Photo Source: Liz Lauren
Twenty-two years later, the dynamic duo's sixth O'Neill collaboration is a return to their first, but they're not doing it for each other. They're doing it for Nathan Lane.
"If you read the description of Hickey, it actually fits Nathan Lane to a tee," says Falls, who received a call from Lane saying he was obsessed with O'Neill's plays and wanted to do the role. "If you only know Nathan from his work in comedies and particularly musicals, you wouldn't realize what a great dramatic actor he is. I knew that it would be perceived as unconventional, compared to the other actors who played it, who've been principally tragic actors."
"He's an extraordinary actor," says Dennehy, who plays former anarchist Larry Slade in this production. "He's the real McCoy."
Set in 1912, the play follows a group of dreamers at Harry Hope's Saloon, a run-down Greenwich Village bar. The drunks wait each year for the arrival of the jovial Hickey to start -- and pay for -- the party. When he arrives this year, however, he has different plans, questioning and quashing the bar rats' "pipe dreams."
The longtime collaborators discuss O'Neill and what they've learned from working together over the years.
Robert, this is the only play you've directed twice in two separate productions. Why did you come back to it?
Robert Falls: It's my favorite American play, along with "Long Day's Journey Into Night." So, to me, either play is always worth doing again if you've got the right actors doing those roles. And this was just an instance of Brian and Nathan wanting to do it, knowing that I could find a wonderful company because the ensemble is in many ways as important as those two other actors. And so it just seemed like the right time.
Brian, you've played the role of Hickey twice before. What is it like returning to the play in a different role?
Brian Dennehy: It's a hell of a lot easier. When I did it the first time, I didn't do any preparation at all, which was stupid in hindsight because I was so unreasonably confident about everything. I don't think I did it really well in contrast with Nathan's performance. He's figured out this material in a way that is far more mature and far more intelligent, which is OK. He's a better actor; he's got more talent.
Come on.
Dennehy: No, it's true. I don't have a problem with that. Nathan's a big star for a reason. It's very obvious to anybody who really works in the theater as an actor why Nathan is who he is. One of the great opportunities of doing this, even though we've had a knock-around relationship for years, is I wanted to see what happened in a rehearsal room.
What makes a good O'Neill actor?
Falls: It takes, on one level, a technical facility with the language, which is actually very rich and poetic and slangy. There's an energy that has to drive Eugene O'Neill's language.… But then I think it's actors who just have bravery to expose themselves emotionally in the play. O'Neill takes you to a place where unless you're willing to rip yourself up or expose yourself in a very vulnerable way to fear, guilt, anger, humiliation, it's just not going to fly. You're looking for that when you cast the actors.
Robert Falls (Photo by Liz Lauren)
What have you learned working on this play again?
Dennehy: I've learned that I'm old and tired, and I have to fight against that … The thing that really is interesting is going into a room with 20 to 30 people with a little book in your hands and spending the next six weeks trying to make something happen that's special … When you're 73, your life narrows its focus to certain things. A lot of things have been taken away from me, which is normal. To be able to go into the room and do this work, man, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Falls: If you're 22 years older, you hope you see something different in the play. I'm older than the age O'Neill was when he wrote the play, and you just sort of identify with different things. I felt I understood the role of Hickey very much when I was in my 30s. The role of Larry Slade and that very complex relationship he has with the kid Parritt, I felt I had a deeper, better understanding of now. It was also the first major O'Neill play I'd done, and I've learned a lot more about Eugene O'Neill, his life, how one does his plays, and what makes his plays unique.
Do you have plans for this show beyond Chicago?
Falls: The fact of the matter is, Brian, Nathan, and I really wanted to do it in Chicago for the experience of working on the play. Any play has the potential to move on if it's popular and if it's well-received, and I suppose this one's no different. This one does have no plans at the moment, nor is anyone attached to it.
Dennehy: It's going to be too difficult to do anyplace else given the length of it and the amount of people in the cast and the pure economics of doing shows on Broadway. It's not that kind of a show. It has its own life, and it has its own importance, and we're all lucky to be in it. It's a bitch to do. It's exhausting, very frustrating. There are all kinds of negatives, but the possibility of being a part of this is such that you can't … I'm 73 years old, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world but right here doing this play.
"The Iceman Cometh" is playing at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago through June 17. (312) 443-3800, www.goodmantheatre.org.
Bob and Brian's Broadway Buzz
Falls and Dennehy have a pretty strong record of transferring their O'Neill projects East. Producer Scott Rudin holds the Broadway rights to "Iceman," and with a star like Nathan Lane, a Broadway production is not out of the question. Here's a look at Falls and Dennehy's past O'Neill work together.
"The Iceman Cometh"
The first O'Neill play the pair worked on, at the Goodman Theatre in 1990, moved to the Abbey Theatre in 1992 with Dennehy as Hickey and a new Irish cast.
"A Touch of the Poet"
Dennehy starred as Con Melody in the 1996 Goodman production.
"Long Day's Journey Into Night"
Falls' production, with Dennehy as James Tyrone, was staged at the Goodman in 2002 and moved to Broadway in 2003. Dennehy won a Tony for his role, and the play won best revival.
"Hughie"
The 2004 Goodman version moved to Connecticut's Long Wharf Theater, with talk of a Broadway transfer.
"Desire Under the Elms"
Falls directed the play at the Goodman in 2009, and it moved to the Main Stem later that year.
