I'm going Boston's news radio thank again, Walkin's final hour of night Side. And I saw this musical when it played in Boston in nineteen ninety seven. The Wang Theater then it's now called the Bach Center is where it played, and I was just perplexed. How could they have a musical about the Titanic, because when you think of musicals, you think of festive, happy happenings. I did. I did like it. I saw it, and I wasn't as perplexed
after I saw it. It's back. I'm not talking about the event at the Castle in Boston where they've got artifacts from the original Titanic on display. This is the musical that first played in the nineties. I think it's one four or five Tony's over the years, and I've got one of the gentlemen who will be in it. It's going to be playing at the North Through Music Theater from the twenty ninth of October to the tenth of November. So everybody, you can applaud at home, and
he'll pretend you can hear all of you. Kevin McGlenn is here, Kevin, good evening to.
You, good evening. How are you all right?
My in studio producer.
N I can I can barely hear you over the applause.
Oh yes, it was thunderous, thunderous. So now, what what role you playing?
I play Isidor Strauss, who was one of the co owners of Macy's with his brother Nathan, and I'm accompanied on the journey by my wife Ida, played by Broadways Mary Callanan.
And in nineteen twelve, did you and Mary survive? Did Mary just survive? Did you just survive or both perished?
Well, I mean it's not like people don't know the end of the story, but both Ida and is Adoor perished. He refused to get on a lifeboat while there were still women and children on board, and she refused. She refused to get off. She'd get into a lifeboat without him.
So it's like a couple. When we saw the movie, they just stayed in bed as the water is flooding into their room.
Correct, Maybe not.
That ending for the two that you just mentioned, but they didn't want to leave each other.
No, that is how they're depicted in the nineteen ninety seven movie. But from all accounts, they were still on deck when the ship went down. From the survivors from other survivor's accounts.
Now, it sounds like you have played this role this musical in the past.
I've done this musical in the past, but not this role in the past. I originally did the show in two thousand and one. I believe that the now defunct Worcester Foothills Theater. Okay, and I played Thomas Andrews, who was the architect of the ship.
And you know what, when you saw the movie, you were kind of a fan of his, And I still remember the line he said, I'm sorry I didn't build your stronger ship, young Rose.
Andrews says, yeah.
Andrew says that to.
Kate. Yeah, Kate wins, Yeah, yeah. He I think he felt completely responsible because well, you know, as they claimed it was unthinkable, and they they made that claim because of the watertight compartments and there were sixteen of them, and that they would be able to shut them off from each other so that wouldn't overflow. But because of the way the ship hit the iceberg on the side, you know, it just it just ripped right into the side.
And it's commonly believed had they steered directly into the iceberg and took on head on, then they would they would not have sunk, or they wouldn't have lost so many lives because not as many compartments would have flooded.
Right, So you've become a Titanic historian despite.
Well, because it's the second time I've done it. I'm kind of a kind of a research guy. So I like to you know, especially if it's a real person. I like to know who they are, where they came from, you know, anything I can find out about them. I actually right before I left to come up here, because I live in the Bronx in New York. I originally from Metric Mass but I live in the Bronx. The Strausses are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, which is less than
two miles from my house. So I did. I did visit their gravesite before I came over here, which is wow. It sort of sort of puts the whole thing in complete perspective, because, you know, you you try to pay homage to these people who were they were real people and they perish in this hideous and unfortunate accident.
And forgive me for being being rude or a snight or sarcastic, but a nice young man from Medford moving to New York.
Of all places, it happens in the best of families.
Tisk. And if I have to repeat myself again, tisk. I'll tell you what when we come back is. It's a break to take. I want to find out about you. What got you into theater? Did you play Death of a Salesman in high school? Something? Something had to what you whistle to do this? To stand in front of hundreds of people and pretend to be somebody else. And this is a musical, so you have to sing. And I'm assuming you're pretty proud of your singing voice.
I can hold a tune.
Okay, the key used to get ahold several notes at the same time.
