FAMOUS FACES OFF-BROADWAY
Published 2010-04-30
It is a well-known fact that every actor, well famous that is, has started their careers off in a less than bright light. Without fancy introductions, or their names splashed across ornately digitized movie screens, many of our favorite actors struggled to break into the entertainment industry the same way in which myself and my fellow actors do today. But, what we forget is that these actors that we look up to, that we fantasize and yes, sometimes envy, were in the same exact spot that many beginning their acting career find themselves in at this moment. You forget that our famed actors, our Al Pacino's, our Cate Blanchett's, didn't just magically appear for the womb of Hollywood, but that they too, at one point in their lives, struggled to make ends meet and to achieve their ultimate goals. Now, I know you're thinking, "What does this have to do with Broadway?" Well, I'm glad you asked. What you may or may not be aware of is that some of our famous Hollywood actors actually got their start on Off-Broadway and that "Broadway," as it's own entertainment industry, helped catapult many now famed screen sirens and dashing leading men onto the Hollywood A-List. Take a look:
Al Pacino, born April 25th, 1940 in Bronx, New York, garners one of the most recognizable faces in the film industry. Starring in Blockbuster movies such as The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scent of a Woman, he has joined the ranks of Marlon Brando and Robert Deniro as being one of the greatest actors of all time. But, before he was granted this illustrious header, Pacino, upon flunking out of the High School of Performing Arts in NY as a teenager, began this assent on a rather rocky note. Kicked out of his house by his mother before he was 18, Pacino, who had acted in many of his school plays, and who had realized his love for acting, worked a string of deadbeat jobs to be able to finance his training. And after many unsuccessful attempts, Pacino finally made it into the Actor's Studio, a very prominent membership organization once headed up by Lee Strasberg, who initiated and implemented the teachings of method acting. His next stop: Off-Broadway. In 1968, Pacino starred in Israel Horovitz's Off-Broadway play, The Indian Wants the Bronx, at the Astor Place Theatre. His role of Murph, a street punk, won him a well deserved Obie award and after 177 performances, the Off-Broadway show closed and on February 25th, 1969, Pacino took on the Broadway stage in Don Petersen's Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? at the Belasco Theatre. As a testament to his talents, even though his Broadway debut only lasted for 39 performances, Pacino managed to win the Tony Award that year. After which, he went into film, and well, the rest is history. 
Mary-Louise Parker, born August 2nd, 1964 in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, is no stranger to the stage. Majoring in drama from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Parker moved almost immediately to New York after her graduation and worked at a shoe store to make ends meet. After a few bit parts, Parker landed the role of Rita in Craig Lucas' Off-Broadway play Prelude to a Kiss at the Circle Reperatory Company. Opening on March 14, 1990, and after receiving rave reviews, Prelude.. and its cast were moved on May 1st, 1990 to the Broadway stage of the Helen Hayes Theatre. Parker, in her short time in New York had made it to Broadway and for her role as Rita won the Clarence Derwent Awardand was nominated for a Tony. Parker, as we know, from there has branched off to film, producing many great performances as seen in Bullets Over Broadway and Saved. But, fortunately enough, Parker has not forgotten her roots and still performs on the Broadway stage. As of late, her most recent performance was in Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler, January 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre, in which she played Hedda Tesman. Even though this received mixed reviews, it cannot be denied that Parker is an essential talent in the A-list world of both film and stage. 
Most known, well at least to me, as a homosexual mortician in Six Feet Under, Michael C. Hall, born February 1, 1971 in Raleigh, North Carolina, career seems to have been decided for him at the mature age of 8. Acting in his first play in second grade, What Love Is, and then performing in musicals in highschool, Hall quickly learned that he had a knack for acting. After graduating from NYU's Master of Fine Arts program, after originally attending Earlham College in Indiana to be a lawyer, Hall quickly graced the Off-Broadway stage. Within a very short time his credits grew to include Macbeth, Cymbeline (both at the New York Shakespeare Festival), Henry V, Timons of Athens (both at the New York Public Theatre), The English Teachers (MCC), and Corpus Christi at Manhattan Theatre Club. It was in 1999 that he was cast in his first Broadway production Cabaret, in which he played the role of the Emcee. And even though he has now, like Mary-Louise Parker, moved to more film/television roles, his love of the stage has not died as he returned to his Off-Broadway roots in 2005 in Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade. 
Famously known for her corky role of Rachel in Friends, Aniston, born February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, California, relocated to New York in her early childhood. As a daughter to two actors (John Aniston and Nancy Dow) it would only be fitting that Jennifer would be destined for stardom. But, before she got there she did her fair share of Off-Broadway performances. After graduating for NYC's prestigious fine arts school Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Aniston supported herself with many part-time jobs such as waitressing, being a bike messenger, and telemarketing. But it all paid off as she appeared in Off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. As destiny would have it, Aniston didn't stay in NY long as she move to L.A in 1989 to pursue her acting career. And for, well, it obviously paid off! 
To Broadway and film/television/stage comedy in general Nathan Lane is as common name as New York. Born February 3, 1956 in Jersey City, NJ, Lane is a two-time Tony Award winner and is probably best known for his Broadway role of Max Bialystock in The Producers. But, before he shot to Broadway stardom, Lane struggled in his youth after not being able to attend St. Josephs College in P.A. due to financial reasons and finding it difficult to start his career after moving to New York at 18. As luck would have it though, Lane did finally have success as a stand up comic and shortly there after moved onto the Off-Broadway stage. Lane performed in productions with Roundabout Theatre Company, Second StageTheate, and the Manhattan Theatre Club and after appearing in the Lisbon Traviata, written by Terrence McNally, Lane won a Drama Desk award for his portrayal of Mendy, a homosexual male obsessed with a famed opera singer. 1982 marked his arrival to Broadway as Roland Maule in Noel Coward's Present Laughter, a role in which he won a Drama Desk nomination. His list of Broadway credits includes starring roles in Broadway Bound, Lips Together Teeth Apart, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum to name a few. And still yet, after his success he has like previous mentioned actors come back to pay his Tribute to Off-Broadway in plays such as Measure for Measure, She Stoops to Conquer, and The School for Scandal. Those are just a fraction of the famous faces that started their career on the stages of Off-Broadway. A testament to the fact that Off-Broadway plays/played an important part in every actor's rise to their careers. It is here where important lessons are learned and where you begin to find yourself as an actor. To me, Off-Broadway is an important part of every actor's developmental process and as such, should not be looked down upon, but instead reveled upon. Who knows who's going to be the next big thing. Maybe it's you. And every potential needs a start. Why not Off-Broadway?
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