Broadway Features and Reviews
Daniel Craigss Stage Chops On Broadway
By David Calendar, Broadway Magazine
Much attention has been given to the recent cell phone interruption at a recent performance of Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in A Steady Rain. Video from TMZ.com shows the two stars dealing with two cell phone interruptions on the same night. "Come on, just turn it off... Unless you've got a better story. You want to get up and tell your stories?" a pacing Hugh Jackman asked the cell phone offender, while remaining in character.
Daniel Craig also took the interruptions in stride, at one point saying "Just get the phone" with a James Bond-like calm. Perhaps his previous stage experience helped him to keep cool. Interruptions on stage are nothing new for Daniel Craig. In London, Craig once had to move a show outside and perform on the grass after the production was interrupted with a bomb scare.
One of the biggest actors in pop culture today, Daniel Craig is sharing the Broadway theater spotlight with Hugh Jackman in the new Broadway play A Steady Rain, which follows the story of two Chicago police men who not only share the badge, but long years of friendship. However, one response to a minor, routine domestic disturbance call changes their lives forever.
Most audiences will recognize Daniel Craig from one of his first major breakthrough roles on screen in films like Road To Perdition, Munich, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (with Angelina Jolie), or as the new James Bond. However, the actor has a significant stage pedigree. Like his current co-star, musical-theater-performer-turned-Hollywood-icon Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig also had his humble beginnings... acting in school plays since the age of six.
In fact, Hollywood star Daniel Craig is an accomplished stage actor whose credits include lead roles in Hurlyburly at the Old Vic with Elizabeth McGovern. It was during a production of this play that a far more ominous interruption occurred than a cell phone. According to reports, one performance was interrupted by a bomb scare, the cast performed the final 20 minutes on the green outside.
Other notable stage credits in London include Angels in America at the National Theatre playing the role of Joseph Porter Pitt, a secretly homosexual Republican protégé of the notorious Roy Cohn. Classical performances by Daniel Craig include a production of Aphra Behn’s randy comedy The Rover staged in a sand-filled arena. This production was eventually filmed by the BBC. He made his professional stage debut in Shakespeare’s Troilus And Cressida playing Agamemnon.
Though reports say that Daniel Craig had a difficult time securing a place in a formal acting school in London, he was eventually accepted to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Training from 1988 to 1991, Daniel Craig honed his craft with actors like Ewan McGregor and Joseph Fiennes.
Now, with A Steady Rain, Daniel Craig finds himself as the toast of Broadway. The production is already one of the top grossing productions of the season. With talk of a film series based on the two characters in A Steady Rain, it looks like returning to his stage roots could result in another big screen success.
For additional Broadway features visit http://www.broadway.tv/broadway-features-reviews