Exactly, all right.
We'll tell you what. Let me take my break. When we come back, I'll invite phone calls. It might be just JU and I chatting for another forty five minutes, or maybe, just maybe we'll get some phone calls to talk about the musical Titanic six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty or eight eight, eight, nine, two nine ten thirty. And if you have questions for my buddy Kevin McGlenn, and I'll have him spell his last name for you. I already had him do that for me
when we spoke the other day. I am now going to take my break, but we'll be back shortly after a few commercials. Here on the night side, time and temperature eleven fifteen fifty nine degrees.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
We are back. We're talking with Kevin McGlenn and he is in the new musical. Not new, This musical has been around on the circuit in the past, and it's back. It's opening on the twenty ninth of October and has a twelve day run ending on November tenth at the north Shore Music Theater. And Kevin, let me ask you, have you ever performed in that theater in the past.
At north Shore? This is my fourteenth show at the north Shore Music Theater.
Can't find something to keep you working, can you?
Huh? My first show was in nineteen ninety two. I did the first show I did there was How to Succeed in Business Without really trying.
Oh, please tell me you played Peter port Finch.
No, No, I was in the dancing ensemble. My character's name is Peterson, and I gave him the first name Pete, So I was Pete Peterson.
Okay, you know why I think the greatest love song in the history of Broadway is from that production, Because when Pierre part Finch sings to himself in the mirror, I believe in you. I mean that right there, he is singing to himself to boast to himselfself, to make sure he's got the hoods, but to do all the things he has to do in that musical.
And I'll say there are two there are two instances in my life where I felt I was like, oh, this is what singing in the ensemble of a musical should feel like. And it's that wall of sound. And it's in the musical I just mentioned in the musical I'm in right now and how to succeed. When you're singing Brotherhood of Man, that is it. You know, it gives you that like from your toes all the way up,
that feeling of like this is amazing. And in the opening sequence of Titanic, when the entire cast is singing Salon, Salon, it is it's a It's a magical moment that'll give you goosebumps.
You've got the brotherhood. Oh that I'm I gotta stop. I have to stop because I go off on a tangent from time to time and I'll sing five stanzas of a play or a musical or a movie or TV.
You go right, you go right ahead.
I'm glad you stopped me. And name another production. You say, fourteen different productions. Give me another one.
Well, I can rattle up the list. I did How to Succeed Alice in Wonderland Annie, where I slipped off the stage opening night and I thought I broke my leg nine to five. I've done two productions of Sound of Music, one in twenty thirteen and one in twenty twenty three. I did Maame, Hairspray, Oklahoma, Cinderella, Kinky Boots, Elvis, Jersey Boys, and now Titanic. Quite a resume, yees at the theater. Yeah, I've been They've been very good, good
to me here. I've been very lucky to work here over fourteen times over thirty two year period.
Did you have to read for Titanic? Or that I'm just going to call from Bill's office or somebody on his staff and said, do you want to play Titanic?
I did get a lovely offer from Kevin Hill. Are the producing artistic director and the director of this musical, and he's directed me in several and he did calling offer me role.
That's what you know. You're good.
I've known Kevin for a very long time. We actually used to dance in the chorus together. We did my one and only together at the Chiswick Park Theater in Sudbury, which is also now defunct. It seems like I close a lot of theaters.
There's a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon that chronicles how he gets started and became a star, and there's a repeating scene where he sings as a part of the chorus, Oh away are the boys and chorus. We hope you like our show. We know you're rooting for us, But now we have to go. You gotta see that cartoon. Everything everything about theater is in that six and a half minute cartoon. Let me take a phone call. We
get a couple of calls, and I'm gonna start with Florence. So, Florence, you want to speak to Kevin, don't you?
I do? Good Eve, see Morgan Jack and good each means Kevin Kevin. Oh wonderful. I'm a big theater lover to me aside from movie Theater is number one, And I wanted to ask you, since you played so many roles, it's wonderful. Is there a role if it ever comes up that you would like?
