鈥淚t鈥檚 an unbelievable year,鈥� says two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane.
In two weeks, the legendary actor will be seen in No Pay, Nudity鈥攁 new indie film directed by Lane鈥檚 longtime friend (and original Seymour, as in Suddenly) Lee Wilkof. This fall, Lane will bow on for a limited engagement before jetting across the pond to take on .
Lane is in for some heavy lifting, but it鈥檚 these titanic roles that excite him. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a character that I鈥檝e loved,鈥� says Lane of Walter Burns, the ruthless editor he will play in the upcoming revival of The Front Page. 鈥淚 want to be the guy who gets to say, 鈥楾he son of a bitch stole my watch.鈥� One of the great curtain lines of all time.鈥�
The opportunity to play Burns has come up before, and, despite his desire to take on the role, Lane was never able to do it. 鈥淎s Tennessee Williams said, 鈥業t鈥檚 the play that removed the corset from Broadway.鈥� It鈥檚 a play that really changed things. In its day it was quite daring.鈥�
Speaking of risky, ground-breaking plays, after The Front Page folds, Lane will take on 鈥渙ne of the greatest pieces of theatre ever written,鈥� as he describes Tony Kushner鈥檚 Angels in America, 鈥渁nd that part is so extraordinary.鈥� Even while in prep for Broadway, Lane has begun his research on 础苍驳别濒蝉鈥� Roy Cohn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 endlessly fascinating and complicated,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was a big decision because it鈥檚 a long commitment, but ultimately, I couldn鈥檛 say no.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the Hamilton of its day,鈥� says Lane of Angels. It rocked the world.
While Lane鈥檚 turn in the seminal work may be years after that original lightning-in-a-bottle experience, he does have a few pinch-me moments of his own鈥攊ncluding his time in The Producers, which, despite Hamilton, maintained its record this year for the most Tony Award-winning production in history, with a total of 12 accolades. 鈥淪ecretly, Matthew [Broderick] and I were鈥攁nd I鈥檓 sure Mel Brooks was鈥攈appy he held onto his record,鈥� Lane chuckles.
鈥淚t was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you鈥檙e never鈥攊t鈥檚 never going to be like that again. It鈥檚 a very rare occurrence, like Haley鈥檚 Comet,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think Hamilton is even on a grander scale, but it was certainly a phenomenon and a national one. It just is one of, certainly, my happier memories in the theatre.鈥�
With such fond memories, it鈥檚 no wonder Lane has packed his schedule with stage engagements. Still, it would be something to see the King of Old Broadway back in a musical. 鈥淚 do feel like musicals are a young man鈥檚 game,鈥� says Lane. 鈥淢aybe if the right thing happened, came along, I would consider doing another one, but I love taking on these other challenges like Angels in America or The People v. OJ.
鈥淲hen they work [musicals are] one of the greatest things in the world 鈥� certainly if the right thing came along, I would think about that.鈥� We won鈥檛 get hung up on words, but here鈥檚 hoping.
