My conversation with actor Adam Kantor began in an unusual place, Polignano a Mare in Puglia on the Adriatic coast of Southern Italy. For it was from there in 2018 that he posted a photo on his Instagram account with the description, “After a mild panic attack, I did what the locals did and jumped off these cliffs and into the water.”

That proved to be an apt conversation starter when we talked about his taking on the role of Eric Glass in Matthew López’s Tony Award-winning play The Inheritance now being performed at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. It’s a mammoth work that takes approximately seven hours to perform and is presented in two parts. E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End served as the inspiration for this play about gay men in New York City in 2015-2016.

Not that Kantor suffers stage fright. He made his Broadway debut in Rent as Mark in 2008. He also appeared in Next to Normal, the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof and he originated the role of Telephone Guy in The Band’s Visit. He earned a Grammy Award for the cast album of that show.

Eric is, arguably, the moral center of The Inheritance. He’s a genuine and empathetic man, but one who doesn’t quite understand the fullness of who he is and who he is meant to be.

So when I spoke last month with Kantor about taking on this part, I asked him if being in The Inheritance shares certain qualities with diving off that cliff in Puglia. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

That is an amazing first question. I hadn’t made that connection, but yes, absolutely. Oh, wow. This is a cliff dive, if I’ve ever experienced one – maybe more than anything else I’ve ever done, including that cliff dive at Polignano a Mare. This is the biggest, deepest, most profound cliff dive I think I’ve ever experienced. In so many ways: emotionally, physically, spiritually, in terms of my own vulnerability. It is by far the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever done as a queer person, as as an artist, as an actor. It feels stripped bare and unmasked in a way that I’ve never experienced in any role. It feels like therapy every night. It is maybe the most vulnerable and adrenaline-fueled, raw, electric, scary, exciting experience of my life so far.

Once you did make that dive I’m sure you came up with your own perspective on who Erik is in the play. How has that shifted or evolved through rehearsals? 

I think Eric, in a lot of ways, has a deep grounding and has a sense of self that is continually evolving. His groundedness and his sense of self is something that is very important to him and I think ends up providing a lot of healing, not only to him, but to the people around him. So I am continually, throughout performances and throughout rehearsals, trying to maintain and find this sense of center, this sense of authenticity and grounding and honesty. That is something that I, myself as as a human and as an artist, am constantly trying to find and evolve and maintain focus with. So I think it’s always about truth. I know it sounds kind of maybe lofty, but, I’m wanting to maintain that sort of authenticity and truthfulness to myself into this role, because the play goes through a lot. It’s a roller coaster. So finding and maintaining a sense of balance has been really important throughout all of this.

It’s interesting the way you described Eric, because he’s described in the play as “wrong about himself in every imaginable way.” I don’t think he’s delusional in a traditional way. He simply doesn’t understand his strengths. What are the challenges of bringing that perspective that does ultimately shift by the end of the play?

I think the strengths that he has are innately in him somewhere. It is discovering them and allowing them to be at the forefront, knowing them. It’s, in a way, about the confidence of understanding that these strengths that he has can indeed shape everyone around him. And in a way change the existences of those around him for the better and allowing that to be his guiding light.

We see him losing his way a bit throughout different parts of the play in various capacities. We see him in very human ways: flying off the handle and being tempted by very human temptations, sex, money, things that might provide stability. While underneath all of that, there is this almost otherworldly ability to connect with other people and to uplift and to heal. More than anything he is a healer. We see this beautiful journey of finding and discovering that ability with lots of distractions along the way that cause a lot of pain. But he goes through it with integrity and with care and always with care for those around him.

Matthew López wrote a piece for the New York Times, in it he said of the then 200,000 ticket buyers who had seen the three productions of The Inheritance that were going on at the time that, “almost every one of those people, whether belonging to or allied with the LGBTQ community, has a story to share relating to its themes.” What are the themes that most resonate with you and perhaps with others who will see the play?

There’s so much there. I think the themes that most resonate and that we see are those of overcoming trauma. Breaking through the immense weight of shame and pain that so many of us have felt. In order, on the journey, to find authentic connection and healing and a home.