Oh well, well, i'll tell you that my age Florence. They're they're getting here and fwer. But the one role that I actually did get to do, which was my dream role, was Jesus and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Okay, I've seen that. Yes, I've seen that years ago.
Okay, It's actually the reason I pursued theater was because of my brother's eight track cassette tape. It's anybody remembers what that was? And I used to listen to that when I got back from school. I would pop that in and just wail at the top of my lungs every single day.
Yeah, So is there anything perhaps in the future that you would like to do that if he gets the opportunity.
I'll tell you one role that I would love to do is I did it for a very short period of time. Is I don't know if you know the musical Matilda, No, I don't. It was originally a movie and they made it into a musical and there is a horrible hideous human being of a character called Mistrunchfull, which is played by a man and just terrorizes the children of the school. Oh wow, and i'd I'd love to get my hands on that role one more time.
Well, it sounds like it might be a very challenging role, and uh, that would appeal to you.
And it sounds like you've done the role. You've already put that one on your resume.
Yeah, I did do I did it a year ago. It was only it was it was only a weekend run. So I'd love to actually, you know, do like a legit run of the show.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My my favorite show, uh is My Field Lady and you've seen that with Rex Harrison and I love Showbolt, which I'm trying to get more sure to do that and you know, in the future, and because that would that would be that's a wonderful production.
And I'll tell you, Florence a little anecdote that in the original production of My Fair Lady, Larry Keith was the understudy for Rex Harrison, and Larry Keith is the one who originated the role that I'm playing. Isidor Strauss in Titanic Musical in nineteen ninety seven, oh all.
Right, okay, all right. Did you see the movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown?
I have not, Reynolds, Yeah, I have not. I have not seen that movie. I did go down a bit of a rabbit hole before the show, and I've watched the Original Titanic with Clifton Webb and oh lord, what's her name? Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwick and a very
young Robert Wagner. And then i watched A Night to Remember, which was done in nineteen fifty eight, which has been toted as probably the most accurate depiction of what happened, because one of the fourth officer, Joseph Boxhall, was actually a consultant on the film, So one of the survivors and one of the crew members actually consulted on the film, and they say that's probably the most accurate depiction of what happened.
And one of my friends who recently passed away this year was in A Night Do you remember, David McCallum.
Oh wow, Oh, David, you mean from Man from Uncle?
Oh, don't get me started, Do not get Me started? The Man from Uncle. There's a poster that came out in nineteen sixty five over my bed framed.
Oh wow, I had.
David McCallum on my show at least nine or ten times.
Oh well, Kevin, Kevin, I wish you luck, continued luck with your future. Okay, with your FLCE.
I appreciate. I appreciate that.
It sounds like you've been in so many productions. You must be very very good.
I agree.
I just I just hope to keep hiring me. Florence. Let's keep your fingers.
Crossed, Okay, take.
Care, Florence, your call, bye bye.
Good night, moving, good night.
And Kevin, prove to me that your divine and turned my water into wine.
I'm sorry that was that was herod.
I'll stop there, mm hmm. But I'm tempted to go on because I'm quite familiar with a lot of the ditties from some of the music that you mentioned.
But you have my permission.
And every time I have Bill on, and Bill has been Bill Hanny's been on with me more times than I can count, I always do one line for him. Om Lord, don quixote the mind from.
Speak, That's what That's what I should have told Florence. I would have. I mean, you know, I'm I think I've aged out at this point, but that was one role that I would have. I mean, I've done the show, but not that role. Okay, age years ago, but I would have loved to have played don Quixote.
You never know, it's not too late. Anything could happen.
That's true. I could do it in the nursing home.
I am not going to insult you by asking your age, but you have a very young and powerful sounding voice. And you know as you get older the power in that voice diminishes, but you still have a very powerful voice.
I'm holding on.
