What was the experience like sharing your life, in person, in front of people, back onstage? Richard Thomas . They want to do a workshop in July and then well go into rehearsal in September and run till Christmas. He holds an MFA in Acting from NYU's Graduate Acting Program and a BA in Political Science from Brown University. I think of myself as spiritual and, not to be too woo-woo, I believe in the earth. rt: Actually, it sort of timed out pretty well, you know? On Sunday night, June 12th, the Broadway premiere production of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play The Normal Heart took home the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play (John Benjamin Hickey) and Best Featured Actress in a Play (Ellen Barkin). And so from March 12 of 2020 to November 3, 2021, was the longest period of time I hadnt been onstage in my adult life. 212-581-1212 Just last night, Manhattan Theatre Club celebrated opening night of the Broadway premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. I sing well, and maybe Im justifying, but I feel like I play and sing just well enough but not too well for who he is. Rich Topol debuted his intimate one-person show at Portland Stage in November (photo by No Umbrella Media LLC). Richard J Topol, 79. Get the fuck out of here. I got bar mitzvahed. And then we did a couple of Zoom workshops. Intense. and Larry Kramers The Normal Heart. And then we did a couple of Zoom workshops. We did the kind of work that you do in a play before you get up on your feet. There had been a lot of preparation. Itll be sometime in 2021. I dont subscribe there. First of all, I dont like one-person shows, I dont like seeing one-person shows; theyre not interesting to me. Rich Topol plays nonreligious narrator Patrick Salomon in Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere (photo by Matthew Murphy), PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SERIES as Satine, Exclusive: What Goes Into Casting a Broadway Show? It was this biodrama about Lukas and it was missing something. I remember at the time talking with people and saying, Oh my God, this is the longest period of time between . Photo Flash: THE NORMAL HEART Production Shots! Rich Topol poses with a hot car on set of EPIX series Godfather of Harlem. While speaking about his son, he mentioned that his mini-me is "the joy of my life. In the video below, Patrick Healy visited the Tony Award-winning revival of 'The Normal Heart' to see if its relevant to younger gay people today. Its interesting because it connects to the father thing. It doesnt have any songs . . And Josh had done some incredible things. Im hoping to bring the show to New York, but I think doing it here, thatll be scary. "There were probably a good two dozen words that were a regular part of our household," he says. Is this too Jewy? twi-ny: Yes they had, with Yogi Berra as manager. Thats the way I connect to religion. Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of REGRETS, the new play by Matt Charman, directed by Carolyn Cantor will open tonight, Tuesday, March 27 at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). And putting it up and investing in it, saying, Im sorry, this is too important. We would do a weeklong workshop with the first act of the play, then the second act. And then one of our stage managers tested positive, and luckily she didnt give it to anybody else. Richard became a father at 50 and named his firstborn after his dad. Richard Topol ("Moshe Sharett") has recently starred in Paula Vogel 's Indecent at the Vineyard Theater and on Broadway, and appeared in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Fish In The Dark. Law & Order: CI The Third Horseman (2002) as Cutler's Attorney Law & Order Terminal (1997) as Mickey Fine For Love or Money (2001) as Lloyd Neal Bounty (2003) as Arnie Gleason Law & Order: SVU Consent (2001) as Harry the Vagrant Juvenile (2002) as Mr. Connor . I was like, No, no, no. This is your first one-man show, which you wrote with Willy Holtzman, a two-time Pulitzer nominee. Its unbelievable. And then another few months later we did the third. Im just some guy . And so, kicking and screaming, it became more and more about my relationship to Lukas and then my relationship to fatherhood. and Larry Kramers The Normal Heart. BroadwayWorld was on hang for the big night and you can check out photos from the star-studded red carpet arrivals. Look, we live in a world where the hate for other has been unleashed. It went really well and theyre, like, We want to produce this and we have a slot. The Normal Heart made its World Premiere at The Public Theater in 1985 and premiered on Broadway on April 19, 2011 before opening to rave reviews on April 27, 2011. We dont know when but were still committed to doing the play. He holds an MFA in Acting from NYU's Graduate Acting Program and a BA in Political Science from Brown University. Even if you