By Barbara & Scott Siegel . . .

NATHAN LANE: IN APPRECIATION…

Let’s lay it out, right here and now: Nathan Lane is Broadway’s most versatile, and perhaps — despite his fame and following — most underrated star.

It’s a little weird to think of Nathan Lane as underrated, given his clear box office power, and his countless awards, but there is a tendency for both critics and audiences, alike, to sometimes take him a little bit for granted. And that is so, so wrong…

Why go on like this? Well, we recently saw him in the Roundabout production of Pictures From Home at Studio 54. It’s the three-hander that also stars Danny Burstein and Zoe Wanamaker. No offense to the other two actors, who are splendid in the show, but it’s Nathan Lane’s name on the marquee that is selling the tickets. And it’s Nathan Lane’s performance that is central to the play’s dramatic impact.

Pictures From Home (Danny Burstein-Nathan Lane-Zoe Wanamaker)

In Pictures From Home, Lane plays a difficult father who is struggling in his later years. Nathan Lane as an old man? It’s almost inconceivable. Despite being 67 years old, it’s only because he’s such a great actor that we believed he could be a senior citizen. Anyway, it got us to thinking about Lane’s career. And, in truth, what he has accomplished is more breathtaking than most of us myopic critics can begin to fathom…

First of all, Nathan Lane didn’t go to the Yale Drama School. Nope. Not NYU either. Nor anywhere else. He was going to go to Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia on a drama scholarship to study acting. On his first day there, however, he discovered that the scholarship would not cover enough of his expenses. So, he quit and went to New York to do it on his own. And he sure did. Pictures From Home is his 25th Broadway show.

But Broadway shows don’t tell the whole story; not by a long shot. Some of Lane’s most memorable performances have been Off-Broadway, often in Terrence McNally’s plays — one of the great collaborative associations between playwright and actor in the modern theater. Just think of The Lisbon Traviata, Lips Together – Teeth Apart, and Love! Valor! Compassion! to name a few.

Birdcage 1996

Now, here’s where the myopia enters the picture, because as theater critics, we don’t always know what actors are doing when we’re not seeing them on stage. Well, Nathan Lane’s credit list is gargantuan! A full-time working actor would have had a fabulous career with one-tenth of what Nathan Lane has done (so far). Here’s a for instance: Nathan Lane holds the record for the most Prime Time Emmy Award nominations for a Guest Actor (seven) — so you can  imagine how much TV he’s done. And movies, of course: Birdcage, most famously (but at least we knew that!), but the man just works and works and works.

The Nance- Nathan Lane Lyceum Theatre

Now, finally, we get to the thing about Nathan Lane that speaks to his longevity as a star. It’s not just his talent, which is prodigious; it’s his versatility. How many stars can you name that have their names atop the marquees of musicals, comedies, and dramas? Hey, among the female stars, we all love Patti, Bernadette, Betty, et al. And among the male stars, three cheers for Stokes. But do any of them, or any otherwise unnamed major actors headline musicals like The Producers? Make you laugh and cry in comedy/dramas like The Nance? Sear you to the core in an epic drama like Angels in America? The point here isn’t that he is cast in such different kinds of shows, but that he is excellent — and often brilliant — in all of them! And, again, that’s just in the theater.

Now, let’s get back to Pictures From Home…

As this critically acclaimed play, with a stellar cast, led by Nathan Lane, was about to begin, we looked up at the balcony at Studio 54 and saw some empty seats. We were stunned. At this stage of Nathan Lane’s extraordinary career, the theater-going public should never miss a chance to see our greatest actor on stage. Never!

Featured Image: Nathan Lane “Angels in America”