Young Star Exclusive:The Talented Mr. Radcliffe
I didn’t know what to expect as I walked along 45th Street, across 8th Avenue in New York City. The weather report had predicted thunderstorms and I thought Please, not now — not when I had a very important appointment to make. Minutes ago, I had put a flower in my hair, adjusted my camera to the right setting, made sure I had my pen and notepad within reach and my Broadway 2011 poster easily accessible and ready to be autographed. I was fluctuating between journalist mode and fan mode as I arrived at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre 75 minutes early (and first in line), where Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was playing the lead in the revival of the ’60s musical-comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Broadway’s new song-and-dance man in action Ari Mintz / Playbill.com I went to see the show twice and saw how he left the audience blown away with top-notch dancing (to music from the legendary Frank Loesser) and singing — yes, singing, and with a flawless American accent at that. That’s right, the English actor known to the world as “the boy who lived” has razzle-dazzle and all that jazz in him. In How to Succeed, he loses the scar and glasses and takes on the role of J. Pierrepont Finch, a fresh-faced window-washer determined to conquer the corporate world. Although this is Radcliffe’s debut as a song-and-dance man, he’s no Broadway newbie. In 2008, he was in Equus, a play about a psychiatrist and a teenage boy obsessed with horses.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary as a musical, How to Succeed with Radcliffe opened in March 2011. He will continue to play the part until the end of the year. Afterwards, Glee’s Darren Criss and then Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers will take over the role. The show, which is based on Shepherd Mead’s 1950s satirical book of the same title, was made into a musical in 1961, and was revived in 1995 with Matthew Broderick in the lead.
It Takes A Hurricane
My Broadway poster signed by Daniel Radcliffe and his co-stars. When I checked with the box-office lady a few days back to make sure the performance I was about to see would actually star the HP actor and not an understudy, she replied, “Oh, it’s always him. Except for the time when Hurricane Irene shut all Broadway theaters, he hasn’t missed a single performance.” I remember being asked once how I could paint in my studio for hours and hours and not grow tired of it. To do that, you must really love your work. And Daniel must really love what he’s doing to be able to give so much of himself at every two-and-a-half-hour show happening eight times a week.
He was first approached by the producers during a break from filming the final Harry Potter film. At that time, the actor was taking preliminary singing and dancing lessons. According to a Broadway.com interview, he had dreamt of doing a musical someday but “they were kind of very ‘oh, that’ll never happen’ kind of dreams… To actually be here is surprising to me as much as I think it is to everybody else… I thought it was something that would happen later, so to have it now is very, very exciting.” His co-stars include five-time Emmy winner and this year’s Tony Best Actor in a Musical, John Larroquette who plays J.B. Biggley, Finch’s boss. He’s joined by the adorable comedian Rob Bartlett, Broadway star Christopher Hanke, and newcomer Rose Hemingway who plays Rosemary Pilkington, Finch’s love interest. Hemingway, who gets to lock lips with Radcliffe at every performance, considers herself “a very lucky girl.”
It was the end of another celebrated performance when I met Daniel just outside the backstage door before he headed home in his black GMC SUV. With his plain gray shirt, jeans and sneakers, he looked more “boy-next-door” than “richer than Princes William and Harry.” He politely signed autographs. “Just one per person, please,” he said, so he could accommodate everyone. I thought he had a great sense of humor. He replied to a woman who couldn’t help but notice his pasty complexion with a laugh saying, “I may look pale but I assure you, I feel perfectly fine!”
“The Philippines? That’s awfully far, wow! Thanks for heading out here…” was the Harry Potter star’s response when I told him that I had come half-way around the world to see his show. Daniel Radcliffe has indeed come a long way from the “cupboard under the stairs” to the big bright lights of Broadway. To many, he will always be Harry Potter “the chosen one.” To me, he’s an artist — one daring enough to broaden his horizons, and develop and stretch his craft. In another Broadway.com interview, he was asked why he made the choice to challenge himself instead of staying at home and enjoying his success and his response was, “Which sounds more fun, really? Me sitting at home… or actually being out there in front of an amazing audience, with a fantastic company? Stuff that’s a challenge is always the most satisfying.” Well said, Mr. Radcliffe.