dont recognize his name, youre likely to know his face; he has approximately fifty television and film credits, including portraying lawyer and politician James Speed in Steven Spielbergs Lincoln, a recurring role on The Practice, and multiple parts on several Law & Order iterations. He had Parkinsons disease. About seven years ago, I was sitting in the audience at a play when I recognized the man in front of me, actor Richard Topol. So weve been careful and thoughtful and fortunate, and I hope we continue to be so. I feel like the Jews, the Jews get it, the New York Jews get it, or they have really strong opinions about it. During our wide-ranging Zoom conversation, Topol is thoughtful and generous, laughing and smiling a lot. twi-ny: Okay, for my last question, I have a sort of bone to pick with you. His father, Jacob Topol, was Russian and in the early 1930s immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he worked as a plasterer; [4] [5] he also served in the Haganah paramilitary organization. twi-ny: Which the character Molly agrees with. They produced Lanford Wilsons Talleys Folly they cast a married couple who played the two parts. twi-ny: As a listener, I felt it Shipwreck was one of the audio plays that worked the best during the lockdown. But then I went to a hockey game and sixteen thousand people are screaming, no masks, lots of eating and drinking. So then the pandemic hit and immediately I got the virus. I play my father-in-law. Did you enjoy working on Zoom? Im a tree hugger. I think because they had intended originally to produce it live, they had invested in it as fully and fulsomely as you do for a whole theater piece. Broadway: Lemml in Indecent (Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination), Larry David's Fish in the Dark, The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, Tony-winning revivals Awake & Sing! But his true love is theater, which he also teaches. Lets take that idea of writing and switch over to Prayer for the French Republic, which is exquisitely written. Im a tree worshiper. Why am I doing this play? They hand delivered the scripts to everybodys homes. And March 29 to April 1 sees Jimonn Coles Chickens, in which Megan Bartle, Zo Tipp, and Rich Topol portray fowl creatures living on Michael Pottss farm. And there were conversations among the cast about, Well, what do we do at home? And the first two drafts of it were about that. Rocketreach finds email, phone & social media for 450M+ professionals. And I asked him about managing the 73 Mets. rt: Thank you. But still there was that sense of, Whos producing a new eleven-person play, with nobody famous? Tuesday Sunday through March 27, $99 So what could it be about. Because when I became a Yankees fan, the Yankee sucked. Richard has appeared on Broadway numerous times, most recently nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as Lemml in the Tony Award winning production of Indecent, with Larry David in Fish in the Dark, with Al Pacino . Photo Credit: Joan Marcus. Photo Flash: First Look at Katrina Lenk, Adina Verson and More in Paula Vogel's INDECENT on Broadway, Photo Flash: First Look at Richard Topol, Katrina Lenk & More in INDECENT at Vineyard Theatre, Photo Coverage: Meet the Cast & Creative Team of Vineyard Theatre's INDECENT, Photo Flash: First Look at Robert Cuccioli & More in BIKEMAN, Now Playing at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Photo Coverage: Cast of Primary Stages' BRONX BOMBERS Celebrates Opening Night Off-Broadway, Photo Coverage: Inside Opening Night of Barrington Stage Company's THE CHOSEN, Photo Flash: First Look at Alexis Bledel, Ansel Elgort, et al. The Unbelieving is now officially open, and will run through November 20, 2022. I love Charles. Rich Topol plays nonreligious narrator Patrick Salomon in Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere (photo by Matthew Murphy), PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC Hes an extremely amiable mensch who clearly loves his chosen profession. It is unbelievable. He has appeared extensively on and off Broadway, in such plays as The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington, Alice Birchs Anatomy of a Suicide with Carla Gugino, and Paula Vogels Tony-nominated Indecent with Katrina Lenk as well as Tony-winning revivals of Clifford Odetss Awake & Sing! So this was the middle of December now, right before Christmas, and shows were going down left and right. Im always curious about what my non-Jewish friends who come and see the show think of it. Ive also actually played a lot of Jewish narrators who step into the play. April 21, 2013. in MTC's REGRETS. My wife came and saw the show. But were still on track for the fall. Even those people understand, given what weve lived with, at least certainly for the last few years. Everybody did keep their masks on, but there were some drinking and eating. And then a month