Quotable Quotes: Gabbing with the Cast of Glengarry Glen Ross
WHAT: First day of rehearsal and press meet and greet
WHERE: Manhattan Theatre Club Studios
WHEN: March 15, 2005
"You have your fingers crossed that it's going to be in tune, and it was pretty amazing." --Director Joe Mantello on the first day of rehearsal
"You know what you always find out, and today was no exception, that we're all just actors. We're all in the same boat." --Alan Alda on meeting with the cast for the first time
"It's a crack group. I kind of felt within the first 40 seconds of the read-through that something exciting is happening." --Liev Schreiber on the cast
"It is a testosterone fest. But that's part of what this world that [Mamet] is painting is all about. It's men. Vicious men. Funny vicious men by the way." --Jeffrey Tambor
"Everybody's on their toes and focused on what we're about to do, and then there's this moment where you relax because you see that everybody is there to do the best that they can. Everyone opens up to one another right away. That's a terrific thing. I love that about actors. They know how personal this job is." --Alan Alda
"If you don't get the lines right, you're dead in the water." --Frederick Weller
"I think there's a delight in watching this. I found myself laughing during the reading today because people are ridiculous, and when people get greedy, they're really ridiculous." --Jeffrey Tambor
"I try to find out what there is in the character that in a way, you can't put into words. If I could put it into words, then it wouldn't be a performance. And if I do put it into words, as I play it, I start to get boxed in by those words." --Alan Alda, explaining why he never talks about his characters in interviews
"My first thought was, 'Yay!' I think it's a great play. I've read it many times. I'd seen the film about a dozen times. I owned the video until one of my friends stole it." --Frederick Weller on his first thoughts after being cast
"It's nice not to be juggling five balls in the air and to just know you have to say your lines on time and that's it. That was very comforting today." --Liev Schreiber on coming back to the theater after working as a writer and director on the film Everything Is Illuminated
"It was very very exciting. It's wonderful. I'm honored to be in this ensemble." --Jeffrey Tambor on meeting the cast for the first time
"This is like a dream come true. I think it's David Mamet's masterpiece. Certainly, from an actor's point of view, it's his masterpiece." --Gordon Clapp
"I jumped at it because I love this play. If you're going to come in eight times a week to do something, I'd like not only to have something that I enjoy saying, I like to have something that I enjoy hearing. This is great writing, and I'll enjoy hearing it." --Alan Alda on choosing to return to the stage with Glengarry Glen Ross
"I think it's one of the greatest American plays." --Frederick Weller
"I think it was probably the first play I saw on Broadway where the language--and it wasn't just the profanity because, sure, I like to say the 'F' word just as much as the next kid--but there was something about the language that just felt like a punch in the stomach and it just kept taking my breath away again and again and again." --Liev Schreiber
"There are wonderful contradictions in the play. You know, it's dedicated to Harold Pinter and for anybody who did college theatre in the '60s, Pinter was our staple guy. Pinter was why I wanted to be actor!" --Gordon Clapp
"I don't know why it's so intimidating. He honestly couldn't have been nicer, he couldn't have been more accommodating. Very generous. But there's something about--maybe it's what you're expecting because of the tone of his plays, or the world that he writes about--that you're expecting a hard-ass." --Joe Mantello on speaking to David Mamet for the first time
"I think that when you're doing it, you face problems that you face in any play, and you solve those problems. All of art is a kind of problem-solving experience." --Alan Alda
"The conflict is very clear, and that makes the play straightforward. I'm looking forward to doing it." --Frederick Weller
"I'm the only one in the piece that doesn't cuss!" --Tom Wopat on the language used in the play
"I just thought of a pun. There's Twelve Angry Men and this would be Six Vicious Men. Oy! That's why I don't like to go out in public." --Jeffrey Tambor
Interviews by Beth Stevens
Compiled by Grace Hernandez