All right, We're halfway through, so I'm going to take a break news and maybe a commercial or two, and we'll come back. Take a few more phone calls here on Night Side, I'm Morgan's filling in for Dan Ray. Dan Tribby back tomorrow, I guess. And on that note, time eleven thirty, temperature of fifty nine degrees.
If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio, I.
Tell you this all four hours of the show, Dan is off. If you hear my voice between eight and midnight means I'm filling in for Dan Ray. My name is Morgan, Morgan White Junior. I've been a part of the WBC Land Escape since the mid nineties. Have my own show on Saturday nights and that starts at ten.
Not that you care, but I have a guest who is going to be playing in the musical coming to the North Shore Music Theater, Titanic, the musical, And you hear musical and Titanic, and it sounds like an oxymoron. The two just shouldn't be mentioned back to back. But it was very entertaining I saw, and I'm assuming the production I saw at ninety seven, Kevin, is the production that will be starting in two days.
Well mean yeah, it's it is the same show, but not obviously the same cast that did it, but it's the same same script and score, absolutely all right.
And you should know the phone number up there. I don't have it in front of me, but you can call and go to your tickets that way, or you can just go and pick a performance that you want to go see. And if you want to, like, hold up a sign, Hi, Kevin, heard you on BZ don't behavior.
I'm not sure that people behind you would appreciate that it's.
Not a baseball game. You can't do that. And you mentioned the man From Uncle. A lot of people when they think of David mccowman think of uh ducky on NCIS. So let me ask you, do you remember the show The Man from Uncle?
Oh? Yes, very much.
I means you're not twenty four years old.
That means I'm a man of a certain age. Yeah.
I'm not going to go there, but I will be having on November ninth, and you will still be here doing the show. I don't know if it will allow you. I'm on a ten. I've got Stephanie Powers scheduled to interview and play. She played The Girl from Uncle, and there I already know the first question I'm going to ask her, and it was going to be what does
she remember about Boris Karloff? Because the first episode of The Girl from Uncle had the character of Napoleon's solo partnered with her, and then they did a similar thing on the next episode of The Man from Uncle because No Hareton played Mark slayt April's usual partner, but he partnered with David McCallum. Ilia. See this is how well I know these things. I am a g I don't know if Peil told you, but I'm a geek.
I mean Boris Carloff. That is that is Hollywood Roy Lady.
He played the character Mother Muffin and he had oh great fun doing it. You could tell he enjoyed doing that role. It's almost like watching Caesar Merrow do the Joker on Batman.
Joker. I was just gonna say that, it's like that Batman series where all of those amazing actors got to you know, Burgess Meredith and all of those people are if a kid, I mean, how much fun was that?
I was supposed to have Julie Numar about oh wow, six seven months ago. She's ninety years old. Her agent gets me some of the people that I have on the air to interview, and he and I were speaking about this just this week because she was supposed to be on with me months go, and it was supposed to come in conjunction with her book, but the book ran into a snag, didn't get published and was supposed to, so she wasn't going to come on and not have the book to talk to talk about. But I am still,
excuse me, scheduled to get her. We shall see if I do or not. But she's ninety years old and probably still still just as sexy. As ever. Yeah right, yeah, I'm being generous, being generous as I say that.
So I just I just got a text message from my cousin Mark to make sure I sait Hello, Hello damn.
Where does he live in Metrid?
He does?
See.
We grew up next door to each other. My mother and his mother are sisters and there was one house in between us. So were there are six kids in my family born his, so it was like ten kids and four parents.
Hello, MARKU Medford. Now if people went to YouTube or the internet or whatever and looked up Kevin McGlenn, how do they spell your name?
Well, they'd have to look up Kevin B. McGlenn because that's my that's my legland equity name, okay. And the last name is capital M, small C, capital g l y n n Okay.
I always have people do that because in this twenty first century age, everything is out there online on a computer, website, whatever, And if somebody wants to look up your history. Have you done movies as well?
