News

Take a Bow

Everything is just rosy for Harry Hamlin and wife Lisa Rinna after their opening night performance in the Broadway musical CHICAGO on Tuesday. The former Dancing With the STars contestants will continue their Broadway run until July 29.

http://www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,20043067_7,00.html

Loose Lips
Harry Hamlin gets ready to razzle-dazzle Broadway in Chicago; Joanna Gleason gets a chorus of approval; and Lynda Carter discovers the wonder of being a cabaret singer.
By: Brian Scott Lipton

HAMLIN IT UP

Harry Hamlin
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
No matter how big a star you are, getting cast can still be a matter of who you know. Just ask Harry Hamlin about his return to Broadway next week as Billy Flynn in Chicago. "Right after they hired my wife, Lisa Rinna to play Roxie, they asked me to play Billy. But the funny thing is they never asked if I could sing; they just took it on faith," says Hamlin, who last appeared on the Great White Way in the Roundabout's 1994 revival of Summer and Smoke. "I haven't done a musical in 35 years, since I played Jud in a summer stock production of Oklahoma!, and I don't have any formal training as a singer. But I have been going to a vocal coach for a few months, and I've been learning about my range. Hopefully, no one will ask for their money back."
While the role of Billy only requires a minimum of dancing, Hamlin's no stranger to fancy footwork. He competed on the ABC reality series Dancing With the Stars, once more following in the footsteps of Rinna. "I was one of the few people who went on the show knowing how hard it was, simply by watching Lisa every day," he says. "One of the reasons I did it is that it intrigued me to do something I might find intimidating. I think you learn something when you push the boundaries of your comfort zone. Having done it, it doesn't surprise me that the people who win are often Olympic athletes like Apollo Ohno; it's an extremely grueling experience."

Billy Flynn may not be the nicest man in the world, but he's a saint compared to Senator Randall Bailey, the murdering, conniving character Hamlin played in this season's finale of Law & Order. "After I finished L.A. Law, I got lots of offers to play murderers, sex offenders, and slicers-and-dicers, and I did a bunch of them," he says. "But this was the first role like this in a long time. I happened to be in New York to do a photo shoot for Chicago and they called and asked if I wanted to do it. The set was a little tense, since no one was sure if they had a job next season. [The series has since been renewed.] But it's always fun to play the bad guy."

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/10932