Post by domenicaflor on Nov 12, 2004 11:26:36 GMT -5
From Playbill:
www.playbill.com/news/article/print/78959.html
D.
***********
CHANNELING THEATRE: Jamey Sheridan and PBS’ “Broadway: The American Musical”<br>
By Michael Buckley
April 13, 2003
This month we look at the stage and TV careers of Jamey Sheridan, seen weekly as Captain Deakins on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sundays, 9 PM/ET, NBC), and talk to Michael Kantor and David Horn about the six-part series, "Broadway: The American Musical."What does Jamey Sheridan consider the biggest pro and con of being a series regular? "On the one hand, money—and, on the other hand...money. [Laughs] It seems to me, in this culture, you need to have a subsidy to do theatre, not that I put theatre above anything else. I'm just after the best script I can get.
"Television allows for survival, which is the basic issue for me. You have to decide how much money is enough. You can't get carried away with the hunt for money. But there are times it shows up, and you need to grab it, and that allows you to hunt for a better script."
"Criminal Intent" scripts, says Sheridan, "are very good. Like others involved in 'Law & Order' stuff, I've come to appreciate the lack of 'soap,' if you will. The story dominates. You don't spend a lot of time with the psychological underpinnings of the police. We're more interested in the psychological makeup of the criminal. That makes for a very direct kind of storytelling. Story is always most important to me."
His role as Captain James Deakins, who oversees the actions of Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe), "is not the biggest part I've ever played. But that's all right at this time in my life. It allows me to spend time with my family. That would not be the case if I were doing 'Chicago Hope' [on which he spent the 1995-96 season as Dr. John Sutton] or 'Shannon's Deal' [the 1990-91 series, on which he starred as maverick lawyer Jack Shannon]. Now, I have a couple of boys and one on the way. [Sheridan's married to actress Colette Kilroy.] So, the situation works out pretty well. I get home [to California] about two weeks a month. Being in New York [where the series shoots] allows me to generate some work on my own. There's a play I want to do. All in all, it's a pretty good gig."
The 1987 revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons was important to Sheridan "because that's when I realized I could do a decent job. We started at Long Wharf, went to Washington, Boston, and then came into Broadway. Having 50 performances under my belt made all the difference in the world." As Chris Keller, he received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actor, and one of his competitors in the category (for Fences) was Courtney B. Vance, who plays ADA Ron Carver on "Criminal Intent."
Sheridan notes, "Next time I do a play, I want to go out of town. I don't like the idea of opening in New York. I don't have to do theatre, but if you're going to do it, you should do it well. These days, everything has to be up and running in five minutes. As a result, the rehearsal time is missing. I learned [in All My Sons] that, for me, repetition was a tremendously valuable thing. When I'm on camera, I'd rather do 20 takes than 19."
Another reason the Miller play was meaningful to him was its star, Richard Kiley. "The guy was just a doll—a wonderful human being and tremendous actor, who was very, very generous with me. He and Jason Robards, who was also extremely generous with me [in other plays], made tremendous contributions to my dedication as an actor."
He worked with Robards directly following All My Sons. "It was a great couple of years; I thought I'd died and went to heaven." Sheridan appeared with Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in two Eugene O'Neill plays: Long Day's Journey into Night (directed by Jose Quintero, Sheridan played Jamie Tyrone) and Ah, Wilderness! ("I was the bartender, a very small part"). Done in repertory, the plays started at Yale (where Sheridan met his wife) and ten weeks later came to Broadway.
Another O'Neill experience took place in 1992; Sheridan played James Tyrone, Jr. (an older version of the Long Day's Journey character) in A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. "I told Jason I was going to do it. He said, 'Want some help?' [In a 1973 production, directed by Jose Quintero, Robards and Colleen Dewhurst gave what were deemed the touchstone performances of the leads.] For the next six weeks, we spent every Sunday afternoon at the Red Lion [Inn] in Stockbridge [MA]. Jason drove up from Connecticut; I drove over from Williamstown. It's just part of why I'm grateful to him."