I did the Brinks Job back in nineteen whatever whatever year that was. I was an extra on that. I have. There's only one movie that I'm featured in. It's called Isabelle Isabelle Hooper in the Ghost of Nantucket, which we filmed on Nantucket a couple of years ago. It's a it's sort of a tween movie. It's stars. Lord love it. Duck. I'm just blanking on her name.
She could normally very good at helping people along, but I never saw that movie.
She is in the movie with Adam Sandler where he which one he uh wait, let me see. I'm like looking her up right now. Oh, Bailey Madison. Do you know Bailey Madison. She's She's done a million, a million things. Just go with it. That movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Yes, and you know they have the fake children, and.
I remember that movie. No, I would not put that up there with Adam Sandler's best. But you know a few people laughed when they were supposed to. That's important thing, exactly. Yeah, I play long filmography.
No, no, not at all. It's mostly live theater.
And was that a conscious decision to go more towards live theater than movies, because usually you pay attention to what your strengths are, and you go with your strengths.
Well, you know, it's funny, it's funny because it wasn't until later in life that I even thought that was an option for me, because I I love to sing and I love to dance, and so musicals were sort of the natural path for me. Then I started doing a little bit of commercial work. But you know, theater has kept me employed and has paid my mortgage and car payment for many many years now. So I.
You have bread and milk in the kitchen, exactly theater.
Who doesn't love a fluff? Another on whitebread with glass of milk.
Oh, you need fluff, fluff, fluff to have a fluff, another marshmellow fluff and lots of peanut butter. Off the top of my.
Head, Wow, that was that was impressive.
And you enjoy joy joy. I'm sorry, I can't stop. I have to stop it. And you are a very handsome man. And Nancy, who was my producer sitting next to me, just took out her pad and looked you up and there you go. Now you've got to be in You got glasses to prove that. I looked at the picture of you.
Oh right, you mean right now? Yes, I'm right now. I'm yeah, I'm bearded right now Because Isidore was okay.
And you see a lot of people necessarily wouldn't know that if you didn't have a beard, they wouldn't say, oh, that's wrong, you still had a beard. I've seen pictures of him from nineteen twelve. Yeah, you've got to honor honor the.
Character, absolutely, that's what you know. His body was recovered, hers was not, and the family went to the site of the wreck and took some water and put it in an urn and buried the urn with him at their run at Woodline.
That's a touch a class, tell you what. Let me take my last break of the hour again. If anybody wants to call in Florence already did, you can too. But times are dwindland six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty eight, eight, eight nine two, nineteen thirty. I mean, I can handle the last fifteen minutes of the show, but I'll make room for you if you call in
to speak with my guest Kevin McGlenn. That's Clint McGlenn with y here on night Side time and temperature eleven forty six fifty nine degrees.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
I'm Jordan actor Kevin mcclenn and he's going to be in the production of Titanic the Musical, which opens in two days up at the north Shore Music Theater October twenty nine to November ten.
And five days. You just gave me a small heart attack.
Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake. Yeah, because you get the weekend off and the I apologize. Okay, I won't make that mistake again. But it's theater in the round, and you've mentioned that you've played there on fourteen different productions. Do you prefer theater in the round or the straightforward of a theater?
You know, there is there is a freedom in theater in the round that you don't have to be aware of in a regular passonian theater, because it doesn't matter where you're standing, they can see you right. You know, when you when you block a show in a proscenium theater which is flat on, you have to make sure that when you're speaking with somebody, you're not upstaging them so that they're speaking upstage and the audience can't see their face. And you know, there's whole art to blocking
that way. But in the round, you can be seen from wherever you are so there's a there's a just a sort of a strange freedom. Like I said that you're you're uninhibited and where you go when you're when you're performing.
