Douglas Hodge (#272) - June, 2010

Douglas Hodge, who appears as Albin in the current Broadway revival of the musical “La Cage aux Folles” (for which he won the Tony Award in 2010 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical), explains what appealed to him about the story and character, which he did not know, when he was first approached to play it at London's Menier Chocolate Factory, and how the show has changed around him as it progressed from that small venue to a West End house to Broadway, notably the impact of his "trois Georges": Philip Quast, Denis Lawson and Kelsey Grammer. He also discusses his earliest days with England's National Youth Theatre; his first failed attempts to enter drama school and his successful efforts just a year later; why he left the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts before completing their program; his early work in regional theatres -- as well as his early London roles as Coriolanus for director Deborah Warner at the Almeida and Edmund opposite Anthony Hopkins in “King Lear” at the National; how he found himself acting opposite Harold Pinter in the noted playwright's “No Man's Land” and the professional relationship and personal friendship that led to him appearing in and directing numerous Pinter plays; how as a noted Pinter interpreter he suddenly became a musical comedy star in a “Guys and Dolls” revival opposite Jane Krakowski; and what it was like to play Titus Andronicus at London's Globe Theatre -- including how many people fainted from the gore at every show.