A native of Pasadena, California, the actor was the fourth of Daniel and Suzanne Sheridan's five children. "I have a sister and two living brothers; my mother will be 80 this summer." His father was "a jack of all trades. When I was born, he was an officer with the Pasadena police force. He was from Australia and came over after World War II. He met my mother and was promptly kicked out of the country when his visa expired. For awhile, he announced horse races in Vancouver. He got back into the country, married my mother, and worked for a van-lines company.
"My father became the technical advisor for 'The Desert Fox' [1951], with James Mason as Rommel. They wanted an Aussie who had been in North Africa with the English, and found my father on the Pasadena police force. That gave him the [show-business] bug. He started breaking horses [for movies], stepped up to stuntman, and became a Western actor for the last four or five years of his life."
In college, Sheridan "discovered dancing and acting, and became more interested in dance. I got hurt, and an old football injury came back. I bummed around for a couple of years and ended up in New York. I thought maybe I could make a living at [acting]."
With great enthusiasm, Sheridan recalls his first theatrical venture. "We were the Williamstown second company, which lasted about ten years. In the group were Amanda Plummer and Brian Benben. We had our own space at the Pine Cobble School, about a quarter-mile away from the main stage. There were nine paid and three unpaid actors, staff directors, stage managers—a total of maybe eighteen people. We did five plays in eleven weeks: Tooth of Crime, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rover, The Overcoat—adapted by Tom Fontana [whose later credits include TV's "Oz"], and Gossip. We went on tour to Troy and Schenectady. Boy, that was a ball! Absolutely a dream! I'd do it again!"
His New York stage debut occurred at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1979's Just a Little Bit Less than Normal, followed by The Arbor. "I went from one into the other. That gave me my Equity card." He worked regionally in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Allentown, and Albany.
At Circle in the Square in 1980, he did two plays: Major Barbara ("I had the very small part of Bilton") and The Man Who Came to Dinner (as Sandy, the boyfriend of the daughter of the household). Sheridan calls the latter his "reward for living through the role of Bilton."
His credits include playing Bernardo and Fortinbras in the 1982 Public Theatre production of Hamlet that starred Diane Venora. "That was my first Hamlet. I played Laertes in a little L.A. production, and did the King [Claudius] in the [2000 TV] movie that Campbell Scott made."
Other Shakespearean roles played by Sheridan include Hotspur in a 1992 Williamstown production of Henry IV and Brutus in Julius Caesar at Central Park's Delacorte in the summer of 2000. "I was very happy with that; my wife played Portia. My older son was four then, and was very much into the knives and blood [in the play]. Terrified, but he couldn't take his eyes off it. I had to prove to him that we were faking it. The company had a lot of fun with that."
He favorably recalls "Shannon's Deal," which was created by John Sayles. Scripts were by top-flight film writers, and noted jazz artists contributed to the score. Says Sheridan, "I don't think I've ever had a character that fit as well; it's probably the most interesting part I've played. It had humor, and I loved the cast [which included Elizabeth Pena and Miguel Ferrer]. But [network chief] Brandon Tartikoff left NBC, and that was that. We were mid-season replacements in '90 and '91, and basically played every night of the week [before ending its run]."
Looking back at "Chicago Hope," Sheridan observes, "There were some actors that I would really liked to have worked with more. Hector Elizondo and Adam Arkin were two guys I liked a lot. [Creator] David Kelley didn't stay. I liked his writing. He intimated that he might be leaving, but I didn't believe him. [Laughs] I was wrong. He wrote the first couple of episodes I did, and then left. The writing got a little scattered after that [and Sheridan moved on]."
In the 1999 TV-movie, "Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol," Sheridan portrayed Ozzie Nelson. "I loved the idea of this mild-mannered, avuncular presence on the television [sitcom], and this kind of little general in reality." In "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" (1952-66), Ozzie was always around the house. Did Sheridan ever figure out his occupation? "I have no idea," he says, with a laugh.
On "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Jamey Sheridan's potential far exceeds the demands. However, he has no complaints: "The character I'm playing is very interesting to me, but there's not a whole lot of him [in the action]. Still, it's a good show."
