This is a weekly feature on BroadwayLiving.com.
It’s just like the game “Six Degrees of
Kevin Bacon”. You know how it goes…someone
throws out an actor’s name and you have to try
to connect them to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less.
I thought it might be fun to do the same thing with
the theater’s luminaries. I will be trying to
connect them to the longest running show in Broadway
history, The Phantom of the Opera and its very first “Phantom”,
Michael Crawford.
Sunday is Father’s Day, so we’re turning
the spotlight on a man who has been dad to many on
the stage and screen, John Cullum. John won his first
Tony Award for his role as Virginia farmer and father
Charlie Anderson in Shenandoah (1975). Other notable
paternal portrayals include: Caldwell B. Cladwell in
Urinetown, Joe Keller in the Roundabout Theatre’s
50th Anniversary production of All My Sons, a replacement
Cap’n Andy in the ’94 Showboat revival
and most recently, H.C. Curry in the current revival
of 110 in the Shade.
Mr. Cullum made his Broadway debut in 1960 as Sir Dinadin
in Camelot. What’s followed has been an illustrious
career. On stage he has originated the roles of Dr.
Mark Bruckner in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,
Laertes in the Richard Burton Hamlet directed by John
Gielgud and Oscar Jaffee in On the Twentieth Century,
for which he earned his second Tony Award. But most
people may know John for his numerous TV appearances,
most notably as bar-owner (an eventual dad) Holling
Vinceour on Northern Exposure and the ailing father
of Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) on E.R.
But John’s fatherly ways are not limited to the
stage. He is also a father in real life to son J.D.
Cullum, also a Broadway actor.
Happy Father’s Day, John!
1) John Cullum starred in Urinetown with Ken Jennings
2) Ken Jennings was in the original production of Sweeney
Todd with Cris Groenendaal.
3) Cris Groenendaal was the original “Monsieur
André” in The Phantom of the Opera with
Michael Crawford.
“…
So hush-a-bye and don’t you cry,
papa’s gonna make it alright.”
…Charlie Anderson in Shenandoah
So that’s the game. Join me each week as I try to come up with new ways
of connecting Michael Crawford to the entire theater community.
