H’ween’s B’way baddies
Ticket scalpers aren’t the only bloodsuckers on the Great White Way: Check out these monsters
JUST in time for Halloween, there’s no shortage of monsters and villains lurking around Shubert Alley.
My Tony for Best Baddie goes to Mr. Muldoon, the sinister IRA boss in Jez Butterworth’s gripping “The Ferryman.” As portrayed by Stuart Graham, Muldoon exudes menace every time he walks onstage. “Do you know who I am?” is all he has to say to freeze the blood of anyone in his way. No spoilers here. Let’s just say Muldoon is at the center of a scene that will have you jumping out of your seat.
“Puppet” isn’t the right word to describe the King Kong who’s stompin’ at the Broadway Theatre. Standing 20 feet tall, he’s one of the most remarkable special effects I’ve ever seen on a stage. He fights, falls in love, and you’ll weep at his death. But he’s got a temper: Just ask some of the chorus girls who get squashed in Act 2.
Broadway’s reigning ghoul is the Phantom, who’s been dropping that chandelier at the Majestic Theatre since 1988. Andrew Lloyd Webber made him a romantic figure, but he hangs a stagehand and who knows how many necks he’s broken with the chandelier.
Over at the Minskoff, Scar is still plotting to take over Pride Lands. The “Lion King” villain engineers Mufasa’s death in a scene that still upsets kids and adults after more than 20 years. Many actors have played Scar, but the best is still the original: John Vickery, a classically trained actor who infused Scar with the Shakespearean heft of Richard III and Iago.
Here’s a few other memorable monsters I’ve encountered on Broadway over the past 30 years:
The late Alan Rickman made his American stage debut as the lecherous and lethal Vicomte de Valmont in “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” at the Music Box in 1987. He purred evil in that silky voice, which became so famous it popped up in “The Simpsons.” Valmont would be in the dock with Harvey Weinstein today, but in 18th-century Paris, where the play is set, he got away with raping a 15-year-old.
Bela Lugosi originated the role of Dracula on Broadway in 1927. Newspapers were full of stories of women fainting when he swooped down on Lucy. Lugosi took his act to Hollywood, where he became synonymous with the role. Nobody upstaged him until Frank Langella donned the cape in the celebrated 1977 revival of “Dracula.”
“Frank was so erotic that it was dangerous,” says Nelle Nugent, one of the show’s producers. “You never knew when he was going to pounce. Mommies would come with their kids. The kids loved the special effects. The mommies would be swooning over his sexuality.” A memorable moment occurred when Langella eyed Lucy through the window. You didn’t know what he was going to do to her. Then he entered the room, scooped her up with one arm and went for her neck. Those mommies had erotic dreams that night, says Nugent. And let’s not forget my favorite lethal lady: the scheming Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes.” Tallulah Bankhead originated the role in 1939. One critic called her “a fox out of hell — sultry, cunning and vicious.” Elizabeth Taylor scored a comeback in the role in 1981. The Times called Regina a “bitch-goddess,” adding that her performance “explodes into a black and thunderous storm that just may knock you out of your seat.” Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon alternated in the role in last year’s crackerjack revival. Both were terrific, and how I wish Nixon had used some of Regina’s tricks on Gov. Cuomo during the primary.