Loose Lips

The Huntington Theatre’s production of The Cherry Orchard marks Kate Burton‘s first crack at the role of estate owner Madame Ranevskaya, but it’s far from her first experience with the master playwright. In fact, she’s been performing Chekhov for about 30 years, since her college days at Brown University — and she has been aware of his work even longer. “I think I was about 15 years old when I saw Nicol Williamson and George C. Scott do Uncle Vanya at Circle in the Square, and I thought it was incredible,” she recalls. “I fell in love with Russian literature in eighth grade at the U.N. School, and I eventually started to learn Russian. Something just clicked with me.”

As for clicking with Chekhov, Burton feels that his plays are particularly challenging for actors. “They can be quite treacherous to work on; it’s easy to go into a sentimental mode, but if you do that, it just dissipates everything,” she says. “Actually, I think there can never be a perfect production, but that’s what makes him so wonderful to work on. You will find something new every single night that you do it.”

In Burton’s first Cherry Orchard, at Williamstown, she played Anya to Colleen Dewhurst’s Ranevskaya. “She was such an amazing actress,” Burton remarks. “But I have to say, I think I appreciate The Cherry Orchard more being an older person. That’s the great thing about Chekhov; at every point in your life, he speaks to you in a different way.”

She admits that the flighty Ranevskaya is a big departure — and a welcome one — from her usual roles: “I’m used to being the smartest person in the room on stage, and she’s this complete romantic who doesn’t think of the consequences of her action. I’ve actually been re-reading Anna Karenina to prepare. By nature, I’m a very practical person, so it’s wonderful to play someone who is not practical at all.”

The production reunites her with two former collaborators, translator/adaptor Richard Nelson (she starred in the Broadway production of his play Some Americans Abroad) and director Nicholas Martin, who guided Burton to a Tony Award nomination in Hedda Gabler. “What Richard has done,” she says, “is to really track Ranevskaya’s journey. When she arrives back in Russia, she’s still grieving, and when she leaves again, she has started to make a path to recovery. Nicky has become such an interesting director; we’ve all grown together since Hedda. I feel more comfortable as a leading lady because of that play and, now, doing Grey’s Anatomy. I think we’ve all gained confidence in the past few years.”

WHITE GOES PURPLE
Having spent the better part of three years playing one of the theater’s ultimate good guys, Mufasa in The Lion King, Alton Fitzgerald White was thrilled to step to the bad side as the mean-spirited Mister in The Color Purple. “I’m usually cast as the responsible father, and that doesn’t allow me to use a lot of colors,” he says. “I really say Mister as more of an acting part, and one where I can use my life experience. The dark side exists in all of us, and we all have to make peace with it.”

But White wanted to make sure that Mister, who is abusive to his wife Celie (now played by the sensational Jeanette Bayardelle), isn’t seen as pure evil. “No one is just mean or just angry,” he says. “I had never read the novel until I got the part, and the book gave me so much insight into his character. His father beat him; his first wife didn’t love him. In fact, Mister’s life has been chosen for him by his father, and Celie represents his frustration. He’s stuck in his misery. But I want the audience to find out why he’s so angry and so wounded.”

And what kind of reaction has his performance received? “I don’t care if the audience hates me as long as they also find something appealing to hold on to. After the show, a lot of black women wait at the stage door and tell me that I got them to understand Mister’s sadness and frustration. When I hear that, I feel like I did my job.”

SCENE STEALER

Having starred practically back-to-back in Festen and The Pain and the Itch within the past year, Christopher Evan Welch was considering taking some time off from theater; but the opportunity to audition for Theresa Rebeck‘s comedy The Scene, now at Second Stage, was too good to pass up. “The piece had been such a success at the Humana Festival and had such buzz,” says Welch. “I had a really good time at the audition, and I could feel how much fun it would be to play the part. But I kind of wondered if they had some big star on hold, so I was glad the call that I got it came pretty quickly.”

Working on the show has proved to be a remarkable experience for Welch: “Theresa has been so accessible and so much part of the process. Like the best writers, she continues to think about her play and work on it to give its full breadth and life. She really does something kind of fascinating with the play; she gets you in with the jokes, and as the situation turns darker and darker, she still manages to keep you inside.”

Welch also has nothing but kind words for his co-stars. “The cast is extremely cool,” he says. “I play Lewis, who is Tony Shalhoub‘s best friend, and the two of us have this great repartee. Patricia Heaton, who plays his wife, is such a great comedienne. She has natural stage presence and knows how to land a laugh. Anna Camp is terrific, and so unlike the evil succubus she plays. She just couldn’t be sweeter.”

The actor is enjoying his current high visibility; he also has a small role in the recently released film The Good Shepherd, which was directed by Robert DeNiro, and a larger part in the soon-to-be-released The Hoax, starring Richard Gere. “Working with Bob DeNiro was fascinating,” he comments. “He’s very soft-spoken and shy, yet friendly. He really only speaks when he needs to, and then he’s interested in the details; he’s not big on a lot of overarching acting talk. In any case, it was thrilling to call my mom and tell her I’m in a big movie.”

MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC
Country music queen Tammy Faye Starlite (a.k.a. performance artist Tammy Lang) will star in Born Again Again! at L.A.’s Renberg Theatre, January 12-27; the legendary Paul Anka will play the Arena at Mohegan Sun on January 13; the hilarious Jason Graae will debut his new show, Graae’s Anatomy, at Birdland on January 15; Drama Desk Award winners Toxic Audio will perform at New World Stages, January 20-21; and MAC Award winner David Gurland will sing nothing but showtunes in the first of his monthly DGUR concerts at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on January 21.

Looking to next month, cabaret favorite Eric Comstock will present his Manhattan Masters series of shows at the Metropolitan Room, February 4-26; original Rent star Adam Pascal will hold forth at the Forum Theatre in Metuchen, New Jersey on February 9; Tony winner Linda Lavin will offer Songs and Confessions of a One-Time Waitress at the Community Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey on February 10; and the inimitable Jackie Hoffman will return to Joe’s Pub with her new show Jackie With a Z on February 12.

Lastly, here’s great news for fans of Leslie Kritzer who were lucky enough to see her Joe’s Pub act Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches, as well as those unlucky enough to have missed it: The final two shows that Kritzer performed last week before flying off to San Francisco for Legally Blonde were recorded by Ghostlight Records. Many thanks to Kurt Deutsch for preserving this truly remarkable act!

REMEMBER HER WELL
The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble will host a memorial celebration for Eve Adamson, the founder of Jean Cocteau Rep, at 7:30pm on Monday, January 29 at LaMaMa’s Annex Theatre. Adamson passed away on October 29, just as she was preparing to begin rehearsals for the Phoenix production of Anitgone. Members of the public who want to attend the memorial must RSVP to Elise@phoenixtheatreensemble.org.