López, in that same article, said “Avoidance of uncomfortable truths is not the role of the artist. Healing is impossible if you don’t understand the cause of the injury.” Is there any way for you, Adam, in being part of this production, that is healing or restorative for you? 

So, so much. To be surrounded by a group of queer artists, which I am in this production. To be able to excavate our own individual journeys of shame and self-acceptance and self-actualization – spoken or unspoken, explicit or not within the process. Whether we really delve into it within rehearsal hours or outside on lunches and breaks, etc., or whether we’ve channeled it through the text and through our work, it’s all very much alive in the room.

To be able to go through that process with a group of people – for each other and in front of strangers – has been, and will continue to be, unspeakably healing and powerful. An experience that I think will shape me and change me forever for the rest of my life.

What opportunities does finding the rhythm of his language give you that perhaps finding the rhythm of songs in a musical does not? 

I’ve been very interested, actually, in the similarities that struck me yesterday in rehearsal. We were talking about two of my speeches as arias and that helped me last night go through them because I really was able to score them with a climax, if you will, and with certain intricacies and dynamics that I might approach a song. His play and his language is incredibly musical and is often quite heightened the way that a musical might be.

I’m incredibly grateful to be doing a straight play. And I’m incredibly grateful to have had all the musical experience I’ve had to bring to this play, because I think it’s helping me a lot in terms of the timing, in terms of the rhythm, in terms of the dexterity of the language; wrapping my tongue around it and shaping these speeches, which are often, I think, very musical and deeply moving. So similarities are abundant.

E.M. Forster is quoted as saying, “What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.” How does playing Eric in The Inheritance transform you?

Undeniably, undoubtedly, I feel a better person inhabiting the bare feet of Eric Glass every night, because that’s how this production was staged. In fact, the only times I’m wearing shoes are when I’ve sort of lost my way. I don’t know that I’ve ever had the privilege and opportunity of playing a character who is not only so innately good, but is on a deep and rigorous journey to find and to be the best version of him possible. One that will ultimately heal others. I don’t know that there is a greater Jewish value or a greater queer value or, frankly, a greater human value than that. To be able to inhabit that spirit daily I hope will only make me a better person, one even a fraction as good as Eric Glass is. That would be pretty wonderful.

The Inheritance runs through November 27th at the Geffen Playhouse.

Main Photo: Adam Kantor and Bradley James Tejeda in The Inheritance” (Photo by Jeff Lorch/Courtesy Geffen Playhouse)

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This story about an Egyptian band that heads to the wrong town and ends up in Israel is based on the film of the same name by Eran Kolirin. Underlying both the film and the musical is a story about people you wouldn’t expect to necessarily help one another, if you believe that the politics of the two country’s leaders is mirrored in the belief system of all its peoples.

This was just one topic I discussed last December when I had a chance to speak with Janet Dacal who plays “Dina,” Coby Getzug who plays “Papi” and Joe Joseph who plays “Haled.” You might recall I also spoke with Sasson Gabay who plays “Tewfiq.” He played the same part in the film. To see my interview with Gabay, please go here.

As The Band’s Visit continues its tour across America through the end of July, my conversation with the three actors seems more timely than we could ever have imagined. What follows are excerpts from those conversations that have been edited for length and clarity.

There is a lot of the story that isn’t specified for the audience in The Band’s Visit. How much latitude do you and the creators give audience members to fill in the blanks or come to their own conclusions about these character’s lives?

Dacal: What’s so beautiful about art is we see ourselves on the stage and the things that aren’t explicitly exposed, those illusions, we get to fill in the holes. It’s like any piece of art, right? You see it. You connect to it in whatever way you see what you see through your own life experience and your lens. And that’s one of the most beautiful things about the musical theater art form. You fill in the silences, fill in what’s not obvious, because of the life that you have led.

Joseph: You’re picking up on something that’s my favorite aspect of the show. You see this very sort of short glimpse of these people’s lives and the things that happen to them are not momentous. They’re not these big, dramatic changes of character. Human lives are not that exceptional and people don’t change as dynamically as they do in musicals. We love to see that on stage because it’s so different from human life. But the beauty of this show is that there is this ambiguity that’s preserved in the show.

Getzug: I think one of the one of the most powerful aspects of it is that there are those silences left for people to draw their own conclusions because those are the windows that people are able to make their own connections to the show and relate to. I think that there’s something powerful about leaving some of those questions unanswered because it allows an audience member to interpret it in the lens of their own experience and maybe give them new perspective over things that have happened in their life or their own experiences.

I also feel like there’s a bigger picture here, which is that government ideologies and differences are not always reflected in the people. How much of that is part of the subtext of what you are trying to get across in the show?

Getzug: I think that there’s something really special about seeing people that you would expect not to get along based on whatever is happening on a larger scale from the countries that they’re from. That’s what’s happening in the world, too.

Dacal: It’s one of the big things that we’re intentionally getting across in the show is that when there is a problem I think human nature is to want to help each other and that is what happens in the show.

Joseph: When you take [The Band’s Visit] around the country you get to share, especially a show like this, and realize that there’s a universality to these experiences denuded of the specificity of this literal physical world that this story exists and in the film existed in. And that as a species of social animals, as people who longed to have our soul sort of acknowledged, that there are people all around the country who want that experience because sometimes they feel like they’re just not getting it.

Getzug: I think that what’s so cool about this piece is that these people are from a region that has historically been steeped in conflict and a lot of tension. But the story is not about that. It’s about people immediately reaching out and saying how can I help you and how can we connect and how can we get through this together? That’s a really beautiful example of how no matter what’s going on politically in the country that you’re in or where you’re from we still have that ability to connect with each other.

Perhaps it’s time for many of the world’s leaders to catch a performance of The Band’s Visit. If you’d like to see if the show is coming to your town, click on the link in the fourth paragraph.

Main photo: The company of The Band’s Visit (Photo by Evan Zimmerman, Murphy Made/Courtesy Segerstrom Center for the Arts)

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Eight years later the actor found himself reprising that role in the David Yazbek/Itamar Moses musical version of the film that won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Gabay took over the role originated on stage by Tony Shalhoub.

Gabay, who was born in Iraq and raised in Israel, is back on stage as Tewfiq in the touring production of The Band’s Visit. This wonderful musical is concluding its run in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre this week. After the holidays the tour will resume in Portland and continue performances across the country through the end of July.

Last week I spoke by phone with Gabay about revisiting Tewfiq, his relationship with the character and what the musical is saying about international relations. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Mr.Gabay, in a 2008 interview director Eran Kolirin said that this was a very personal role for you. What made it so personal then and how personal has it been for you to revisit the character of Tewfiq on stage in this musical?

[Eran] wanted to met me and he wanted to audition me for the part. And he gave me just the short synopsis of the script and I think four or five lines about the character. And immediately, just from reading this, I felt connected to it. And I told him, “Look, I don’t want to do the audition, but I know this man. I know this character and I feel it.” After a while he called me to say, “OK, let’s let’s not waste our energy on this and continue working on the casting.”

It’s true. The minute I read a little bit about the script, about the story and the character, I knew. Sometimes you get it on the spot immediately. That’s what happened with Tewfiq. I felt connected. I think that his personality is something for me. In one way, he’s formal and he’s very strict. And inside he’s very soft and very artistic. So that kind of a paradox within his personality I felt it instantly.

In 2010 the producer of the musical Orin Wolf came to Israel and asked me about the idea of doing the musical out of it. It’s a crazy idea because this film is so delicate. And I mean, they managed to do it beautifully. He approached me again at 2018 and I did join the play on Broadway and then managed to do this very delicate musical – which is not a typical musical on Broadway. I spent one year on Broadway and then I joined the tour for the first year until the COVID crisis. And now when they resume, I joined it again. So it’s personal in many ways.

How has your relationship with the character evolved since the time you first portrayed him on stage?

You know, I matured during this year in age and then also in experience as an actor. I think I added more weight to the character, more maturity. And I allowed myself to be more and more patient with the character. I think I take my time. I think I allow ourselves to be more confident enough to take the right pauses and to breathe within the character. We are changing all the time so it’s got an effect on how you project the character. 

