tim Curry 
in the Broadway production 
of Amadeus. Though he 
didn’t get the part, he says he 
“didn’t care. It was just great. 
It was one of the biggest 
auditions I had ever had up 
to that point.”
Armstrong would also 
audition before Milos 
Forman when the director 
was later casting the film 
version of Amadeus, but he 
didn’t get that part, either. 
“But you know what?” he 
said during a recent tele-
phone call. “At least I was 
considered. How many peo-
ple can say that?”

THE SILVER SCREEN
Because his work was being 
noticed, in the summer of 
1982 Armstrong headed to 
Chicago to appear in his 
first-ever film. It was a fea-
tured role in a high school 
coming-of-age comedy. At 
the time, he was 28 years old.
Released the next year, the 
movie would become a cre-
ative and cultural touchstone, 
according to Variety. Fact 
is, not only would Risky 

Oakland University 
Grad Comes Home

ARTS&LIFE
FILM

PHOTO BY GRADIMAGES FOR OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

Curtis Armstrong, star of Risky Business and 
Revenge of the Nerds, gets honorary doctorate 
from his alma mater.

DOUG GLADSTONE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

At Oakland University’s 
commencement exercises in April, 
Curtis Armstrong received an 
honorary doctorate from University 
President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz.

