THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509130024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
URGING A JADED audience to stop sitting home all alone and ``come hear the music play,'' Joel Grey became a star with ``Cabaret.''
Today, he remains that most vulnerable show biz being - a song and dance man. It's a dying breed, but he does it with a difference. He's a SERIOUS song and dance man.
Grey, speaking from his hotel in New York City, confirms that the pull between theater and vaudeville remains ``about equal in my life. I get the love for vaudeville, for outright entertaining, from my dad. I get the love of theater from my own soul. For me, it's been a pretty balanced career.''
Joel Grey is bringing the vaudeville side of his talents to Chrysler Hall Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. when he performs with the Virginia Symphony Pops under the baton of associate conductor Andrews Sill.
Grey is also a busy actor. He has three movies coming out this year. Nonetheless, he takes to the road whenever possible to brush up on his stage skills.
``I try to find time each year for about a dozen of these bookings,'' he said. ``I like to go to a city and fit in - meet people and be a part of their community, and their orchestra. It's a kind of tonic for me. Most of all, I want my show to be like inviting the audience to a party. We talk and we do a few songs. I try to keep it low-keyed, and friendly.''
The thin and still-boyish 63-year-old says he doesn't work hard at keeping that look. ``I go to the gym once in a while, but, for the most part I don't worry about it. I think it's in the genes, but, you know, I can tend to put on a little weight.''
His career has recently leaned more toward serious acting. ``The song-and-dance man is something of a dying art,'' he explained. ``There's nowhere for it today. Television doesn't have variety shows anymore. Las Vegas isn't what it was. Broadway has gone over to falling chandeliers and wall-to-wall sound. Movie musicals have just about died, even though I am appearing in a new movie musical soon - the movie version of `The Fantasticks.' ''
Born Joel Katz, he made his professional stage debut at age 9 at the Cleveland Playhouse. By the time he reached his teens he had become a versatile entertainer. ``Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be a song-and-dance guy,'' he said. ``I wanted to be a Shakespearean actor. My training was strictly for the legitimate theater. As a child, I did plays like `On Borrowed Time.' The musical thing came as a surprise to me. I'm not a trained dancer. I don't go to dance classes. When I get a job, I simply rehearse the show - learn the routines required.''
His idols were a mixed lot: Peter Lorre, Gene Kelly and Charlie Chaplin.
His father was comedian Mickey Katz, whom, he points out, was ``just a wonderful Dad when he was at home. On stage, he did Yiddish parodies and was in something called the Borsch Capades. He was a very funny comedian with Spike Jones and his orchestra. That's my Dad doing the popping sound of the champagne bottle on the hit record `Cocktails for Two.' ''
Joel Grey became a star when he played the mystical, and threatening, Master of Ceremonies in the 1966 Broadway musical ``Cabaret.'' He won the Tony for the role and went on to win the Oscar for the 1972 movie version.
``It was director Hal Prince who chose me for the role,'' he remembered. ``He had seen me in `Stop the World' and `Half a Sixpence' and had me in mind when `Cabaret' came along. Originally, the role of the emcee was just a musical one. All his songs were in a medley in the second act. Slowly, it emerged as an acting role with his songs spread throughout the show.''
He went on to star in the drama ``Man on a Swing'' (1974) as well as ``Buffalo Bill and the Indians'' and the Sherlock Holmes' thriller ``The Seven-Percent Solution'' in 1976. The lure of returning to Broadway was strong, though. He had another big hit with the musical ``George M'' for which he received a second Tony nomination. He also got Tony nominations for his performance as Charles VII in the 1975 musical ``Goodtime Charley'' and the 1979 musical ``The Grand Tour.''
His daughter, Jennifer Grey, has made it a third-generation show business family with her film stardom in ``Dirty Dancing,'' filmed in Virginia. ``I didn't encourage or discourage her about going into the business,'' he said. ``I was much more at ease when I finally realized that she is good. I'm more a Dad than a stage Dad. I only give her advice when she asks for it.''
In addition to ``The Fantasticks,'' the long-awaited movie version of America's longest-running stage musical, he'll be seen on screen this year in ``The Empty Mirror'' in which he plays one of Hitler's most ruthless henchmen.
Next to be released will be ``Joe, My Friend,'' which he made in Ireland earlier this year, co-starring Schuyler Fisk, Sissy Spacek's daughter.
For the appearance with the local orchestra, he will do the expected songs from ``George M'' and ``Cabaret'' but promises to add a few standards from his favorite pop composers, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. ``I'm pretty much a standard guy,'' he laughed. ``I like songs with lyrics - lyrics that you can understand.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joel Grey has three movies coming out this year.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY THEATER by CNB