There is something very tangible about being in the presence of your favourite pop or screen star. It’s as if seeing them in the flesh somehow brings us closer to god, or at least closer to something we aspire to (or desire!). But as consumers we rarely see our much-loved stars in person, leave alone at work, particularly with film and television actors and actresses. So it’s really no wonder, that the West End productions achieving season sell-outs are the shows starring big names from the screen and music industries. Arts Hub gets the low-down on big name stars in the theatre, as we talk to Maxwell Caulfield to ask what he thinks are the forces behind screen actors and singers turning to the pressures of live theatre performance.
Many big name stars have been gracing London’s theatre stages of late.
After four box office sensations with the Harry Potter film series, teen actor Daniel Radcliffe was recently branded the “Wizard of the West End” after featuring in a controversial sell-out production of Equus earlier this year.
In an interview with BBC News, Daniel Radcliffe said, “If you never took a risk it would be diabolical, it would be terribly boring all the time”. Radcliffe was referring to his shift from film to stage, as much as he was referring to his choice of production, having appeared nude for 4 minutes in the show.
Orlando Bloom hit international stardom with Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This month he joins the cast of David Storey’s 1969 drama In Celebration at the Duke of York’s Theatre, the initial season running until mid September.
But Orlando was always an actor with roots in stage performance. Orlando told Reuters, “Theatre acting is just a different muscle, and I’m sort of shocking it into life.”
Newcomers to the stage include Billie Piper, who has just completed a season in a touring production of Christopher Hampton’s play Treats, which ended its successful season in the West End’s Garrick Theatre. Her stage debut was preceded by a sensational singing career including three No.1 hits in the UK charts between 1998 and 2000, roles in The Canterbury Tales and other tv productions, before, of course, co-starring in the latest Dr Who series.
Long-running musical Chicago is now graced with the singing talents of Duncan James, of UK pop phenomenon Blue and television’s Dancing On Ice. Duncan takes over from Maxwell Caulfield as Billy Flynn.
Maxwell Caulfield himself has lead a long and interesting career across radio, television, film and stage, standing as testimony that it is the actors themselves who are choosing to come back to work the stage. In a recent interview with Arts Hub, Maxwell explains, “Live performance is my first love. I spent too much time in the wasteland of Hollywood. And I’ve got long memories here in the West End. I chased the part. Chicago [The Musical] is a brilliantly scripted show. It’s insightful into celebrity culture. Billy Flynn is obsessed with fame & notoriety.”
Prior to the brief five-week season with Chicago which finished last week, Maxwell Caulfield completed a year-long stretch of three New York stage productions. The UK last saw him when he starred in the BBC television series Casualty in 2003-2004, playing consultant paediatrician Jim Brodie, which recently won its first major award, the BAFTA for Best Continuing Drama.
Maxwell Caulfield has also performed in American series Dynasty as Miles Colby, La Femme Nikita, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and The Colbys. But he is possibly most well-known for his roles in the films Grease 2 opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, and alongside Charlie Sheen in The Boys Next Door. He won the Theatre World Award for his role in the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Class Enemy, presented at Manhattan’s Player’s Theatre.
Maxwell says a major difference between stage and film is the “bull”. “Working on a big budget film, there are people bowing all over the place. It’s an incredible part of life if you’re lucky enough to experience it. But there’s a lot of hoo haa.”
“The sad fact of the matter is the West End doesn’t make the box office dollar like films do. In live theatre, there is advertising and union rates and the production. Having live performers means so much can go wrong. And that has to be covered.”
How, then, can theatre producers afford these big name actors and singers? “Actors want to prove they are real actors. Until you can sustain a whole hour and a half show, you aren’t who you say you are. On stage you can’t molly-cobble your lines and start again!”
“The West End is in incredible shape,” says Maxwell Caulfield, mentioning Orlando Bloom and Daniel Radcliffe, both working around the corner from him in central London. “It’s great for business. Broadway is a poor relation. The scene is much more vital and diverse here.”
With the recent boost in the British pound, and the loss of strength in the US dollar, there seems to be a real impact on the West End theatre scene, with the trend for American stars spending time amongst West End casts. “There are far less shows in New York, and there’s more dense attendance here,” says Caulfield.
Starting 30 August, actor John Lithgow will play Malvolio in Shakespeare’s dark comedy Twelfth Night with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Lithgow is most well-known from long-running US TV series Third Rock from the Sun and film The World According To Garp. Also joining West End casts from America is popular actress Rhea Perlman of US sitcom Cheers (who played Carla), making a move from the screen last month to join the stage production of Boeing-Boeing in her UK stage debut.
Of his own career, Maxwell Caulfield says, “I wanted to get into the musical world where there seemed to be the greatest opportunity for reaching a mass audience. Touching 12 or 1300 people a night and knocking them for six with a bang-up show is a sensation.” Last year Chicago celebrated reaching audience numbers over the 4 million mark, during its ninth season. “Chicago is a sensual and engrossing show. There is nothing more rewarding than a live audience,” Maxwell says
It’s not a new thing, for stars to appear in theatre productions, but it’s a growing trend. Often returning to their original love of live performance, a growing number of theatre audiences are being blessed by their favourite stars’ presence close up on the stages of the UK.
The Play What I Wrote, a tribute to comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, featured a long list of screen celebrities with cameos and longer roles throughout it’s six-year UK tour ending in March 2007, including Sir Ian McKellan, Richard E Grant, Joanna Lumley, Johnny Lee Miller and Jerry Hall, as well as pop/rock idol Sting.
Ewan McGregor of Star Wars and Moulin Rouge fame made his stage debut back in 1999, and then returned to the stage in Guys and Dolls for the 2004-2005 West End season (to extremely mixed reviews).
The original star of the film verson of Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze, also made his West End debut last year in Guys and Dolls. East Enders soap star Nigel Harman is the current long-term replacement from Ewan McGregor’s part of Sky Masterson, whilst McGregor is currently working on a second documentary-style television series called Long Way Down (you can now follow the production team online).
Previously this year the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago the Musical was played by Tony Hadley, Spandau Ballet’s front man. So Maxwell had some big shoes to fill on more than just the acting front. Speaking of his singing, Maxwell states, “Even though Billy Flynn swans around in his tux and is with the full support of the company, it’s Maxwell Caulfield who’s got to be able to hit the big notes. Well-knowns are not here to show off. They are here to nourish the roots of performance, which is theatre.”
This trend of actors and singers turning to the stage seems as much about actors proving their worth for themselves, as getting into the nitty gritty and grind that is the sensation of live performance.
