g'EgEAT R, o 7 6 p rt Thneeeheers forthe ffien 0f 'Frasier,' to$etheraqain (sort of) on sta$e. WhmtwouEd Frgud sav? ts-, ,*rcrrA.Er, Gx,,rz rasier" is the only sitcom to win tire Best Comedy Emmy five years in a row And its I l-year run, from i993 ro 2004, set aii sorts of orher recorcis, maiilng the "Cheers" spinoff one of the most acclaimed and suc- cessful shows il TV historv. Now. its stars are back in the spotiight in a trio of New York theater productions David Hycie Pierce (the former Niles Crane) is the learl in "Crrrfains " thc new nnmodrr-mrrcfahr mrrcinrl frn'- the team behird "Cabaret" and "Chicago." John Mahoney (cranky Crane patriarch Mar- tin) stars in the first Broadway revival of Craig Lucas's ear- ly '90s romantic cirama "Pre- lude to a tr{iss."And "Frasier" star I{elsey Grammer siides into Henry Higgins' loafers for staged concert readings of "My Fair Lady" at Lincoln Center. ls it a testainent to the high caliber of the "Frasier" cast, we asked Hycie Pierce? "It's a testanent to the low stanclards of Broadway," he immediatel)' replies Niies couldn't have put it more w4rly. .\ clor DJvid Hyde Pierce has already The show bows on March 22 s{ rpl,eared on Broudwal rn tlre forry- But "Curtains" is something a little dif- ; i winnirg musical 'Spamalol." He has ferent - it's a CroU musical comedy mur- 3 I 1 per{ormed with the legendary Ula der mystery set in 1959 and co-staring tlagel FIehas set a i ecord for consec- Debra lvlonh, Karen Ziemba anci "Frasi- - utive Lrnmy nominatiuns for his pcr'1or- er" regular Edwild Hibbert Hyde Pierce mance as Niles Crane on the smash hit plays Cioffi, a police lieutenant who is a o "Frasier" verv good detective but would really love c But remind him thal he s playing lhe to be an actor When the untalented lead- m person than the buttoned-up Niles i college, Hyde Pierce believed he would be lead role in "Curtains," a musical from ing lady of a stage production is mur- "But if this were the begiming of John : a classicalpianist He grewup inSarato^ John Kander & Fred Ebb (who died in dered, Cioffi finds himself trying to solve Kander's cileer and he Mote a valentine : ga Springs, N Y (about a three-hour drive g) 2004) at the Al I-lirschfeld Theatre, and the crime md fix the book ot the troubled to the theate! that would be one thing i liom the city), following a calling to per- fr he adruts it does something to hm- show before it moves to Broadway. But at this stage, where Kander has done i fom that his father felt he never could "It makes me a little tingly when you It's intended as a lark, though, of so much and experienced so much, say- i "My dad did comunity theater before T say those words," says Hyde Pierce, sit- course, this is a Kander & Ebb show. ing the same thing means something : I was ever ilound," says Hyde Pierce "He ting backstage with a gun by his side (He "lt has some dark underbelly to it, completely different That's what I love i was an lnsurance agent who wanted to "I'm piays a policernan in the shor') hav- whicir pops up or rolls over occasional- about this show. : be m actor Friends of my mom and dad ing so much fun I'm j not thinking about it " ly," says the 47-year-old Emmy winner "I "This is a really Niles Crme-like, elite- came to the show lrecently] and said to "Cutains" guess t.- opened in Los Angeles last I don't know what the right image ish obseNalion. bul Bach s'Goldberg : me aftemard, 'You're vour father' I have o sumer to solid reviews and will be (\c one is for'dark underbelly' but it expos- Varial ions' stans out with a very sim- : a picture of my dad at about the rime tfus of the last, if not ahe last, new Broad'way es itself periodicaUy. However, this is not ple tune and then it goes through varia- i show takes place in the '50s He's with his worls from the team that did 'Cabarer, 'Cabaret'in its darkness " tron after variation with a.ll this incredible i two sisters and his mom and he's in a suil "Chicago" and "Itiss of the Spiderwom- Naturallv. it's easy to see this as a vale!- .