THE PARIS LETTER follows a group of friends and family through their personal and professional lives over the course of several decades. The play explores issues surrounding identity, sexuality, family, wealth, and responsibility. Jon Robin Baitz (playwright) recently saw two of his other plays produced off Broadway. CHINESE FRIENDS premiered at Playwrights Horizons last year and MY BEAUTIFUL GODDAMN CITY premiered at the Tribeca Theatre Festival this year. Baitz’s New York adaptation of Ibsen’s HEDDA GABLER, starring Kate Burton, was very successful in 2001.

Although I will be interviewing Mr. Baitz for my upcoming book, I realized that I’ve been focusing this column on the writer far too much. Today I’m turning the microphone to an actor in Baitz’s play. There are a handful of successful actors involved with THE PARIS LETTER. Ron Rifkin, of television’s ALIAS, is a very well regarded film, television, and theatrical actor. Neil Patrick Harris, of television’s DOOGIE HOUSER and most recently the New York production of Sondheim’s ASSASSINS, acted in Baitz’s play in the Los Angeles.

I took a few minutes to speak with another talented thespian from the Roundabout production. John Glover has become very well known for his work in the television show, SMALLVILLE. But before Glover begun working on the chronicles of the Man of Steel he was a well-known stage and film actor. Glover won a Tony and an Obie Award for his acting in Terrence McNally’s LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! John has a long list of Broadway credits and awards to his name and has been nominated for five Emmy Awards for his work on television. His film resume is equally impressive.

HYLTON: Tell me a little bit about the Roundabout production of THE PARIS LETTER?

GLOVER: Well, it started out in Los Angeles prior to coming to New York. The play was over three hours initially and was cut down pretty significantly to the two plus hour play we’ve got now. Doug and the playwright did a lot of work on it together and really reshaped the scenes as recently as a couple of days before the premiere.

HYLTON: What’s it like working with Doug Hughes? He’s clearly a popular guy these days with his work on DOUBT doing so well this year at the Tonys.

GLOVER: Doug Hughes grew up in the theater. Both of his parents were actors. His mom and his dad both worked on Broadway. He just has a great sense of how to work with actors. He creates something of a wonderland every time the actors walk into the theater. His world somehow permeates everything and heals everything. He’s amazing. I hope to work with him many more times during my career.

HYLTON: How did the rewrites occur?

GLOVER: Robbie [Baitz] has an incredible mind. Lots of the rewrites happened as we were in previews. Doug and Robbie would watch the audience and try to feel how the audience was following the story. Then some things were added and things were taken out that kinda clouded the story. They used the preview period as a lesson in how to tell the story, which is a rather complex story. Just time-wise it bounces around a bit so trying to lead the audience through it was tricky.

HYLTON: I think the production succeeded in this regard. I never felt as though I was losing track of where we were and I thought the weaving of actors into different rolls worked well. That must have taken some time to get down. How long was the rehearsal period?

GLOVER: Well we had four weeks of rehearsals and four weeks of previews. And I found out about two to three weeks before the rehearsals start that I had a part in the play. When I got the script that we were going to do in New York it has been trimmed down quite a bit from the L.A. version.

HYLTON: Had you seen the L.A. version of the play?

GLOVER: Yes, a friend of mine was acting in my roll in the L.A. production and I actually was out there to see him portray the roll.

HYLTON: I know you’ve done a fair bit of work in film, television, and theater, having won a Tony yourself for your acting in LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! Can you tell me about your work in film and Television a little bit and how the process differs for you from film?

GLOVER: Well, one of my first films was working for Woody Allen in ANNIE HALL.

HYLTON: Not a bad start.

GLOVER: Sure was. After that I figured the film world was easy. Then I did a bunch of films that no one ever saw and I reevaluated that belief system.

HYLTON: And you are now on break from Television?

GLOVER: Yes, I’m in SMALLVILLE. We just finished our forth season. I missed the first two days of rehearsals of the play because we had to shoot for a few days. And Ron [Rifkin] had to leave rehearsals from THE PAIRS LETTER for a few days to go and shoot ALIAS. So the rehearsal period for Robbie’s play was pretty fragmented. But Doug dealt with it all very well.

HYLTON: Did you enjoy the chance to get back to theater?

GLOVER: I sure did…especially with this. Getting this offer to work with this director and these talented actors and in this play has been phenomenal. It’s just been great.

HYLTON: So where are you living these days?

GLOVER: I live out in Los Angeles. But we shoot the show in Vancouver so I do a bit of flying back and forth during those nine months of the year.

THE PARIS LETTER runs at the Laura Pels Theatre at 111 West 46th Street till August 7th, 2005. Tickets can be purchased at the boxoffice, over the phone through the Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300, or online at www.roundabouttheatre.org. Tickets range from $56.25 to $66.25.

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