***
www.playbill.com/news/article/print/78959.html
D.
***********
CHANNELING THEATRE: Jamey Sheridan and PBS’ “Broadway: The American Musical”<br>
By Michael Buckley
April 13, 2003
This month we look at the stage and TV careers of Jamey Sheridan, seen weekly as Captain Deakins on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sundays, 9 PM/ET, NBC), and talk to Michael Kantor and David Horn about the six-part series, "Broadway: The American Musical."What does Jamey Sheridan consider the biggest pro and con of being a series regular? "On the one hand, money—and, on the other hand...money. [Laughs] It seems to me, in this culture, you need to have a subsidy to do theatre, not that I put theatre above anything else. I'm just after the best script I can get.
"Television allows for survival, which is the basic issue for me. You have to decide how much money is enough. You can't get carried away with the hunt for money. But there are times it shows up, and you need to grab it, and that allows you to hunt for a better script."
"Criminal Intent" scripts, says Sheridan, "are very good. Like others involved in 'Law & Order' stuff, I've come to appreciate the lack of 'soap,' if you will. The story dominates. You don't spend a lot of time with the psychological underpinnings of the police. We're more interested in the psychological makeup of the criminal. That makes for a very direct kind of storytelling. Story is always most important to me."
His role as Captain James Deakins, who oversees the actions of Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe), "is not the biggest part I've ever played. But that's all right at this time in my life. It allows me to spend time with my family. That would not be the case if I were doing 'Chicago Hope' [on which he spent the 1995-96 season as Dr. John Sutton] or 'Shannon's Deal' [the 1990-91 series, on which he starred as maverick lawyer Jack Shannon]. Now, I have a couple of boys and one on the way. [Sheridan's married to actress Colette Kilroy.] So, the situation works out pretty well. I get home [to California] about two weeks a month. Being in New York [where the series shoots] allows me to generate some work on my own. There's a play I want to do. All in all, it's a pretty good gig."
The 1987 revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons was important to Sheridan "because that's when I realized I could do a decent job. We started at Long Wharf, went to Washington, Boston, and then came into Broadway. Having 50 performances under my belt made all the difference in the world." As Chris Keller, he received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actor, and one of his competitors in the category (for Fences) was Courtney B. Vance, who plays ADA Ron Carver on "Criminal Intent."
Sheridan notes, "Next time I do a play, I want to go out of town. I don't like the idea of opening in New York. I don't have to do theatre, but if you're going to do it, you should do it well. These days, everything has to be up and running in five minutes. As a result, the rehearsal time is missing. I learned [in All My Sons] that, for me, repetition was a tremendously valuable thing. When I'm on camera, I'd rather do 20 takes than 19."
Another reason the Miller play was meaningful to him was its star, Richard Kiley. "The guy was just a doll—a wonderful human being and tremendous actor, who was very, very generous with me. He and Jason Robards, who was also extremely generous with me [in other plays], made tremendous contributions to my dedication as an actor."
He worked with Robards directly following All My Sons. "It was a great couple of years; I thought I'd died and went to heaven." Sheridan appeared with Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in two Eugene O'Neill plays: Long Day's Journey into Night (directed by Jose Quintero, Sheridan played Jamie Tyrone) and Ah, Wilderness! ("I was the bartender, a very small part"). Done in repertory, the plays started at Yale (where Sheridan met his wife) and ten weeks later came to Broadway.
Another O'Neill experience took place in 1992; Sheridan played James Tyrone, Jr. (an older version of the Long Day's Journey character) in A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. "I told Jason I was going to do it. He said, 'Want some help?' [In a 1973 production, directed by Jose Quintero, Robards and Colleen Dewhurst gave what were deemed the touchstone performances of the leads.] For the next six weeks, we spent every Sunday afternoon at the Red Lion [Inn] in Stockbridge [MA]. Jason drove up from Connecticut; I drove over from Williamstown. It's just part of why I'm grateful to him."
