He’s played Snoopy, a menacing pharmacist, a gay Stepford wife, a gay Nazi, Harlequin, Xanthias and Tom Sawyer.
Actor Roger Bart has had quite a run. But when asked, Bart said the role he’s always aspired to playing is the one he has yet to perform.
Soon, very soon, he’ll have his chance.
Bart appears as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in Mel Brooks’ new production of “Young Frankenstein,” the musical, set to open Tuesday at the Paramount in Seattle.
“I want to be smart, crazy and theatrical and animated,” said Bart, who said he likes playing dark clowns. “This part, as corny as it sounds, and I can’t believe I’m saying it, but this is the part I’ve been training for all my life, it’s clowning with Promethean themes, where I can be at times serious and quite loving. It’s a fascinating part.
“I’m 44 years old and I’m playing this part and it’s the culmination of all the years I’ve been working at this stuff.”
With “Young Frankenstein” premiering in Seattle, and five movies set to be released, Bart may find that he’s a bit of a household name or, as he sarcastically put it, “I’m going to be out there in sort of a disgustingly ubiquitous way.”
But if you haven’t made the connection yet between Bart’s face and what he’s done, his resume surely will make you say, “Oh yeah, that guy.”
In the last television season, Bart portrayed George Williams, the menacing pharmacist on “Desperate Housewives” in hot pursuit of housewife Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross).
He reprised his role as Carmen Ghia for Universal’s film version of Mel Brooks’ “The Producers,” where he was starring once again alongside Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. Bart had received a Tony and Drama Desk nominations for the role he originated in the Broadway production of “The Producers.”
Bart also appeared in Paramount’s “The Stepford Wives,” where he received critical acclaim for his hilarious role as the gay Stepford wife.
In 1999, Bart won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as Snoopy in the revival of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”
His television credits include “Law &Order,” “Law &Order: Special Victims Unit” and “The George Carlin Show.”
Bart is soon to be seen in the movie “Hostel 2,” as well as the upcoming film, “Harold &Kumar 2.”
Bart happily admits that with all this work, life is good and he’s enjoying one “of the top 10 best jobs in the world.” In “Young Frankenstein,” he gets to work with actress Megan Mullally, watch beautiful women stretch and have lunch with Mel Brooks, where he laughs and learns a lot of history about the business and about Brooks’ life. He says he has come to appreciate Brooks as someone who is “not afraid of putting out the next work.”
Brooks’ latest work may be greeted with a certain hostility from fans who say the movie version of “Young Frankenstein” should never have been redone in another form, Bart said. But Bart also believes there’s a huge audience out there, his 6-year-old daughter included (he has another daughter who is 21), who are being introduced to the show for the first time.
“The more iconic moments of the movie, we honor them in a way that doesn’t compromise what we bring to the parts but pays homage to those particular scenes,” Bart said.
There will, of course, be comparisons between Bart and Gene Wilder, whose performance is ranked No. 9 on Premier magazine’s 100 greatest performances of all time. Bart joked that upon learning that tidbit he wanted to vomit, but said he ultimately has to make the role his own.
“There are hard core (“Young Frankenstein”) people out there who will appreciate that I’ve let go of Gene,” Bart said. “I don’t have crazy blonde hair, I can’t do it. I think if I tried to do it, the reaction from the audience would be ‘I could have rented the movie.’ Mel has written the incredible score and … it’s its own unique creature.”
The story line follows the original “Young Frankenstein,” with Dr. Frederick Frankenstein deciding whether to continue to run from his family’s tortured past or to stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather’s mad experiments reanimating the dead.
The show’s score includes “The Transylvania Mania,” “He Vas My Boyfriend” and Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On the Ritz,” which is the musical’s iconic number.
Bart’s favorite song is “Together Again for the First Time,” where he meets Igor. “It’s a very vaudeville number” which Bart called “happy material.”
“It’s silly and simple and energized,” Bart said.
Bart also said the coolest thing is that this is a family show and for the most part, depending on the kids, they are welcome, as long as the kids don’t get upset at fireworks.
“Lightning and thunder is part of the landscape of ‘Young Frankenstein,’” Bart said. He suggests that parents allow the kids to scream as loud as they can and then tell them that the thunderclaps they will hear in the show are no way that loud.
“It’s a huge, huge ride,” he said.
As for Bart’s ride, he said he wants to keep doing original productions and balance theater roles with movie roles.
“I’m really fortunate and busy, but I don’t want to do only theater. I do want to have a cocktail with the rest of the world on a Friday night, or I want to read my kid to sleep sometime,” he said. “The theater, it’s brutal and unbelievably exhilarating, but it beats the (expletive) out of you. I feel like a world-class athlete, and I’ve told my agent, ‘If you’ve got something for me where I get to take my shirt off, let’s do it now. I’m ready.’ “
Associated Press
Actor Roger Bart will portray Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the new musical “Young Frankenstein.”
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