{rmnlpyitu An.l 2fthevarupnri vnrr hprr ; va^r L,milrr t^ tha c,,'i I ,.,d." i,, rlla cL,*,, an " (Atter Ebb passed away, Kander col- tine to the theater for Kander & Ebb, two the tune again, just Iike it was at the be- : "Ithirkclhimalot Theideaof this laborated with book witer and llricist of that world's most acclaimed ta.lents giming, except everything has changed," : gxy who is in a certain professton but c Rupert HoLmes on some songs; Kander & "l-hat's nol w ong," :,JvsHvde Pierce, A keyboard in his dressing room is a re- : what he always walted to do was act - c Ebb had staried other sirovs, t()o) who r" as droll - but more appe3ling - rninder that until he was halfrvay through : that's him " q d hc lJsl time F:elseya;rammer came Lo : New York. it wtr rn il i1l-starledpro- ; oucuorr. i , "lhadashod-livedluontsroadway i with 'Macbeth,' which I reaiJ,v,really en- : ioyed," says Grammer of the 2000 prociuc : lion that rm less thm three u'eels, hclud- : :itf t)fcvteu,s : Fir'l,Jusyswrilrc\qursrirrlnriltUl,eiur" : uddirrq "ft1hs15 gnjoyrd il icss- i And rvir;ie Grammeq 52. says he hopes : tn tlckle thal play a8iainbefore he's too i lunA in the loofr. lre s coming back. d- i beit u rth briefly. u r ole lhJl everuonccJn : euly '80s, Grmmer was in a workshop : fete, this new guy I thid{ this fella is a little agree is a perfect fit: the persnickety, de- : production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sun- i more sure of hircelf " marrding, bracingly intelligent Henry Hrg- i dav in the Park With George " But he didn't i Grmmer, soon to celebrate his lOth Sins of Lemer and Loewe's "My Fair Lady." : follow it to Broadway because his "Sun- : wedding miversary (mother l0 years and A staged concert version at Lincoln Cen- i day" co-starMandy Patinkin gave Gram- a he md his wife. Cmille. will match Grm- ter runs fforn Wednesdaythrough Satur- : ner's name to an aigentseeking someone i mer's lime playing Frasier on two shos's), day and also stars Kelli O'Hara (previous- i ro lacklc a rnlc on lV s Cheers Grammcr i says digging into the deliciously witty lyr- ly seer in "'fhe Light in the Pizza'), Brian i ioined the show in I 984, as it wm evolving : ics in songs iike "A lllmn to l{im" ard'l'm Dennehy and Marni Nixon, who famous- : from crilical darling to ratings smash : an Ordinary Mm'' bmgs back memories ly dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing in the : Ard soon he'll be retuming to TV: This : ofhis eighth birthday, when he carne from Osccr-utnrring 1964fiIm version : spring, Gramrn_er rs frlming the pilot for ; New .Iersey to New York to see Caol Chan- "tvcnr)ne is kind of expocting me 1,,Llo i "Action News," a sitcon about a nation : ning in "Hello, Dcillyl" And he even says do- j the 'understudy performance' of Rex Har- al lV anchor kicked back down to local : ing a full-blom musical comedy isn'1 out of risor1."says Gramer, a multiple Emmv : news It co-stars Patricia Fleaton from "Ev- : the question for him. wrnrrer lor "l-rasier' rentl cr,-sir in lasi I erubody Loves Ra-vnrorrd" : "I've been working on a J Edgar Hoover year's "X-Men: The Ltrt Stand') He : "ltcould be aton of fun I'nr notsurethe i mGical with Harry Shearer," sys Gran- luou,s the role has Harrison's indelible : stars could alig;nany befter [My character] : mer- "We've been kicking this thing around stamp. "It doesn't belong to anybody etse " i is not really Frasier; people have that long- : for a decade, It's actually a delighftul piece ( ( lnlerrsringlv. his aslinF u Dc rJne i ing, I think, probablv- to see some ofthe : Boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets bov bad a backstoryinvolving a muslcal: ln the : same histrionics Rut he's nol such an ef- ; back - , oh. it's a clmsic'S0s-stvle musical " i :ii jlr'* i{$,\\\NNN\NN'i',:,:Iit':,:.iiii:i:i\":r.iN:.r.ii\ii:l::.\i\rii.-l})::tl.iti"sr.,'siril\i:liriiiti:r.i\:ti,ii.tlii.:,rii :t- ri. "i\T 1]j n the Broadway revival of Craig Lucas' "Prelude to a Kiss," plunged into acting classes for the frrst time ii\ openirtg Thursday at the Roundabout, .lohn Maironey of "Fra- ''As soon as Lhey cast me in [a local Chicago productiorr of] Da- i.t sier" plays, for the majorify of the shorv, a newlryed bride who vid Mamet's "I'he Water Engine' in the late '70s, I quit my job, l: linds herself magically trapped in the body of a dyrng old man- which was not too smart!" Iaughs the 66-yetr-old actor, who Th(rugh woried about the commilmenl of muriage, nou' she made aD impression onthe big screen in "Moonstruck" (1987), iongs lor a secon.f chance "Say Anlthing" (1989i and "The A^mericaoPresident" (1995) and Nlahoney lmows all about tahing chances Wheil he was 19, lvho'Il be seen next iD "Dan il Real Life," starring Steve Carell the British-born actor lefi most ol his lamilv behind md moved "I was making $75 a week, but I ws never happier," he says to Anerica, where he joired the military and became an English "I lrad to sell a]l my furniture and records and books ad sleep on teacher At 37, he foud himself editing medical joumals, utlerly the floor for a while.