James Naughton (#225) - October, 2008

Two-time Tony Award-winner James Naughton (for City of Angels in 1990 and Chicago in 1997) explains why he's at home in the Irish Repertory Theatre's The Master Builder and why it's his three Broadway musical appearances which are really the anomalies in his long stage career. He also shares how a casual college audition launched him into acting; discusses his artistic homes at both Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Westport Country Playhouse; marvels at the good fortune of his early connection to composer Cy Coleman, first with I Love My Wife and later on City of Angels; recalls the excitement of being on stage with Elaine May as she improvised her way through Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; relates a funny incident involving President Clinton and the chorus girls of Chicago; and confides why his next Broadway musical role should turn up very soon.