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 At left, Tony Braithwaite in typically outrageous onstage mode. At right, the offstage Tony. |
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane;
No, It’s Tony Braithwaite!
of TheColumnists.com
For awhile I thought I had the delicious treat of discovering a comer, a hidden talent who was a cinch to sooner or later burst upon the theatrical world beyond Philadelphia to New York.
I found out instead that I am a Braithwaite-ian. In trying to learn more about Tony Braithwaite, the dazzling comic actor of Philadelphia theater precincts, I became aware that there are hip theater-goers in Philly who make it a point to go to any show featuring Braithwaite.
So color me a Braithwaite-ian. In a short time I have seen him in four productions. And I will be seeing him in a farce called “Boeing Boeing” later this month.
Braithwaite is 38. He is a Philadelphian, a graduate of Georgetown. With black-rimmed glasses, a roguish persona and a bouncy presence on stage, he resembles Steven Colbert, the TV scamp. He has that same quick-witted, engaging humor. He seems offstage to be an extension of the characters he plays onstage.
In a recent phone conversation he joked that he was destined in utero to be in show business because his mother was an actress in schools. “She performed,” he said, “in the [suburban] Sacred Heart and Rosemont entertainment meccas.” He grew up in the near-suburban town of Bala Cynwyd, which he joked “is and old Indian name meaning close to City Line Ave.” [in Philadelphia.]
I first saw Braithwaite shine in “This is the Week That Is,” a take-off on the Saturday Night Live TV show. I particularly recall a skit in which the cast projected what the losing 2008 presidential candidates would do in the future. It said that Rudolph Giuliani would run a chain of convenience stores named “9-11.” Braithwaite will appear in a third version of “This is…” this winter.
Braithwaite, Irish--the name is that of an entertainment hall outside London--last dazzled audiences in “Fully Committed” a favorite tour-de-force for actors. He portrayed a reservation clerk at a posh east side New York restaurant in which he played 47 different characters. He would pick up a phone, entertain a grievance, put the caller on hold, pick up another phone, do the voice of another person. On and on he would talk and gesticulate, juggle phones, sweat and strain. The audience was awed.
When Braithwaite was 13 a cousin sneaked him into a comedy club in New York. He somehow wound up on stage. Instead of the audience razzing him, they took him to their heart as he did an improvisational skit in which he said his voice sounded like vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. The manager wanted to take him on permanently. He wound up playing the club a couple of times that summer. “I was getting $30 a performance-and it cost us $1,000 to get me up to New York from Philadelphia.”
He hit the Philly theater scene in 1964 just when it started to boom and become something more than a tryout city for plays bound for New York. He generally plays comedy, but impressed people as well in an autobiographical play he wrote called, “Look Mom, I’m Swell.” He impressed as well, getting good notices for “The Odd Couple,” in which he played the nerdy Felix Unger, initially played by Jack Lemmon in the movies.
“Jack Lemmon is a huge role model for me,” he said. “Felix Unger was a dream role. I am a neat freak, I am a worrywart, a crybaby. You should see my medicine cabinet at home.”
“Boeing Boeing” which opens at the Act II Playhouse in suburban Ambler, Sept. 22, is about a playboy who lives in Paris and juggles three stewardesses from different airlines. His buddy shows up and gets frazzled trying to cope with the three women. “I play the nerdiest man on two continents,” Braithwaite said.
So why hasn’t New York reached out to him?
He has played in D.C. and Chicago. He had a nibble and went to Los Angeles where he said, “I sat around a lot. It was boring.” New York doesn’t provide many opportunities; he is comfortable with his niche in Philadelphia.
He had an audition for a casting agent a few weeks ago in a general audition in New York. “I would be lying,” he said, “if I didn’t think a shot like that would be incredibly attractive. But I’m happy with the way things are here.”
He is booked in plays through 2010.
In addition to his full theatrical plate, Braithwaite produces plays at his alma mater, St. Joseph’s Prep. He has taught theology and sex education there. He said, “There’s nothing better to sharpen your skills at handling hecklers than teaching sex education to 15-year-olds.”
Tom Quinn, who produced “Fully Committed,” extols Braithwaite. Quinn says, “He is an eye-popping, mesmerizing, captivating talent. He is a great theatrical resource not being used. I don’t understand why they are not clamoring for him.”
If New York is not smart enough to corral him, there is another show business gig for which he would seem to be a natural. With his comic flair, his ability to do stand-up comedy and improvisation, he would be a natural as the host of a TV talk show. The Braithwaite-ians would stand up and cheer-and tune in.
©2009 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. This column first posted Aug. 31, 2009.
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