{"id":219,"date":"2011-08-29T19:25:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-29T19:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=219"},"modified":"2011-10-14T17:43:07","modified_gmt":"2011-10-14T17:43:07","slug":"douglas-sills-to-star-as-gomez-addams-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/douglas-sills-to-star-as-gomez-addams-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Sills stars as Gomez Addams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While <strong>Nathan Lane<\/strong> and <strong>Roger Rees<\/strong> have had their day as Broadway stars of the musical \u201c<strong>The Addams Family<\/strong>,\u201d <strong>Douglas Sills <\/strong>had rehearsals both in New York and in\u00a0New Orleans as he prepared for the coveted role as Gomez Addams, the patriarch of the bizarre and macabre family first made popular by cartoonist <strong>Charles Addams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_220\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Douglas_Sills.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220\" class=\"size-full wp-image-220 lazyload\" title=\"Douglas Sills (\u00a9Tim Schulthies)\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Douglas_Sills.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"242\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 185px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 185\/242;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220\" class=\"size-full wp-image-220  \" title=\"Douglas Sills (\u00a9Tim Schulthies)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Douglas_Sills.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"242\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-220\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Douglas Sills (\u00a9Tim Schulthies)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A veteran of several starring roles on Broadway, most notably as a Tony Award nominee for \u201c<strong>The Scarlet Pimpernel<\/strong>,\u201d Sills is also regarded as one of the finest Shakespearean actors of his generation. He launched the national tour of \u201c<strong>The Addams Family<\/strong>\u201d as Gomez on September 15 at the <strong>Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,\u201d he says in a telephone interview. \u201cI can\u2019t believe I am working with the incredible (creative consultant) <strong>Jerry Zaks<\/strong>, who is in the prime of his understanding of the art form.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sills, a native of Franklin, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, describes his upbringing as that of \u201ctypical Jewish progressive parents who appreciated the arts.\u201d He distinctly remembers going to a big theatre to see <strong>Zero Mostel<\/strong> star in \u201c<strong>Fiddler on the Roof<\/strong>,\u201d a show which he believes also starred Zaks in the role of Motel, the tailor.<\/p>\n<p>After performing for the first time at a summer camp in Michigan, Sills got bitten by the acting bug. He pays homage to the late <strong>Margaret Whiting<\/strong>, who helped jumpstart his career, but credits a 1975 production of \u201c<strong>A Chorus Line<\/strong>\u201d with giving him the resolve to move towards acting as a career. \u201cMy insides got rearranged while I was watching it,\u201d he admits. \u201cI thought to myself: \u2018This is it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following graduation from the University of Michigan, Sills applied to law school, but admitted to his father that he wasn\u2019t sure if that was his best career choice. Surprisingly, his father agreed and encouraged him to try his hand at acting.<\/p>\n<p>Sills applied and was accepted to the graduate theatre program at the <strong>American Conservatory Theatre<\/strong> (ACT) in San Francisco. \u201cI thought I wanted to be a Shakespearean actor in the style of Olivier, Richardson and Gielgud,\u201d he concedes. Sills considers the time he spent at ACT as \u201ctransformative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He believes one of the reasons he has been so successful with musical theatre roles is the training he received at ACT. \u201cIf people come to me (to perform) in musicals, it\u2019s because I bring the classical theatre approach and really give it the integrity it deserves,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat\u2019s probably where I differentiate myself from many of my colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following graduation, he began to work in regional theatres including two seasons at the\u00a0<strong> <\/strong><strong>California Shakespeare Repertory Theatre<\/strong> and with several appearances on TV. Throughout this early period in his career he built a steady reputation as a quality character actor. \u201cI worked in television quite a bit in those years,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>During the early and mid-1990\u2019s Sills took part in several national tours of Broadway shows including \u201c<strong>The Secret Garden<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>Into the Woods<\/strong>.\u201d The latter, in which he appeared as Rapunzel\u2019s Prince, starred <strong>Cleo Laine<\/strong> and played at the <strong>Saenger Theatre<\/strong>, his first trip as an actor to New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p>His big break on Broadway came in 1997 when he was offered the starring role as Sir Percy Blakeney in \u201c<strong> <\/strong><strong>The Scarlet Pimpernel<\/strong>,\u201d which led to his nomination for a Tony Award. He has since appeared in two other versions of that musical, including the lead in the national tour for several months.<\/p>\n<p>While his heart may be in the classical theatre, Sills knows the payday for performing in a Broadway show is much greater than it would be for a dramatic play. \u201cI still do both, but I earn a lot more money (from musicals),\u201d he gushes.<\/p>\n<p>Sills acknowledges that audiences and producers have responded to him, despite intense competition. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to establish a reputation,\u201d he confesses. \u201cYou either have the chops or you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The characters created in <strong>Charles Addams\u2019<\/strong> outlandish cartoons were first transformed into a TV series starring <strong>John Astin<\/strong> as Gomez and later into a successful film franchise starring the late <strong>Raul Julia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>To follow Lane and Rees in such a standout role is a new challenge for Sills. \u201cSome things are likely stained on my memory,\u201d he admits. \u201cI\u2019m not taking anything consciously. I saw Nathan early in the run and saw Roger when this opportunity came up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sills loves the opportunity to portray Gomez. \u201cHe\u2019s passionate and he\u2019s capricious,\u201d he confesses. \u201cHe\u2019s a great lover and he\u2019s crazy about his wife; he\u2019s every actor\u2019s dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>The Addams Family<\/strong>\u201d opened on Broadway in March of 2010 and has grossed over $72 million in its run thus far. With a book by <strong>Marshall Brickman <\/strong>and choreography by <strong>Sergio Trujillo<\/strong>, the national road tour also stars <strong>Sara Gettelfinger <\/strong>as Morticia Addams and Tony Award nominees <strong>Martin Vidnovic<\/strong> and <strong>Crista Moore<\/strong> as Bal and Alice Beineke.<\/p>\n<p>Both composer-lyricist <strong>Andrew Lippa<\/strong> and Zaks retooled the show in rehearsals on Broadway adding new plot lines and musical moments not seen in the original cast performances. New lines have been added and lyrics in songs have been altered, according to Sills.<\/p>\n<p>He suggests the underlying concept of\u00a0 \u201c<strong>The Addams Family<\/strong>\u201d may offer a life lesson to those that are different, especially to Jews. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful color and it lends itself to this allegory about being outsiders, but being totally happy about being outsiders,\u201d he says. \u201cHow often is it that we find we\u2019re the only Jews in the room?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>The Addams Family<\/strong>\u201d continues to make way on its 30-city tour throughout the nation.<\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Douglas%20Sills%20stars%20as%20Gomez%20Addams\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33,32,31],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}