Broadway's Robert Cuccioli on Making his London Stage Debut in Rothschild & Sons and More

Robert Cuccioli is a familiar and popular New York theater name, remembered from his Tony-nominated turn in 1997 in Jekyll and Hyde and as both Javert in Les Miz and the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. As of January 24, he will be making his U.K. stage debut at north London’s Park Theatre, reprising his acclaimed off-Broadway performance in Rothschild & Sons, the Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick musical directed here, as in New York, by Jeffrey B. Moss. Cuccioli found time following rehearsals for an engaging chat with Broadway.com.

How does it feel to be making what must seem a long-overdue London stage debut?
I can say genuinely that it’s an honor and a thrill to be here and that it’s always been a dream of mine to work on the London stage. The last time I was here was 25 years ago! I was friendly with the late Keith Michell and came over to see him but until now have never performed here.

Weren’t you connected to this material even before you first did your director Jeffrey B. Moss’s production off-Broadway in 2015?
Very much so. Rothschild & Sons began as a Broadway show called The Rothschilds, which was revived in the early 1990s at Circle in the Square downtown with Mike Burstyn, and I played the middle child, Nathan—the angry rebel. As a result, this show has always been very close to my heart and I have very strong feelings towards it. I’m from an Italian family, and the Italians and the Jews are very similar in many respects. I can’t tell you how fully I respond to it.

Was it always the plan to bring the York Theater production to London? 
There was talk at the time of us transferring within New York but the other venue wasn’t working out as we had hoped, so that was when the thought of London came up. It seemed as if maybe we could be a novelty in that regard and hopefully would get spoken well of and go to the West End and from there back to the States—all on the back of London cred! Glory Crampton, who was also in it in New York, has made the trip with me.

Do Londoners know about the Rothschild banking dynasty?
The thing is, Americans don’t really know the Rothschilds. It’s like, “They make wine, right?” Here they seem to know who the family are and, of course, they also seem interested in the American musical, as evidenced by a look at what is playing around town. 

What do you most connect with in the role of the German-born patriarch, Mayer Rothschild?
I love the way the show conveys what the future will hold not only for Mayer’s family but for the Jewish people. This really is a musical of great vision, integrity, cleverness and passion, and what I personally love about the role is that I get to age from 30s to late 60s, which is wonderful, as is having five onstage sons and what that allows in terms of creating a stage family.

Have you ever met Hal Linden, who won a Tony for this role back in 1971?
I’ve never talked to Hal specifically about this part, but I was part of a benefit performance quite a few years ago where they wanted to assemble the original Rothschild boys and the original Nathan, Paul Hecht, wasn’t available so they asked me if I would step in. I became the adopted brother to people like Tim Jerome and Chris Sarandon and that was the first time I met Hal—when, of course, this production wasn’t a twinkle in my eye yet.

How extraordinary is it that two of your creative team are still with us—lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who is 93, and bookwriter Sherman Yellen, who turns 86 next month?
What’s extraordinary is to work with people who were at the creation of the show almost 50 years ago, so you get to hear from them what they intended. At the same time, they’re looking at the piece as if it were a newborn baby and rewriting and making adjustments where they see fit. Sheldon has written two new songs for this show and is coming over to see it. I want to be him when I grow up!

Do you ever feel, especially being here, that your career has that British gift for folding musicals into a much broader range of work?
I’m pretty pleased with the way my career has gone in that I began as a musical theater performer but wanted to be known as an actor and have spent a lot of years in regional theater doing Shakespeare and the classics as well as musical comedies. This is actually my second career: I was in finance before this.

Are you the go-to guy in shows if any of your castmates have financial queries?
Possibly! I will say that my agents are pretty shocked that I take the time to actually read the contract.

How did your parents feel about a fairly seismic career shift?
They’ve passed now but it probably wasn’t until I was appearing with Richard Harris in Camelot that they sort of said “OK.” Unfortunately, they didn’t get to see any of the glory [of being an actor], just the work.

Do you ever think of that other life that you might have led?
It’s more about what would have happened if I hadn’t decided to do this! I didn’t want to go through my entire life thinking “what if?” and it took a friend who had a friend in the Light Opera of Manhattan for me to make the shift. I got a job in the chorus and became their lead baritone: my training was entirely on the job.

Finally, what does a show that begins in late 18th-century Germany have to say to playgoers today?
Our New York run was pre-Trump, but I think the message of the show is even more true now about making connections and tearing down rather than building walls. I’m also really pleased that we have the chance to do the show here for a different set of people. I can’t wait to see what London audiences will make of it.