Tony Danza

A lot of performers claim to "do it all," but Tony Danza really seems to. Fondly remembered by television audiences as lovable palooka cabbie Tony Banta on Taxi and as male housekeeper Tony Micelli on Who's the Boss?, the former boxer has also done movies The Hollywood Knights, Angels in the Outfield, last year's Oscar winner Crash, hosted a daytime talk show and even earned his own Friends joke for the use of his name as a goofed song lyric in Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" "Hold me closer, Tony Danza…". But Danza is also an accomplished singer and theater vet, with acclaimed cabaret performances at Feinstein's at the Regency and notable Broadway appearances in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge succeeding Anthony LaPaglia as longshoreman Eddie Carbone in 1998, and as Rocky the barkeep opposite Kevin Spacey in the star-studded 1999 production of The Iceman Cometh. Now Danza has stepped into the very big shoes of theater impresario/blowhard Max Bialystock in the long-running hit The Producers, his first-ever Broadway musical. It's a challenge even for the still-amazingly-fit Danza, who recently became a grandfather, but playing Max has given him a new outlook on his entire career.

So, The Producers... big show.
Big show. [laughs]

How's it going?
It's the greatest. The biggest thing is that I proved to myself I could do it. People used to say to me, "What else do you want to do?" I always wanted to do a Broadway musical, and then I got offered this. And I got scared [laughs] .

It's definitely not a small role.
It's not a small role, and I also thought—I'll be honest with you—that maybe it's the end of the run, and I don't want to be the guy who closes it [laughs]. But a lot of times, when things scare you, those are the things you should do, you know?

How did the opportunity come your way?
Well, you know, the first thing is the phone call…

That all-important phone call.
Sammy Cahn was a friend of mine and I used to ask him, "What came first: the lyrics or the music or the song?" And he said, "The phone call." When I got the call about The Producers, I didn't know if I wanted to do it. I saw the play again, and as daunting as it was, I remember thinking, "Gee, I think I can do that part!" [laughs]

Had you expressed interest in playing Max before?
No, they approached me. I had no designs on it. I was out in L.A. doing a little Bernard Slade play called I Remember You at Garry Marshall's theater [the Falcon Theatre]. When the call came, I had committed to that and didn't want to throw those guys under the bus; they were friends of mine and I really liked the play. I said no to The Producers, and then three weeks into the run of the play [which ended November 12], I called my agent back and said, "See if they are still interested." And they were, if I could be in it by December 19. So I threw myself in, started rehearsals on November 28 and learned it in 18 days.

That's not much time!
It's a wonderful company. Not to degrade any other community, but when you're on Broadway, everybody around you can do so many things. They're all so talented, and they're all playing three or four parts in the show. It's just a great team to be a part of.

Did you work with director Susan Stroman?
Yes, I got to work with Susan, and then the assistant choreographer, assistant director and stage manager put you into the show with all the swing people who work with you. You go through this rigorous eight hours a day of rehearsal. It's a daunting task to learn it, but you do have the benefit of the movie so you can get the Cliffs Notes version [laughs]. You have to be really disciplined. Not only are you going to have to be singing six hours a day, you have to take care of your voice.

You've become known for your singing, but do you find a musical different from performing a club act?
Well, Broadway belting a little bit different, but singing is singing. The real adjustment is that you do so much of it. And there is a lot of screaming in the show, a lot of yelling, so you have to find the right spot to place your voice, because if you make a mistake you could really hurt yourself. I don't want to miss any performances. You have to think about it, like, "Can I have a couple of drinks?" You have to be careful with yourself.

Especially your opening number, "The King of Broadway," and the big second-act aria "Betrayed."
The first 30 minutes of the play are a sprint for me. The office scene, "We Can Do It"… And then there's the 11 o'clock number, you know! "Betrayed" is so much fun to do, oh my God! Listen. I'm in shape. I should be able to do this. There have been heavier guys in this part! [laughs]

I noticed that there had to be a line change for you when Leo says, "You used to be a fat, fat fatty!" Obviously you're not a fat, fat fatty.
We do have a new line now, yes. It's evolved. Remember in the first scene Leo says he had a secret desire to become a Broadway producer? Well, before he says that now, he says, "I saw you when I came to see Bialy's in 1942; I still have the ticket stub. Of course back then, you were fat." And I go, "Never fat! Husky!" He says, "Okay, well… husky." Then, later on, he calls me "husky," and it's very funny.

