"My friends are getting a real kick out of my playing Mr. Bungee. They think it's the perfect part for me--a malevolent frog!"
So asserts actor Chip Zien--that is his delightfully improbable name--who has a featured role in William Finn's new musical, "A New Brain." It opened June 15, at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse.
"My family says, 'Dad's a frog.' I say, 'I play a person playing a frog,' " continues Zien in the appropriate "New Brain" spirit--a singing, dancing romp about, yes, neurosurgery. Lots of tuneful ditties on pre- and post-op medical protocol. Zien's onstage alter ego is a comically mean-spirited children's TV personality.
"Actually, I'm having a lot of fun. It's a part without too much pressure--although I'm hot in the frog head, have to make sure the frog head doesn't fall off, and have to balance myself on the scooter. But at the end, I get to sing this sweet thing, 'Don't Give In.' And I live five minutes from Lincoln Center, so I'm home in time to see 'ER.' "
Best known for his "Into the Woods" role that earned him an Outer Critics Circle Award, Zien has enjoyed a nonstop 20-year bicoastal career. Most recently, he was a series regular on the sitcom "Almost Perfect," playing a deranged TV writer, and he will soon be hitting the big screen in three major motion pictures: Edward Zwick's "Martial Law"; "Breakfast of Champions," starring Albert Finney; and Brian DePalma's "Snake Eyes." "This has been an interesting year." Understated is the operative word.
Although our conversation is over the phone, Zien's affable, slightly amused manner comes through. He offers offbeat anecdotes, occasionally interrupted with his comments directed at Pip, his Springer Spaniel puppy, who is running about, burrowing in furniture, and joyously chewing on everything. He punctuates his activities with little barks. "We never would have gotten him during TV pilot season," says his master.
Zien, who is in tune with the sensibilities on both coasts as well as the demands of each medium, makes some interesting observations:
On sitcom acting: "The actual acting is no different from acting in any other medium, but the form is. A lot of my colleagues say a sitcom is similar to a live play because of the presence of a studio audience. But I don't fully agree. In theatre, you are always directly in front of the audience, usually on a proscenium stage, and to a large extent the actors are determining what the audience looks at. On a TV set, you may not be near the audience at all, and the audience is watching you on a monitor. That means the director is determining what the audience sees.
"Theatre is a weird contradiction," he continues. "There's a tremendous amount of freedom within a structured universe--blocking and lines are fixed. That's not true on the sitcom. In fact, the rehearsal and shooting often feels like an endless improv; lines are changing constantly and nothing is locked in. On TV you have to be very fast on your feet."
On dramatic series: "Some of the most interesting work today is being done on those 60-minute series, like 'ER' and 'Chicago Hope.' These shows deal with important issues and the caliber of acting is exceptionally high. I would love to appear on a good dramatic series."
On attitudes, New York vs. L.A.: "Among the theatre people I work with, my TV career doesn't mean much. Hal Prince summed up what most of them think: 'Good TV show. When you coming back?' Of course, my TV work hasn't been that prominent either. In L.A., my theatre experience may have gotten me into some casting directors' offices. But beyond that, it means absolutely nothing. There are, however, pockets in Hollywood who are very interested in what's happening on Broadway, especially the musicals."
Almost a Lawyer
Raised in Milwaukee, the son of a plumbing company executive, Zien grew up determined to be a "singing lawyer." He always performed, but it never occurred to him to launch a theatre career. Indeed, at the University of Pennsylvania, he majored in history as a stepping-stone to law and then politics. During his college career, he ran a congressional campaign in Wisconsin. "The candidate lost by one half of a percentage point. Perhaps if he had won, I would have gone on to Washington," Zien chortles.
His turning point occurred when his step-sister, who was running a small theatre in Chicago, asked Zien to pinch-hit for a musical actor who couldn't go on. He did and that was it. "Then one night the theatre burned down. The next morning, we were all staring at the razed building. Half the cast went to L.A. The other half, including myself, came to New York." Still, he continued to apply to law schools."I was accepted by several of them, but kept not showing up."
After a few applications and an equal number of no-shows, he finally received a wonderfully genteel, yet pointed, note from the University of Wisconsin: " 'We've begun to doubt your sincerity,' they wrote."
Zien did not roll into the big time right off the bus. He endured several years of futile auditioning and a range of day jobs, including a stint as a shoe salesman at Fred Braun Shoes. The latter gig, his last day job, ended on a note that was charming and almost touching. "I closed the store at lunch one day in order to go to an audition," Zien recalls. "I got delayed and I was gone for two and a half hours. When I got back, the manager was waiting for me, furious, yelling that I had disappeared in the middle of the day and they had lost a lot of business.
"So I finally told him the truth--that I had gone to an audition. Prior to that moment I'd led him to believe I was seriously interested in a retail career. Suddenly his tone changes--it's a 180 degree turn-around--he's almost pleading, 'Don't go into acting. That's no life. There's a place for you here, in the Fred Braun family.' The next thing I know he's offering me a much better job than the one I had. It was very sweet. I did not take the job and I did not return to work."
Over the years, Zien has studied both acting and singing, with Wynn Handman and Mahon Bishop, respectively. "Wynn would always tell me, 'Go to L.A. Make a lot of money. Then come back and I'll repair the damage!' Mahon's line was, 'If the acting-singing doesn't work out, I'll make you a cantor. Give me six years!' "
At the moment, besides hoping that "A New Brain" enjoys a successful run, Zien is looking forward to more film work, that elusive dramatic series with content, and original pieces on stage, musicals as well as straight plays. "I'm not interested in revivals."
ENDIT