THE'GYPSY' After a series of setbacks, Laura Benantins back on Broadway BY MTcrrAr,L erurz ell actress Laura Benanti that her career on Broad- way is filled with backstage drama and she responds, "Which drama are you talking about?" It's been that ii...\ type of career. $,.</p><p> There's the drama of the dangerous fall Benanti took ,ii,l during the 2002 reivalof "Into the Woods" that broke her neck.</p><p> Then there's the added drama of that dangerous condi- tion being misdiagnosed.</p><p> Benanti spent nine months doing phys- ical therapy and wondering why she wasn't getting better - only to find out she was one jostle on the subway away from becoming paralyzed fbr life.</p><p> Then there's the tlme she olfered to stcp awfly irom Riclrard Creenberg s 'l he Violet Hour'' in 2003 because it "didn't feel right'- and having her ofler accept- ed by the pr oducer s, only to have some Bossip peddlers report she was l'irecl and c0uldn't act Not to mention her having to take med- ical leave I ronr t he tsroadway musical "The W'edding Singer" for six weeks in2006-andthenretrrrningt0 j the show almost the lninute lhey anrrounced it would be clOslng "l'm grateful," says Bena- nti, who is now starring in a Broadway revival of "Ciyp- sv," opening Thursdalr at the St James Theater Benanti plays the tomboyish Louise, who transforrns into the world-famous stripper, opposite Patti LuPone as the fe- roci0us stage mom Rose "l'm not glad I broke my neck, but it did inform me Had I experienced all these wonderful blessings and fortunate experi- ences, I don't know if I would have appre- ciated them as much if I hadn't had some of the crap on the other side " For every setback, Benanti has definite- ly enjoyed a timely break She was once fejected as being too adult to play Liesl in a revival of "The Sound of Music " But di- rector Susan Schulman saw somethingand made her the understudy for Rebecca I Luker's Maria Itledto Benanti's Broad- i way debut at I 9 when Luker left the show, : and that resulted in Tony-nominated txrns i in "Swingl" in 1999 and "Into the Woods," i as Cinderella Another break came when Benanti's fdend, actress Maly Stuart Masterson, insisted she go to a doctor for a second opinion about that lingering neck iniuN while Benanti was in the midst of rehearsals for the mu- sical "Nine " Benanti had to schedule surgery immediate- ly, and thr ough tears told the show's creative team that she'd have to leave the cast "They said, 'We'll wait for you,"' says Benanti, even though she wouldn't be avail- able until the first performance "Who does that? That's amazing " And despite winning a major role as Jonny Lee Mi.ller's love interest on the new ABC drama "Eli Stone," the show's creators allowed her to scale back her workload from six episodes to three so she could be in "Gypsy" with LuPone It allowed Benanti to tackle a juicy role in one of the most acclaimed musi- cals of all time - a character who suffers through almost as much backstage drama as Benanti has "Her loneliness really touches me." says Benanti about Louise "Her desire and want for her mother's love. and how sad it is that she ultimately receives that love through an audience who's watching her take off her clothes "She has to change, she has to harden in order to live in the wor [d that she's cre- ated for herself She created Glpsy Rose Lee: she made her But she didn't start out that wav" aNl oo f{ 3 le 2 nEa l o FxZY 3 rr 35 6@lr ti @c2oD z Q€