Another great in-joke was part of the original script. When the old woman says, "What a strange title for a play: Cash!" Max replies, "So is The Iceman Cometh!"—which happens to have been your last Broadway gig. It almost seems like fate.
It does, doesn't it? [laughs]

Your approach to Max seems a bit different. He seems more a team player than a bellowing, Falstaffian kind of guy.
I think he's nice! He's not a gruff, blustery guy. I mean, he is, but he's a nice guy. He can't help himself. I want people to root for him. I want them to root for the two guys to get together. When I put my head on Leo's shoulder they just let out a huge "Awwwwwww!"

Yes, the response now at the end of "'Til Him" is positively beaming.
I ran into Nathan [Lane, the show's original Max] last night in a bar and he started screaming, "How dare you!" [laughs]. I said, "I'm just trying to be you." Ernie Sabella was there, and he said, "That's what we're all doing." I'm not denigrating what Nathan did. I just figured, what the heck? I'll do it my way.

Have there been any funny ad-libs yet?
Well, we had a motorcycle breakdown one night. Roger [Bart, formerly Leo] said, "I was always afraid to ride one!" The guys came out and moved it and we went right on. That was pretty funny.

There's a huge amount of production design in the show.
Oh my God! The backstage choreography is harder than the front!

When you accepted the role, did anyone comment on the fact that you're a well-known Italian playing one of the most Jewish roles ever?
Miscast? You mean miscast? [laughs]

No…
I heard "miscast" all the time. I'll be honest with you: I had guys that work with me in my live act who said, "Ya know Tony, you might be biting off more that you can chew."

Well, watching it again, I noticed there's not that much reference to the character's ethnicity. You even have a line saying, "I don't speak Yiddish."
And that's an original line! There really isn't that much [that's specifically ethnic]. And by the way, Italians, Jews—it's pretty close, isn't it? Actually, I think Max is more New York than Jewish.

Have you ever encountered a situation with your ethnicity in which people said, "No way will we see this guy for that!"
I'm unabashedly Italian, and I think that sometimes it's easier to be successful if you are "non-labelable." When you offer a label for people to put on you, in some circumstances it could tend to hold you back. Not all the time, but sometimes.

Obviously you've been hugely successful on television, but how does that play out when you're being considered for stage roles?
You have to prove to people that you can do it, so maybe this is what I've done with The Producers. I'm 56 years old. I just came off the biggest setback professionally in my career, my talk show getting cancelled. I really took that hard. The thing that it taught me—because I always try to learn something—is that for 30 years I've been chasing what people think and doing it. I've decided I'm not going to do that anymore. And taking this play was part and parcel to that because I just wanted to have the experience. I don't care who sees it. Like you said, I've been around a long time. I really don't have anything else to prove, even to myself. The great thing about this is that I proved to myself I could do it. Because I wasn't sure. I really do have a different attitude about the way I approach work now. It's more "Hi-Diddly-Dee, an actor's life for me." I'm just looking for jobs that excite me.

Speaking of which, congratulations on being in last year's Best Picture winner, Crash. [Danza played a TV producer who asks the TV director played by Terrence Howard to amp up a sitcom character's ethnicity.]
How about that? I was really hot after Matt Dillon's part [as a casually racist, morally dubious L.A. cop] and it came down to financing; they could get money with him and they couldn't get it with me, basically. So [director] Paul Haggis said, "I got one scene and I'd love for you to be in the movie." I said, "Paul, I'd work for you in half a scene." So that's it; I went and I did it. And I loved it. It was great.

What's the difference between doing a Mel Brooks musical and the classic plays you've done, such as The Iceman Cometh and A View from the Bridge?
I'll tell you something. Once you study Brooks, once you get into this part and this play, you quickly find out it's very intricate, smart and funny. I put it right up there with the rest of that stuff. I mean it. It's really great. I can't wait to go do it tonight.

Has Mel Brooks seen your performance?
He was there on opening night. I was thrilled. In fact, a friend of mine was sitting behind him...I had a spy...and he said that Mel was laughing a lot.

Are you still based in Los Angeles?
Yeah, but I'm getting itchy. I almost got chased out of there. My house is near Suzanne Somers' and I almost lost it. [Somers' Malibu home was destroyed in a wildfire on January 8.] I'm really loving living in New York. I'm sitting in my window looking out on the city...there's something about this place. And when you're living here and working on a great show on Broadway, that's about as good as it gets. Draw a Broadway dream, and I'm having it.

See Tony Danza in The Producers at the St. James Theatre.