Nathan Lane on Death of a Salesman, Mouse Hunt, and Mickey Rooney
episode
Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
1h 5m
3 speakers
5 chapters
transcribed 2 months ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
There was this strange thing that he, I think, started to make an assumption that Dana might be gay.
You were the straight guy and Dana was the gay.
And occasionally, for comedic purposes, a little flamboyant. And so he decided that Dana might be gay. And Dana, at one point in frustration, said to me, why don't you tell him you're gay? Why should I break, you know, America's sweetheart's heart? And he turned to us and said very quietly, this is going to be the biggest show in the history of television. I thought, is he talking to us? What is he? We'll be lucky if they don't cancel this in the middle of filming this pilot.
If you hear someone playing Angry Birds in the audience, that might be me.
Yeah, that'd be you.
I'm like, I didn't know. So totally off?
Yeah.
Nathan Lane, arguably the greatest performer of his generation on Broadway and has done a lot of movies. And it was really fun for me because we had worked together on a really interesting situation comedy first time in like early 80s together with Mickey Rooney. So we reminisce about that. So I won't give anything away. But we both had very identical memories and it's a really good ride.
Yeah. For me, hearing about you talk about that old show with Mickey Rooney on this show and then hearing him, the only other guy that was a witness to all of it and everything synced up exactly what you said. was funny. I thought he was very sharp. I thought he, I don't know, maybe at all, but just funny, super loose, told tight, concise, funny stories. And it was a good laugher, cracked me up. And, you know, he was, we talked about mouse. I keep calling it mousetrap. It's mouse hunt. And some of his old movies that we all like. And he was in the birdcage. He was in like a ton of these.
Yeah.
And he has some great, funny old stories. And so it was just, it was just, it was a really good time. And I think people really laugh along with him. Here's Nathan Lane.
Nathan Lane. Oh, my God. Hello. Wow. Is that a real mustache?
Because it looks great. Oh, well, yes. Yes, it is. I'm old enough now I can grow a real mustache.
You can.
Like the other boys.
You weren't that way in 1971 when we did that sitcom.
1971? I don't know. It's so long ago, it doesn't matter. Well, it's been a minute. Hi, fellas. How are you?
Nathan, I'm David Spade.
Dana claims he knows you. Congratulations on your wildly successful podcast. Thank you, buddy.
Thanks for doing it.
That's a relative term, but thank you. There's three million. I know. Yes, everyone in America has one, but yours is doing very, very well. Thank you. You've checked the metrics. I like it.
The metrics are beautiful.
I always look into those things.
Well, I've seen the numbers on Death of a Salesman, and you guys are rocking.
It's quite astounding to all of us that Death of a fucking Salesman is SRO at the Winter Garden Theater. I never would have guessed that, but tragedy is big right now.
No, tragedy, sadness is all the rage.
I think I heard you say this, but it's so modern. I mean, there's never more despair in the history of the world or feeling bad about yourself because wealth is on and on, right? I mean, it's... Well, yeah.
I mean, I haven't seen it, but many people who come back do say that, that this particular production feels... It feels like they've never seen it before and it feels so fresh and... That's all attributable to Joe Mantello, the director. And Nathan Lane, you know. Nathan Lane. I'm doing my best. Yes, it's a great look. It's a great group of actors. And it's it's something I've wanted to do for a very long time. And and and honestly, you know, when they announced this, the reaction was sort of why are they doing that again? And why on earth are they doing it at the Winter Garden? This huge theater where cats played and Mamma Mia. How many does it hold? I think 1,600, 1,500 or 1,600. And then, so when it was suggested, because we were supposed to do it in the fall, and Scott Rudin,
Colonel Scott Rudin. Colonel Scott Rudin called me and said, I think I can get a theater for this spring. Would you be able to do it?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–11:00
2
How did Nathan Lane first react to performing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway?
11:00–15:16
3
Why was the Winter Garden Theatre chosen and how did sound design preserve intimacy?
15:16–24:09
4
How does Nathan Lane handle following iconic previous actors in famous roles?
24:09–39:29
5
What was Nathan Lane’s experience working with Mickey Rooney on the early sitcom?
39:29–1:05:33