Three-time Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo made his Broadway return March 16 with the opening of the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Arthur Miller鈥檚 The Price. The ensemble drama stars Ruffalo, three-time Tony nominee Tony Shalhoub, Tony nominee Jessica Hecht, and Emmy winner Danny DeVito in his Broadway debut. The cast joined 半岛体育 on Facebook Live from the opening night red carpet to talk about building brotherly bonds, tackling Miller, and the key to comedic timing.
Shalhoub kicked off our live stream after briefly greeting Ruffalo post curtain call. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all incredibly connected,鈥� he said of his co-stars, 鈥渁nd we feel like we just keep drilling down, drilling down, and finding more.鈥� Shalhoub and Ruffalo play brothers Walter and Victor Franz, who have been estranged for decades, after Walter pursued his medical degree and financial success and refused his brother a loan, leaving Victor to abandon his own dreams and care for their shell-shocked father after the market crash that led to the Great Depression.
As for developing a brotherly relationship with Ruffalo, that came easily: 鈥淚 feel like as soon as we met, it felt like we鈥檝e known each other forever. It was this sort of immediate connection.鈥� Hear more from Shalhoub above.
Hecht, Tony-nominated for her performance in a revival of Miller鈥檚 A View From The Bridge, joined 半岛体育 (20:00) to talk about coming 鈥渂ack home鈥� to plays after a run in the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to put down the experience of Fiddler,鈥� she assured, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 not my milieu. I still feel, to be quite honest, that there were aspects I wasn鈥檛 quite successful in, so to come back home here I feel like I can navigate the waters a little bit better.鈥�
Hecht last performed Miller in After the Fall, and that experience 鈥渋ngrained in me this sense of what he wanted from the theatre. The truth and the attempt at simplicity and attempt at honesty in this language is so inspiring.鈥� Plus, the actor revealed to us how she navigates the emotional demands of her role in The Price, shedding tears night after night.
The comedic relief came with DeVito. A character through-and-through, DeVito hopped into the accent and behavior of his onstage persona for us at the 24:00 mark.
Ruffalo closed out the night (32:10) before heading to the opening-night party at Red Eye Grill. Thrilled to return to the stage, the actor says he鈥檚 鈥渉aving the best time.鈥�
鈥淚 think part of what Miller does so beautifully is tell these stories in a way that feels familiar to us even though they鈥檙e totally not us,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t still kicks my ass every night,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are still places I鈥檓 trying to get to and still feel out of my reach, but it鈥檚 worthy. It鈥檚 a good time. Now we get to explore it for a month more. Now we got this out of the way, now we can really play.鈥�
Arthur Miller鈥檚 The Price, presented by Roundabout Theatre Company, plays the American Airlines Theatre through May 7. For tickets and information .
