The Most Happy Fella Stars in ‘The King And I’
Content at last with who he is, the legendary Richard Chamberlain plays the lead role in Hawaii Opera Theatre’s non-opera production
By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
E-mail this story | Print this page | Archive | RSS |
Del.icio.us
New roles just keep coming
his way
the greatest puzzle of all. Here we are in this beautiful place, doing this wonderful play with wonderful people. It’s extraordinary. Yet elsewhere in the world there is so much turmoil and suffering. Go figure.
REPORTER: Has living in Hawaii brought you peace?
CHAMBERLAIN: I came here 30 years ago, and I’ve lived here permanently for 18 years. It is paradise in the middle of the ocean. But for some reason we can’t resist covering it over with concrete. Talk about life being a puzzlement! We’re so complacent, sitting back with our mai tais and sunsets. If there weren’t laws about building on Diamond Head, it would be covered. Oh, oh. Don’t get me started!
REPORTER: OK, let’s change the subject. How’s your (autobiographical) book Shattered Love doing?
CHAMBERLAIN: It was a New York Times best seller when it was released in 2003. The response has been wonderful. The mail has been extraordinary. It’s a book about how to live our lives more fully. The basic question is would be it possible and desirable to live more open-heart-edly all of the time, no matter what life throws at you. My answer is “yes.” Love is the actual motor of the universe, the source of wisdom and intelligence. The minute you’re in resentment, hatred and retribution, you’re in a sense dead. The heart doesn’t deal with negative stuff. This is the basic tenet of the book.
With executive director Karen Tiller of Hawaii Opera
Theatre, HOT general and artistic director Henry Akina
and co-star Jan Maxwell
REPORTER: In the book, you reveal for the first time your longtime relationship with Martin Rabbett, producer-director-film-maker. At age 69, you came out and no longer hide your sexuality in order to have a successful career.
CHAMBERLAIN (as he told the Los Angeles Times): “Everyone has been so supportive, so positive, so friendly. Suddenly, I am free, out of the prison I built for myself. It’s intoxicating. I can talk about it positively because I’m not afraid anymore. Sixty-eight years it took me to realize that I’d been wrong about myself. I wasn’t terrible at all.”
REPORTER: In The King & I, you explore the character’s duality. Sounds like you had one in personal life too.
CHAMBERLAIN: I was two people - the good Richard, handsome, straight leading man - and the bad Richard -a gay man and, therefore, beyond contempt.
REPORTER: Has it affected your career?
CHAMBERLAIN: I had a couple of years when I wasn’t working at all. I just lounged around Maui, having a good time. All of a sudden, I’m working all the time. It’s amazing.
After more than 40 years of playing heroes and romantic leads, I’m going to play a controlling, slightly predatory, gay businessman on FX’s hit drama Nip
‘n Tuck. I’m also going to do a movie in Ireland called
Strength and Honor. I just completed a role in Blackbeard for a Hallmark mini-series.
Dissolve to: MidWeek reporter at office, pounding out story to meet deadline.
Jordan Segundo co-stars in ‘The King
and I’
REPORTER (reflectively): Will I ever get those piercing blue eyes out of my mind? I still remember his good looks and charm as Dr. Kildare in the popular TV series of the 1960s. And who can forget his signature roles in TV mini-series Shogun and The Thorn Birds? He’s come a long way from being that shy kid in Beverly Hills and art student at Pomona College. His parents, Chuck and Elsa Chamberlain, would be proud of how he’s managed his life and career. CNN host Larry King put it best when he closed a recent interview with:
KING: I’ll pay you a great compliment. I don’t think I’ve ever interviewed a happier person.
CHAMBERLAIN: Whoah! Thank you.
Fade out.
Hawaii Opera Theatre presents The King & I, July 21-30, Friday-Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m., at Blaisdell Concert Hall.
Tickets $20-$75 at hawaiiopera.org or 596-7858. Presented by Louis Vuitton, director Martin Rabbett, guest conductor Michael Ching, costumer Helen E. Rodgers, choreographer Marie Takazawa, scenic designer Michael Downs.
Page 2 of 2 pages for this story < 1 2
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
