How to revive the lost art of the Broadway rom-com? A compelling true story by Delia Ephron is a great start, along with five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman as director. But the key, of course, is to cast stars with the charm and charisma to make audiences fall in love along with the couple. Ephron’s new play Left on Tenth, based on her bestselling memoir, has coaxed a pair of TV fan favorites back to the stage: Julianna Margulies portrays Delia, a widow who finds romance just before receiving a devastating diagnosis, and Peter Gallagher plays her rock-steady new beau, psychiatrist and recent widower Peter Rutter.
Known for The Good Wife and The Morning Show (her) and The O.C. and Grace and Frankie (him), Margulies and Gallagher are also Broadway veterans and longtime friends. The dashing Gallagher is something of a chemistry magnet with actresses ranging from Glenn Close (in The Real Thing, on Broadway exactly 40 years ago) to Grace and Frankie’s Jane Fonda. In real life, he’s been married to his college sweetheart, Paula Harwood, for 41 years and is the dad of Tony-nominated actress Kathryn Gallagher (Jagged Little Pill) and filmmaker James Gallagher. Just before previews began, he mused about why Left on Tenth is the play Broadway needs right now.
Why did you say yes to Left on Tenth?
I couldn’t imagine saying no. It’s so delightful to pick up a new play and be unable to put it down—to be moved, to laugh and to realize that it’s someone’s story. And not only someone, but an extraordinary writer’s story. The notion of bringing a story to the stage that people of my generation can identify with and feel recognized by was very powerful. It’s a love letter to New York, a love letter to second chances, and as my mother used to say, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” It’s never too late to be surprised by good fortune.
What touches you about the play?
I guess I just identify with the human struggle of it all, and with the notion that as you get older, death is so close you can reach out and touch it. That makes every moment precious. My character is a Jungian analyst, and there’s something about the Jungian notions of confluence or synchronicity—there’s magic in it, as there is in life. I mean, these two people connect after their spouses have died, but they dated with they were 18! Nora [Ephron, Delia’s older sister] had set them up, and then Peter happened to see an article Delia wrote [in 2016 about widowhood]. There are some crazy coincidences.
It’s unusual to see a romance on Broadway. Why do you think this story is right for the stage?
Well, because we haven’t seen a play like this in a while. I remember doing Grease at the Royale Theatre [in 1978], and after my show, I’d go hang out with Maureen Stapleton in her dressing room when she and E.G. Marshall were doing The Gin Game. There were lots of two-handers then about relationships and romance, that had humor and were moving. That’s another reason this excites me. And I am absolutely besotted with our director, Susan Stroman. She is telling this potentially old-fashioned story in a very modern way, using all the tools of production design, sound, lighting and projections. In addition to Delia’s wonderful words, Stro is giving it movement and music, with tiny elements of dance and song.
What are you enjoying most about working with Julianna Margulies?
It’s a long list. I’ve known her for years, although we’ve never worked together, and she’s just terrific. She’s game, she’s hard-working, and she has the good sense to be thrilled by this opportunity, as am I. Yesterday, Julianna said, “I just love coming to work,” and we all feel that way. I credit Stro with putting together a wonderful company.
Does that include the two dogs that are part of the official cast list in the roles of “Honey” and “Charlotte”?
Those dogs have been working hard! You know what’s wild? One of them was on the street five months ago, and the other was rescued from a puppy mill. [Animal trainer] Bill Berloni has only been working with them for five months.
Before Julianna, you wooed stage and screen partners as varied as Glenn Close, Andie McDowell, Kelly Rowan, Kristin Chenoweth and Jane freaking Fonda. Is there a key to this?
[Sings] “Nice work if you can get it…” I’m just going to keep a low profile before someone ends this delightful run I’ve had with these extraordinary women. Really, I couldn’t feel luckier, because all the women you just mentioned were wonderful to work with, including Jane freaking Fonda.
“Learn people’s names, make sure you pick up your own clothes, be willing to work harder than anyone else and enjoy every minute.” –Peter Gallagher
It’s been 40 years since The Real Thing, and 30-plus years since you played Sky Masterson on Broadway in Guys and Dolls. What do you still love about stage acting?
You know what I’ve realized? After this show, I will have been on Broadway in each of the past six decades. Isn’t that ridiculous? And I’m back living in the same neighborhood as my very first apartment, when I was starting out in Hair and Grease. The last time I worked with our lighting designer, Ken Billington, was 40-odd years ago when I was in A Doll’s Life for Hal Prince. Wait—what was the question?
What do you still love about stage acting?
Oh! When you’re in a wonderfully written play like The Real Thing or Left on Tenth or Long Day’s Journey Into Night and all the elements come together, you get the powerful experience of feeling that we’re all members of the same tribe. Stories can be used to divide us, but they can also remind of all we have in common. I also like the mechanics of it. I like having a place to go, seeing the stage door person and the carpenters and wardrobe people and house staff. And you have eight shows a week to try to get it right. Before every entrance [in Long Day’s Journey], Jack Lemmon would say, “Magic time!” It’s always been my desire to come back to Broadway because that’s what the guys I was lucky enough to hang out with when I was young did—guys like Jason Robards, George Hearn and James Earl Jones, who were the age then that I am now. They were kind and embracing and supportive.
Are there other musicals you’d like to do?
I don’t know. Part of me is really grateful this is not a musical, because the last one [the 2015 Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century] almost killed me.
Have you ever done Sondheim?
I did the workshop of Passion and had a remarkable experience working with Steve and James Lapine. But they changed the schedule of the production, and I had committed to [Sex, Lies and Videotape] a movie Steven Soderbergh wrote for me. I couldn’t blow that off, but I had a wonderful time working with Marin [Mazzie] and Donna [Murphy] in the workshop.
Let’s chat about your Tony-nominated daughter, Kathryn.
I’m so proud of her. We haven’t [acted] together, but we’ve sung on stage at various places. I did a one-man show for a little bit and brought her on the road with me. Our son, Jamie, is a filmmaker, and I’ve tried to make opportunities and experiences available to both kids.
What do you hope she learned from observing your career?
It’s pretty simple: Learn people’s names, make sure you pick up your own clothes, be willing to work harder than anyone else and enjoy every minute. And she seems to have learned, because I hear the loveliest things about her from other people.
Both kids must have liked what they saw of your career.
I never intentionally had them watch my movies or plays or bored them to death with show biz stories. I wanted them to feel free to explore their imaginations and do what turned them on. When Kathryn was little, she said to me, “We’ve got to write a song together.” I tried, but man, I cannot write a song to save my life! My son is a director, and I’m grateful I’ve done very little of that because both things—songwriting and filmmaking—are theirs. When Jamie was two or three, I’d put him on my shoulders and bring him to hang out at Guys and Dolls. And when I was doing Noises Off, I brought Kathryn in on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. She ended up making her Broadway debut in that theater in Spring Awakening. Maybe they did learn a few things by example.
