Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312140260
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARY CAMPBELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Noth has played Detective Mike Logan since ``Law & Order'' started on NBC four seasons ago, first with George Dzundza playing his cop partner, then Paul Sorvino. Now his partner is Orbach, as Detective Lennie Briscoe. The season before last, Sorvino did eight episodes before Orbach came in and did the last 14.
A character was written for Orbach. He says, ``They had seen `Prince of the City.' They wanted him a little bit like that character.
``He is not as polite and well-mannered as the previous guys. He's more of a street guy.''
Orbach is so happy with the series and working here, where he lives, that he's determined to stay with the show as long as it lasts.
He says, ``I guess I've been a cop more than I've been a gangster (`Crimes and Misdemeanors') or a doctor (`Dirty Dancing').''
Orbach's career began with musicals, ``The Threepenny Opera'' and ``The Fantasticks'' off-Broadway, ``Carnival!'', ``Promises, Promises,'' - for which he won a Tony Award, ``Chicago'' and ``42nd Street'' on Broadway. In a 1965 revival of ``Guys and Dolls,'' Orbach played Sky Masterson, with Alan King as Nathan Detroit and Jake La Motta as Big Julie. He says, ``Years ago, I was thought of by a lot of people as a musical comedy performer, more than as a serious actor.
``I did `Prince of the City' and a few other things, `Murder, She Wrote,' `The Law and Harry McGraw.' At some point they were doing a TV series, `Cop Rock.' One of the agents was talking to the producer about me. He said, `We all love his work. But does he sing?'
``That didn't work out. But I was the voice of the candlestick in `Beauty and the Beast.' I got to sing `Be Our Guest.'
``If I want to sing again one of these days, I'll have the agents call Atlantic City.''
On ``Law & Order,'' Orbach says, ``There's a team of writers. Usually two work on any given script. They're very, very strict about keeping good, tight quality and keeping things in character. Sometimes something will come along where an actor will say, `My character wouldn't say that, or say it in that way.' They're adaptable.''
And shooting in New York? ``It's heaven,'' Orbach says. ``I get to sleep in my own bed. `The Law and Harry McGraw' (1987-88) was shot in LA. We took an apartment out there. We didn't move.
``When I did that character, Harry McGraw, on `Murder, She Wrote,' they spun it off. We had a very good show and a great time with it but we only did 17 of them.''
Asked whether he ever ad-libs during shooting, Orbach says, ``I've worked where there's a lot of ad-libbing and I've worked with Woody Allen where you say exactly what is written. Sometimes ad-libbing comes out of a moment or a situation. Somebody says, `Who ordered the Diet Pepsi?' and pulls out a can of seltzer. I say, `The caterer brought the wrong thing.' You react to what's there; you don't say your written line. I tend to make something up and keep going, rather than wait for the director to say `Cut.'
``There's a pace in TV I like. I like to work fast. I don't like to dwell all day over one scene as you do in a big feature. Big feature films are another world.''
``Anyway, nobody is knocking on my door asking me to co-star with Jack Nicholson or play anything more than the girl's father or a friend of the friend.''
The way he works on ``Law & Order,'' Orbach says, is to read the script but not memorize it. ``I like to come in not knowing the lines at all. As we block the movement, I look them over a couple of times, learn them on the spot and sail with it. If it's a long scene, I'll go into a dressing room while they're lighting and work on it a little.
``I have no plan. When a guest performer comes in for a day, I can react to that person. That's fun for me.''
Each episode requires eight shooting days, Orbach says. ``We have 12-hour days, which sometimes turn into 14 or 15. A 40-hour week would be a miracle. Our low record last season was 58. Since the show is half police and half lawyers, you get a day off here and there.''
Orbach's family includes his second wife Elaine, whom he met doing ``Chicago'' and married in 1979, sons Chris and Tony, Tony 's wife Martha, and their children Sarah Kate, 4, and Peter, 1. ``Tony's a sax player. He has a band, Urban Blight. Chris is a singer-songwriter-guitarist. We went to see him at the Duplex. I was perspiring with fear before. He is good.''
For relaxation, the actor plays golf. ``I don't stay out late. I don't get in trouble.'' Orbach says ruefully, ``I guess I'm a bore.''
by CNB