Brian Murray is that rare artist who's always working, whether on Broadway or Off, whether acting or directing. He's currently stealing the show as dasha landlord and Professor Serebryankov in Roundabout Theater's revival of Uncle Vanya, also starring Derek Jacobi, Laura Linney, Roger Rees and the Tony-nominated Amy Ryan. And, once more, he's nominated (Drama Desk, Featured Actor, Play); then, not. Surprise permeated the air at last week's Tony Award nominations when Murray's name, incredulously, wasn't announced (nor Jacobi's).
Murray was last seen in Roundabout's Misalliance, and before that in LCT's Twelfth Night and The Little Foxes (Tony, Drama Desk nominations). In an incredibly fickle business, where even Tony winners sometime never see employment again, what's your secret, Brian Murray?
"Luck and timing," he chuckles. "Being available! And that I'm right for the role." Variety has been the spice of life in Murray's career. He's adept at playing any type, from beloved to villain to rascal. He's having fun as Chekhov's flamboyant, pompous hypochondriac and feels blessed about the esteemed Uncle Vanya company he's in.
However, Murray and cast are still reeling from the New York Times review, terming the production "ill-advised" and full of "jokey flourishes and exaggerated line readings." Murray, agog that such conclusions could be drawn from the work he is witnessing, said it was most upsetting.
Murray was born of British parents in South Africa. He debuted at age eight in King John, and the classics became his forte. "I had good grounding, being directed and taught by English directors who came for a gig in the English winter, our summer." At 18, he "managed to weedle my parents into letting me go to England to study. I joined a rep company, which gave me my education. I was lucky, that in the fifties, there were lots of wonderful juvenile parts."
In 1961 he was accepted into the Royal Shakespeare Company and, in 1964, landed in New York on their world (and first U.S.) tour in honor of Shakespeare's quattrocentenary. "We did King Lear, directed by Peter Brook at Lincoln Center's New York State Theater, the only time there's been a straight play there. The paint was hardly dry. We didn't have mikes, and the acoustics were dreadful!"
Murray fell in love with New York. "I'd never known a place as exciting," he says. When the tour ended, he returned to join the Off- Broadway hit The Knack, directed by Mike Nichols. "I caught as much theater as possible," said Murray, now a U.S.citizen. "What impressed me was the passion, commitment and vitality of the actors. Back home, it was considered bad form to get too intense, and I was intense. I found myself in a place where everyone was intense. I was hooked!"
In 1965, Murray made his Broadway debut, then returned to work on the West Endand in the regionals. "I constantly ruminated about coming back to America," he said. It took three years, but the vehicle was Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, "an extraordinary experience," which earned him a 1968 Tony nomination as Featured Actor along with cast members Paul Hecht and John Wood. "We won Best Play and became a cult hit. None of us realized it was going to be so popular. Least of all, David Merrick (the producer), who only took the theater for three months. But it was the sixties, and every kid who was possibly going to Vietnam identified with these two almost nameless, background people who are used by the government. We ran for a year." Did the Tony nomination secure his future? "It helped," he replied, "but, more than anything, it was the play and the incredible reviews." Highlights of his acting career are 1978's Tony-winning Best Play Da, as Charlie, the son; Sleuth; Noises Off (Drama Desk Award); Travels With My Aunt (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), opposite Jim Dale; and The Entertainer.
"Noises Off was memorable," he said, "because it was farce. It wasn't considered as great to work on as Rosencrantz, but I'd put it right up there. I had the opportunity to do Da again at Irish Repertory, playing the title role and directing. It was a terrific experience."
Murray has gone back and forth between acting and directing. "I do it in batches, direct several and not act. Then I come back to acting." Since he's worn that "other hat," is it easy to be directed when you've directed? "Much easier," he noted, "particulary if it's a director I trust. I take that hat off and say, 'Govern me.' As a director, you cannot let your ego get in the way of your concern for the actors. You have to be their nurse, lover, daddy, all those things. An actor has to have an ego, but a director shouldn't—not that sort of ego."
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