One of the things I love most about the musical is the amount of subtext there is. What is your role as an actor in making that subtext accessible for the audience and hopefully translate that into an emotional response?

If you’re precise and exact in the specific moment in the scene and you are transparent emotionally, the audience sees things are really revealing. I think it was quite tricky and very nice. David Yazbek and Itamar Moses adapted and David Cromer directed it. They’ve done a beautiful job – all three. It’s not all of a sudden the characters sing the song. It’s done within the situation to the moment that words aren’t enough and and the characters start to sing. And so it reveals the subtext and the inner emotions of the characters.

You expect there to be great confrontation because of what we’ve understood about the politics of each country’s relationship to one another. But it seems to me that the film and the musical basically say that the people are not necessarily the politics of their country. And I’m wondering how important you think that is as part of the story that gets told. 

First of all, I agree with you completely. It’s the exact description of the thing. I don’t know if it was intentionally intended to project this idea. But you know, politics is politics and people are people. People need each other and they are very alike wherever they are. I think you can transfer this play and this script into other places in the world where there used to be confrontation and now the people are meeting and it’s so different. It’s very different from from the headlines, from the politics, from the news on TV. So I think it emphasizes our need to open up to one another. Because of politics people tend to protect themselves, close themselves towards something that is not familiar to them. But once this has opened it becomes whole life and the relations of people. 

Getting that message out today must be deeply gratifying.

The journey is wonderful for all of us. In a way we are kind of messengers of humanity. I remember when we shot the film we had a feeling that we had something really special, but we didn’t know to what extent. I’m really grateful that after so many years this film became such a beautiful musical and so many people see this. It’s a privilege for me.

For tickets at the Dolby Theatre go here. For details of the tour schedule and tickets go here.

Photo: Janet Dacal and Sasson Gabay in The Band’s Visit (Photo by Evan Zimmerman/Courtesy Broadway in Hollywood)

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The best way to make this concept clear is through this clip of Gavin Lee, Ethan Slater and Wesley Taylor, all cast members from SpongeBob Square Pants: The Musical, perform “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” from Stephen Sondheim’s Company. In the show, three different woman who have all dated the central character, Bobby, sing about how difficult Bobby is to date.

One of the most talked about shows in New York this season is The Band’s Visit. For Miscast, Katrina Lenk, who plays the love interest in The Band’s Visit, takes on the role of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. And if singing isn’t enough, she also plays the violin.

This year Jeremy Jordan, perhaps best known for his television role on Supergirl, but who also made a splash on Broadway in Newsies and Bonnie and Clyde, performed “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress. (By the way, Waitress will be at the Pantages Theatre this August.)

Much like Donna McKechnie, who had to be both singer and dancer, Robert Fairchild (who starred in An American In Paris on Broadway) took on the role of Cassie in A Chorus Line for his version of “The Music and the Mirror.”

What’s exciting about a show like this is not only do you get to see some of Broadway’s finest talent take on material they would never otherwise have a chance to do, you get to really see the quality of song shine through. If “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” can be equally effective performed by three women or three men, then you have a very good idea how well the song has been constructed.

MCC Theater has been doing this for several years and here are some other highlights from past years:

Lin-Manuel Miranda (you know who he is) and Raúl Esparza (Company) perform “A Boy Like That” from West Side Story:

Carmen Cusack, who recently performed at the Ahmanson in her Tony-nominated role in Bright Star gets to play royalty as she performs “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton:

Ben Platt, who won a Tony Award for his performance in Dear Evan Hansen, performs “The Man That Got Away ” from the film A Star Is Born (the Judy Garland version). Dear Evan Hansen will be at the Ahmanson Theatre beginning in October.)

And one of my personal favorites is Norbert Leo Butz (two-time Tony Award winner for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Catch Me If You Can) taking over the role of Effie White in Dreamgirls.

Here in Los Angeles we may not have the same volume of ongoing performances as New York, but we certainly have the talent pool to make a show like this happen here. And we should. Why should New York have all the fun?

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