LANE CAN DO IT ALL
Showman loves a challenge
So, what hasn’t Nathan Lane done in showbiz?
Big pause on the other end of the line. Lane, not normally at a loss for words, seems stumped.
It’s understandable. Lane has done pretty much everything on stage, on the big screen and on the small screen. When not prancing around in the flesh in any of the aforementioned outlets, his voice can be caught in a slew of animated adventures.
He can sing, he can dance, he can dramatize and he can crack wise. With regard to the latter, the New York Times had this assessment: “If Nathan Lane can’t make it funny, it ain’t funny.”
In short, he is the quintessential Just for Laughs gala MC — a role he has admirably undertaken before.
The gala hosted by Lane in 1998 was the first to sell out that year, and he didn’t disappoint his fans.
Nor is he likely to disappoint when he comes back to the fest to host the Nathan Lane Showstopper Gala, Thursday at 7 p.m. at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts. The lineup features Kathleen Madigan, Adam Hills, Mark Watson, Sean Emeny, Alan Carr, Ron Josol and the irrepressible Piff the Magic Dragon (not to be confused with Puff ).
“I was doing a movie at the time in Montreal when I was asked to host, and I had such a fine time. So when this came up, I thought it would be a great time to return,” says Lane, 60, who had been here in 1998 to shoot the Jacqueline Susann biopic Isn’t She Great, also starring Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce and John Cleese.
Lane has done some memorable movie work in The Producers and The Birdcage. He lent his pipes to The Lion King and Stuart Little. The two-time Daytime Emmy Award winner turned on the drama jets as noted barrister F. Lee Bailey on the TV series American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson and has let loose in a recurring role on Modern Family.
But there’s no question where his heart really lies: the theatre.
“The stage is where I feel most at home,” says Lane, who was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. “The theatre is the most exciting place for me. It’s where I get to
do the most challenging things. And having a live audience is a bonus.”
Lane has snagged Tony Awards for performances in The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. More recently, he received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League’s Distinguished Performance Award for his work in the Lincoln Center Theater production of The Nance.
Lane made his Broadway debut in 1982 opposite George C. Scott in Present Laughter. He followed that up with performances in Merlin, The Wind in the Willows, On Borrowed Time, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Guys and Dolls, The Odd Couple, Waiting for Godot, The Addams Family and Love! Valour! Compassion!, among a host of other plays.
Lane’s background and manner would suggest that he was born into a showbiz family in the Big Apple. “Like the Barrymores,” he quips.
Not quite. He was born in Jersey City, N.J., and no one else in his family had ever been in the entertainment field.
“Regardless, people are still asking me to do things,” he says. “It’s quite wonderful to be busy.”
And busy he is. He goes into rehearsal in a few weeks on the Broadway revival of The Front Page, also starring John Slattery and John Goodman. When that’s done, he’s off to London for a six-month stint, taking on the lead role of Roy Cohn in a stage revival of Angels in America.
“It’s also a great time to be working in television,” he notes, in reference to the 22 Emmy nominations for The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Lane has a rare gift of being able to transition from dead serious to deadpan while being equally adept at both.
“It’s lovely to be able to get that opportunity,” he says. “I love doing comedy. But as an actor for the last 40 years, it’s wonderful to be able to go from The Iceman Cometh on stage and F. Lee Bailey on television to comedy. One enhances the other and sharpens the other. It allows you to use different parts of yourself and hopefully surprise people while challenging yourself. One can’t ask for anything more as an actor.”
As is the case with many actors, Lane considers comedy more difficult. “Except for The Iceman Cometh,” he laughs. “That’s really hard.
“Comedy is trickier. But of course, it’s so much fun and it’s so rewarding to hear a huge group of people laughing. It’s wonderful to have that kind of immediate feedback. It certainly feeds you. I really do love going back and forth between comedy and drama.
“But as I’m getting older, I realize that musicals are a young man’s game,” he says. “Still, I’m very grateful and consider myself a lucky guy that I’ve had the career I’ve had and, yes, at my advanced age, to be working and in demand. It’s a blessing, and I don’t take that for granted.”
Comedy is trickier. But of course, it’s so much fun and it’s so rewarding to hear a huge group of people laughing.