A native of Pasadena, California, the actor was the fourth of Daniel and Suzanne Sheridan's five children. "I have a sister and two living brothers; my mother will be 80 this summer." His father was "a jack of all trades. When I was born, he was an officer with the Pasadena police force. He was from Australia and came over after World War II. He met my mother and was promptly kicked out of the country when his visa expired. For awhile, he announced horse races in Vancouver. He got back into the country, married my mother, and worked for a van-lines company.
"My father became the technical advisor for 'The Desert Fox' [1951], with James Mason as Rommel. They wanted an Aussie who had been in North Africa with the English, and found my father on the Pasadena police force. That gave him the [show-business] bug. He started breaking horses [for movies], stepped up to stuntman, and became a Western actor for the last four or five years of his life."
In college, Sheridan "discovered dancing and acting, and became more interested in dance. I got hurt, and an old football injury came back. I bummed around for a couple of years and ended up in New York. I thought maybe I could make a living at [acting]."
With great enthusiasm, Sheridan recalls his first theatrical venture. "We were the Williamstown second company, which lasted about ten years. In the group were Amanda Plummer and Brian Benben. We had our own space at the Pine Cobble School, about a quarter-mile away from the main stage. There were nine paid and three unpaid actors, staff directors, stage managers—a total of maybe eighteen people. We did five plays in eleven weeks: Tooth of Crime, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rover, The Overcoat—adapted by Tom Fontana [whose later credits include TV's "Oz"], and Gossip. We went on tour to Troy and Schenectady. Boy, that was a ball! Absolutely a dream! I'd do it again!"
His New York stage debut occurred at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1979's Just a Little Bit Less than Normal, followed by The Arbor. "I went from one into the other. That gave me my Equity card." He worked regionally in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Allentown, and Albany.
At Circle in the Square in 1980, he did two plays: Major Barbara ("I had the very small part of Bilton") and The Man Who Came to Dinner (as Sandy, the boyfriend of the daughter of the household). Sheridan calls the latter his "reward for living through the role of Bilton."
His credits include playing Bernardo and Fortinbras in the 1982 Public Theatre production of Hamlet that starred Diane Venora. "That was my first Hamlet. I played Laertes in a little L.A. production, and did the King [Claudius] in the [2000 TV] movie that Campbell Scott made."
Other Shakespearean roles played by Sheridan include Hotspur in a 1992 Williamstown production of Henry IV and Brutus in Julius Caesar at Central Park's Delacorte in the summer of 2000. "I was very happy with that; my wife played Portia. My older son was four then, and was very much into the knives and blood [in the play]. Terrified, but he couldn't take his eyes off it. I had to prove to him that we were faking it. The company had a lot of fun with that."
He favorably recalls "Shannon's Deal," which was created by John Sayles. Scripts were by top-flight film writers, and noted jazz artists contributed to the score. Says Sheridan, "I don't think I've ever had a character that fit as well; it's probably the most interesting part I've played. It had humor, and I loved the cast [which included Elizabeth Pena and Miguel Ferrer]. But [network chief] Brandon Tartikoff left NBC, and that was that. We were mid-season replacements in '90 and '91, and basically played every night of the week [before ending its run]."
Looking back at "Chicago Hope," Sheridan observes, "There were some actors that I would really liked to have worked with more. Hector Elizondo and Adam Arkin were two guys I liked a lot. [Creator] David Kelley didn't stay. I liked his writing. He intimated that he might be leaving, but I didn't believe him. [Laughs] I was wrong. He wrote the first couple of episodes I did, and then left. The writing got a little scattered after that [and Sheridan moved on]."
In the 1999 TV-movie, "Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol," Sheridan portrayed Ozzie Nelson. "I loved the idea of this mild-mannered, avuncular presence on the television [sitcom], and this kind of little general in reality." In "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" (1952-66), Ozzie was always around the house. Did Sheridan ever figure out his occupation? "I have no idea," he says, with a laugh.
On "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Jamey Sheridan's potential far exceeds the demands. However, he has no complaints: "The character I'm playing is very interesting to me, but there's not a whole lot of him [in the action]. Still, it's a good show."
***