All right, Well, I learned terms like the proscenium, march and sro o a standing room only back in ninth and tenth grade when I took drama. And you don't get to hear that word used that often anymore, right, But it's a description, it's a description of the environment of stage. And I have been just handed box office information online www NSMT dot org by phone, and I'll give you time to write the phone number down nine seven eight two three two seven to two. Oh oh
all right. The box office hours Monday through Friday nine am to five pm, Saturday ten am to two pm, closed on Sunday, and their address is fifty two Dunham Road, Beverly, mass So now you know how to find Bill Hannies North Short Music Theater. And I can't believe this. Someone is just called in us get nervous on somebody calls so late. But let's take the call, Rick and Belle Rica.
But you don't have to get nervous. I'm just I'm just calling to say good luck to Kevin, because I've been singing for a long time and you know, that's that's the epitome of live singing. That's that's hard stuff. I've never done theater and uh, and you know, I I know, I know it's it's it's the toughest. And also Kevin's got to watch how if he wants a glass of wine, he might have to skip it for the night if it well, depending on how many shows.
He has to do.
Because as a singer, you have to watch what you eat. You got to skip the dairy, the cheese. You got to hydrate extra, you got to sleep extra. You probably gotta have ginger tea all that other stuff. Kevin, Kevin knows all about that stuff. But I just wanted to say, Kevin, Uh, I just want to say good luck because it's it's a battlefield when you go out theater.
Perform and everything you said, everything you said is absolutely true, and I you you know that the grind that you have to go through to keep.
Your your instrument in top shape for you know, a performance every single night. So I appreciate that, and thank you for the thank you for the well wishes.
So you're not too far away to get to the no show a theater, are you?
I'm not far away, but I've I've got things I got to do. But depending on how much, how long? How many shows are you playing there?
We do? We do eight shows a week for two weeks.
Well, it's it's good to know. And what a tickets? About a hundred bucks?
No, I can't They're not that high that I don't know what they are, but I know that figure is incorrect.
Yeah, you know, I'm just a r Yeah, because when I'm there, I'm on the stage and not in the in the audience.
Well, no, I'm just a bee.
You know.
With inflation everything, I'm just upping the price. I'm up in the price. So I don't feel so bad. I't know if it's less.
I'm delighted, you know. But that's.
Yeah.
And uh and you know, best of luck, Best of luck, Kevin. I'm sure it's going to be an awesome production. I want to say that you give you a wish. All right, have a good night, guy, right.
Rick, thank you for the call. All right now, I asked you about theater in the round, and I'm going to ask when you were growing up, Just giving your toe wet in theater? Who are your favorite actors and did you ever get a chance to meet them?
Well, you know, this is really funny because growing up, you know, kid, I loved the show Laughing Okay, And one of the first impersonations I ever did it was of joe Anne Worley when she was to Go, Yes, exactly. I just thought she was like the funniest person in the world. And now she has become a very dear friend of mine. Yeah, I've worked with her twice and
a mutual friend of ours. Todd ended up moving to LA and stayed in constant touch with her, And every time I've been to LA or when she was here doing Drowsy Chaperone, we saw each other constantly. And you know, she's she was just you know, she was one of those things when people when I was a kid, I was like, how do I get from my dan watching
TV into the TV? And I mean, you know, she's worked with so many iconic people and presidents and movie stars, and she's just a bastion of fantastic stories and she's one that I'm proud to call a friend.
I loved it when they'd let her and Goldiehan, Judy Carran, Chelsea Brown more often than not did the it's a marred, marred world in the biding suit with the words painted all over them, and every now and then Joeanne Wooley got to do it. I like seeing her in a bikini. And I'll give you a bit of laughing trivia that gets back to one thing we mentioned maybe a half minute ago. Man from Uncle had that time slot and they canceled it for laughing.
Oh oh really, And now you.
Know, Kevin. I gotta go, but I thank you, thank you very very much, and I hope you do buffalo business up there.
Thank you. I appreciate you having me on, and I appreciate the well wishes.
Kevin, thank you, and everybody. I want to thank Alan Toles, Dave McDonald, I just think, Kevin. I want to thank Rob and Dan back at Busy Central and Nancy and Grace sitting next to me. If you called in, I love that. If you just listened, I love that. Bye, Boston,