later, its, Yeah, were not going to do the play in September. Resides in Tallahassee, FL. I think a lot of people forget that. And then Willys like, Come on, come on. We did that reading and I think it confirmed for Manhattan Theatre Club and for Josh that he had latched on to something incredible. Get 5 free searches. The show closed on March 12. rt: He does a great job of giving everybody a valid argument. Because its a great joy to do this play. twi-ny: I felt that that Josh really attacked the numerous angles of how to look at anti-Semitism and Israel and American Jewry. He was beautiful. Originally from Larchmont, NY, he now lives in New York City with his wife, actress, Richard Topol as Fritz Haber in Genius: Einstein, Episode 7, Richard Topol as Fritz Haber on Genius: Einstein episode 1. And Ive been an actor for over three decades. Wilson (Happy Now? And so the guy lost his physical abilities and his mental abilities. Kate Shindle has been re-elected president of Actors' Equity, the union representing more than 51,000 theatrical actors and stage managers.She was first elected to the post in 2015, having previously served as the union's eastern regional vice president. And so what to do about that? Although my mother came and saw the show. I think that most of the major religions are about feeling good to be small under the umbrella of something thats bigger than our oneness, that connects us all. We did the workshop, we did a live reading in front of people. Or Mark Blum, a lovely man who lost his life to it. I dont think Im as extreme as Patrick; Patrick is a Jew who doesnt know anything about his Judaism and is happy to not know anything about his Judaism and is somebody who thinks of organized religion as what he says in the play, which is bullshit.. Since these are your lines and theyre about you, if a joke didnt quite take or something emotional didnt register with the audience, is it more or less upsetting than when youre reciting somebody elses words and something might not go as expected? Im not going to risk that. . I had symptoms on the ides of March, on the 15th of March, and I was in bed for nineteen days with Covid-19. Showing Editorial results for richard topol. He is married to actress Eliza Foss; they have one daughter, and Richard was close with his father-in-law, the late German-American composer, pianist, and conductor Lukas Foss. twi-ny: Okay, for my last question, I have a sort of bone to pick with you. He had Parkinsons disease. I mean, I also shot some TV shows over the course of the pandemic, so all of the Zoom stuff felt more like the way an actor like me connects to short-term work. And we were shut down. rt: I have asked that of my non-Jewish friends. And I thought, Oh, thats perfect. Frances Benhamou, Kenneth Tigar, Richard Topol, Nancy Robinette, Joshua Harmon twi-ny: So you played Yogi, and then you met him on opening night of the show. Were already verklempt about it. (l-r front row) - Peyton Lusk, Yair Ben-Dor, Ari Brand, Pierre Epstein, Jeff Seymour, Molly Ranson, Betsy Aidem, Francis rt: We were wearing masks around the table. [6] rt: Right. Photo Coverage: On the Opening Night Red Carpet for Public Theater's OTHELLO at Shakespeare in the Park! Photo Coverage: THE WINTER'S TALE Opens at the Delacorte, Photo Coverage: 'MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA' Opening Night Party, Photo Coverage: A BODY OF WATER Curtain Call and After Party, From 'Mamma Mia!' Shipwreck was the closest we got to working on a play because we rehearsed for a couple of weeks and it felt like, Okay, Im going to rehearsal today. Willy and I had been talking about this play for a number of years. (seated/facing away), and Jeff Seymour (seated/facing away), Jason Babinsky, Miriam Silverman, Richard Topol, Celeste Arias and Gabby Beans, Michael Ritchie, Richard Topol and Joby Earle, Richard Topol, Rebecca Taichman and Joby Earle, Richard Topol, Paula Vogel and Joby Earle, Richard Topol, Mimi Lieber, Adina Verson, Harry Groener, Elizabeth A. Davis, Steven Rattazzi and Joby Earle, Richard Topol, Cassie Beck, Victoria Clark, Christopher Innvar, Richard Topol, Cassie Beck, Christopher Innvar, Richard Topol, Paula Vogel and Katrina Lenk, Richard Topol, Adina Verson, Katrina Lenk, Tom Neils, Steven Rattazzi and Mimi Lieber, Irungu Mutu, Robert Cuccioli, Richard Topol, Angela Pierce, Robert Cuccioli, Irungu Mutu, Richard Topol, Angela Pierce, Irungu Mutu, Robert Cuccioli, Richard Topol and Elizabeth Ramos, Francois Battiste, Christopher Jackson, Bill Dawes, Keith Nobbs, Wendy Makkena, Chris Henry Coffey, Richard Topol, CJ Wilson, John Wernke, Richard Topol, Jeff Cutler, Ben Rosenbach, Mark H. Dold, Ben Cole, Christopher Innvar, Adam Heller, Richard Topol, John Cariani, Adam Heller, Richard Topol, Richard Schiff. And then because the pandemic happened, we both had the time to really work on it. 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