The first time Lucy DeVito performed on stage—an electrifying role as an ant in a sophomore play—her father, Danny DeVito, watched proudly from the back of the room. (DeVito, who had previously starred in the television series “Taxi” and appeared in films such as “Sweetheart” and “Kick Mom Off the Train,” didn’t want to be a distraction.)
Now, as Lucy makes her Broadway debut, he has the best seat in the house: on stage with her. Starring in “I Need That,” Theresa Rebeck’s new comedy, they play the roles they know best: father and daughter.
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the play centers on widower Sam, a recluse and hoarder facing eviction. Throughout the play’s 90 minutes, his daughter Amelia and his best friend Foster (played by Ray Anthony Thomas) beg him to give up and accept help.
Before the play’s recent premiere, the DeVitos sat in a rehearsal space. Danny was memorizing his lines, looking up at the sky every time he went blank. When the script asked him to invite his daughter to breakfast, he offered a menu in his place. “You want breakfast? Coffee? Cereal? Eggs? Fruit? I have a very ripe plum!”
Lucy was more studious. During her character’s climax, she pleads with her father to change her life, her voice went from sadness to resigned anger. Lucy asked Von Stuelpnagel for direction: Where is her character, emotionally, right now? Should she remain hard or retreat into softness?
“She works a lot,” Danny, 78, later said. “She’s really immersed.”
After graduating high school in New Jersey, Danny began working at his sister Angie’s beauty salon. She encouraged him to train as a cosmetologist at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and once immersed in the world of theater, he decided to try acting for himself. In 1971, he gained attention as Martini in the Off Broadway production of Dead End. He reprized the role in the 1975 film and soon became a star playing Louie De Palma, the dispatcher in the comedy “Taxi.” By the time the show ended in 1983, he had met and married Rhea Perlman, known for her role as Carla Tortelli on “Cheers.” Lucy, his first daughter, was born in 1983. The couple, now amicably separated, have two other children.
After graduating from Brown University in Rhode Island, Lucy, 40, moved to New York, where she played an autistic girl in a production of Damien Atkins’ “Lucy” and starred in “The Diary of Anne Frank.” in Seattle.
Rebeck, who wrote “I Need That” with family in mind, integrated small details from their lives.
Von Stuelpnagel said their interaction in rehearsals, in the same mold as their characters’ relationship, sharpened the production.
“Lucy knows her father’s inclinations regarding certain decisions he might make and pushes him to approach them in a different way, and he listens with great respect,” she said. “It’s special to witness that kind of collaboration.
“They have exactly the kind of chemistry you would expect a father and daughter to have, and that stems from love, a playful aspect and a history of irritations. That familiarity creates a really deep and dynamic relationship.”
By: JAZMINE HUGHES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6973964, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-11-07 19:00:07
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