Len Cariou, Tony Award winner for the original production of “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and star of his one-man show, “Broadway and the Bard,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.
Broadway and the Bard plays June 21st-24th at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. For more information: Lesher Center Website
Although recognized for his presence on television for the past eight seasons (as Tom Selleck’s dyspeptic father on the long running hit series “Blue Bloods”), Cariou has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the theatre, including originating leads in two landmark Stephen Sondheim musicals. In Broadway and the Bard, he is able to give full voice to an idea that he has harbored since his first prophetic Broadway season when he appeared as Shakespeare’s Henry V and followed by a starring role in the musical Applause. In this delightful play of verse and song, Cariou combines his two great loves – Shakespeare and American Musical Comedy –into one rich and diverse tapestry.
Len Cariou is a distinguished member of the Theatre Hall of Fame and a three-time Tony® nominee for Applause, A Little Night Music, and for his legendary performance as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Tony®Award winner, Best Actor). His other Broadway credits include Nightwatch, Cold Storage, Teddy & Alice, Dance a Little Closer, The Speed of Darkness, Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party, and Proof. Showing his range, he toured the U.S. as Cap’n Andy in Showboat, and as Nils Bohrin in Copenhagen. He scored his most recent triumph in The Gate Theatre’s definitive, hit production of All My Sons in Dublin, Ireland, reprising his role as Joe Keller, for which he alsowon raves at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles in 2007.
An extended version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast.