NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 There are so many Hollywood stars on New York theater stages or on the way that you might want to level up your stargazing game. Why not play some bingo?
Sure, Daniel Dae Kim, Mia Farrow, and are currently in New York, and George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Nick Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal are on deck for spring.
But if you really want to impress, why not connect the stars, like playing bingo with the stars of 鈥淔rasier鈥? Catch (who played chilly Lilith) now in on Broadway; Dan Butler (who played Bulldog on the TV show) in the off-Broadway play 鈥淎nother Shot;" and then in a few months, see (who played Niles) in 鈥淭he Pirates of Penzance.鈥
If a little TV stardust is enough to convince theatergoers to see Butler in the witty and deep recovery play the actor says he's game.
鈥淚 love that it would bring people there, and you would just hope that they get bitten by that thing theater can do that no other medium can do,鈥 he says. 鈥淗opefully, it brings you in the doors again.鈥
Laura Stanczyk, a veteran casting director and producer who has cast dozens of Broadway, off-Broadway and international plays and musicals, knows many shows secure a bankable star to try to stand out.
鈥淲hen you have actors like Robert Downey Jr. who are finally showing up and participating in the New York theater scene, it becomes even more important to have someone who has some kind of notoriety,鈥 she says.
She is producing the play that Butler is starring in by Spike Manton and Harry Teinowitz, in which a deadpan Butler plays a radio DJ in recovery. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of like Bulldog goes to rehab,鈥 jokes the actor.
A wave of stars
Movie and TV celebrities have been part of Broadway's DNA for decades 鈥 one recent big wave was in 2010 with the arrival of Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Kiefer Sutherland, Daniel Radcliffe, Vanessa Redgrave, Ben Stiller and Edie Falco 鈥 but their presence this season is particularly striking.
Kit Connor and are starring in 鈥淩omeo & Juliet,鈥 has 鈥淪unset Boulevard,鈥 Peter Gallagher and are in 鈥淟eft on Tenth鈥 and Sean Astin is playing Santa in 鈥淓lf the Musical.鈥
Stanczyk says it's not too surprising to see so much star wattage since many of the TV and movie stars have their roots in theater. Margulies studied stage, and that's also where Connor and Zegler got their starts. Scherzinger studied musical theater at Wright State University.
鈥淧eople forget that these great actors got a lot of their start in theater,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 do think some directors gravitate towards that because they know those folks 鈥 it鈥檚 in their bones and there鈥檚 a common language.鈥
The reason 鈥淔rasier鈥 Bingo is possible is because so many associated with the show are theater veterans, starting with the director who helped craft the 鈥淐heers鈥 spinoff. Burrows started in the theater and is the son of the legendary playwright and director Abe Burrows, behind 鈥淕uys and Dolls鈥 and 鈥淗ow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.鈥
Butler 鈥 who was recently cheered on by Pierce during a visit to 鈥淎nother Shot鈥 鈥 said 鈥淔rasier鈥 often had a stage feel. 鈥淚t sort of felt like doing a short play in front of a live audience every time we filmed,鈥 he said.
Other TV shows 鈥 like 鈥淟aw & Order,鈥 "The Good Wife," 鈥淭he Gilded Age,鈥 鈥滳razy Ex-Girlfriend" and 鈥淥nly Murders in the Building鈥 鈥 share that stage vibe since they also have leaned into casting from the theater.
So hot is New York that the stars are even coming off-Broadway, like in 鈥淗old On to Me Darling,鈥 Marisa Tomei in 鈥淏abe,鈥 in 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥 T.R. Knight in 鈥淭he Merchant of Venice鈥 and Christian Slater and Calista Flockhart in 鈥淐urse of the Starving Class.鈥
The influx of Hollywood types aren't squeezing out Broadway stars: Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff, Patti LuPone, Jennifer Simard, and Darren Criss have all booked parts.
The lure of the stage
a rising screen star who will be bringing the play 鈥淪tranger Things: The First Shadow鈥 from London to Broadway in spring 2025, didn't train as a stage animal, but he's mesmerized.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of this back and forth where you give yourself up,鈥 he says. 鈥淵ou give your soul every single night. And I think that鈥檚 beautiful.鈥
If 鈥淔rasier鈥 Bingo isn't your speed, there's always 鈥淪uccession鈥 Bingo: was on Broadway in a revival of 鈥淎n Enemy of the People,鈥 will be in a revival of 鈥淕lengarry Glen Ross鈥 and gets the stage all to herself as she plays all 26 parts in an adaptation of 鈥淭he Picture of Dorian Gray鈥 this spring. Or play a long game: With Clooney and Margulies, you can start on 鈥淓R鈥 Bingo.
Stanczyk thinks Hollywood interest in the stage may be driven by the stars attempting to push themselves professionally and to capture that unique buzz that life theater can give.
鈥淓very night you're in the theater that thing that happens hasn鈥檛 happened before. It鈥檚 a unique exchange of energy,鈥 she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing else like it in the world.鈥
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press