Post by lemur on Jan 1, 2008 19:57:38 GMT -5
No more Niles for star David Hyde Pierce
Thu May 10, 2007 7:21AM EDT
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - David Hyde Pierce has achieved critical acclaim on Broadway but he says the secret to his success is turning away from parts like Dr. Niles Crane, the character in the television show Frasier that made him a star.
Pierce, 47, who won several Emmy awards for his part playing Kelsey Grammer's brother in an 11-year Frasier run, has received rave reviews for his role in the play Curtains after appearing in the hit Broadway spoof Spamalot two years ago.
Q. You are famous for playing Dr Niles Crane on Frasier. How important was it for you to not rehash that character after the show finished?
A: I always turn down things that are Niles. The sort of "one two" punch of Spamalot and Curtains was great because Spamalot, being a comedy, was something people could accept me in having seen me in a comedy for so many years.
But it was a very different setting and different kind of humor so it sort of separated me from the whole Niles thing. And now this part in Curtains is fairly different because he is a middle class guy. He is a Boston detective and improbably the romantic lead of the show so it weans me away from that image.
Q: You have said after your Broadway shows you come home, sometimes sip a martini and settle in for some late night reruns of Frasier. How close are you all these days?
A: The Frasier cast continues to be extremely close. We always were and after 11 years together we have been through all the things that people go through together. We have seen folks in the cast get married and have babies and have parents pass away and everything in between so we have shared a lot. We are not always geographically in the same place because right now I am here and most of the gang is in Los Angeles. But we stay in touch and whenever we see each other we are awfully happy.
Q: Was it your intention to do musicals after Frasier?
A: Before the end of Frasier I had thought about going into musicals. I am a musical person, I didn't do musicals but I trained as a musician, as a pianist and organist. So for many years I took voice lessons and I coached with a dance teacher.
Long before I knew I was going to do a musical, I started preparing because I recognized it was not something you can just turn over and do.
Q: Your character in Curtains sings, "It has been a perfectly fine life, I would give it two cheers." What would you say for your own life?
A: Anyone who looks at my career and is jealous, ought to be. It has been an unbelievable career. I didn't plan any of it. I have worked and continue to work with some of the best people in this business internationally - and some of the best writing. When I look at who I have gotten to work with and what I have gotten to do, I am very happy.
Q: You are known for being approachable on the street. What is your intention when dealing with the general public and how do you sustain your humility?
A: Well, I think thinning hair helps you keep your humility, which is something you can't control no matter how much you wish you could. I was lucky because my celebrity came from a television show so it is not that weird kind of celebrity that movie stars get where people kind of freak out when they see you, because they are used to seeing you on television.
www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN0117479220070510
Thu May 10, 2007 7:21AM EDT
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - David Hyde Pierce has achieved critical acclaim on Broadway but he says the secret to his success is turning away from parts like Dr. Niles Crane, the character in the television show Frasier that made him a star.
Pierce, 47, who won several Emmy awards for his part playing Kelsey Grammer's brother in an 11-year Frasier run, has received rave reviews for his role in the play Curtains after appearing in the hit Broadway spoof Spamalot two years ago.
Q. You are famous for playing Dr Niles Crane on Frasier. How important was it for you to not rehash that character after the show finished?
A: I always turn down things that are Niles. The sort of "one two" punch of Spamalot and Curtains was great because Spamalot, being a comedy, was something people could accept me in having seen me in a comedy for so many years.
But it was a very different setting and different kind of humor so it sort of separated me from the whole Niles thing. And now this part in Curtains is fairly different because he is a middle class guy. He is a Boston detective and improbably the romantic lead of the show so it weans me away from that image.
Q: You have said after your Broadway shows you come home, sometimes sip a martini and settle in for some late night reruns of Frasier. How close are you all these days?
A: The Frasier cast continues to be extremely close. We always were and after 11 years together we have been through all the things that people go through together. We have seen folks in the cast get married and have babies and have parents pass away and everything in between so we have shared a lot. We are not always geographically in the same place because right now I am here and most of the gang is in Los Angeles. But we stay in touch and whenever we see each other we are awfully happy.
Q: Was it your intention to do musicals after Frasier?
A: Before the end of Frasier I had thought about going into musicals. I am a musical person, I didn't do musicals but I trained as a musician, as a pianist and organist. So for many years I took voice lessons and I coached with a dance teacher.
Long before I knew I was going to do a musical, I started preparing because I recognized it was not something you can just turn over and do.
Q: Your character in Curtains sings, "It has been a perfectly fine life, I would give it two cheers." What would you say for your own life?
A: Anyone who looks at my career and is jealous, ought to be. It has been an unbelievable career. I didn't plan any of it. I have worked and continue to work with some of the best people in this business internationally - and some of the best writing. When I look at who I have gotten to work with and what I have gotten to do, I am very happy.
Q: You are known for being approachable on the street. What is your intention when dealing with the general public and how do you sustain your humility?
A: Well, I think thinning hair helps you keep your humility, which is something you can't control no matter how much you wish you could. I was lucky because my celebrity came from a television show so it is not that weird kind of celebrity that movie stars get where people kind of freak out when they see you, because they are used to seeing you on television.
www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN0117479220070510
