THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
YOU MAY KNOW Woody Harrelson from TV (``Cheers'') and movies (``Indecent Proposal,'' ``White Men Can't Jump''), but his heart is really in low-paying live theater.
Really?
Harrelson contends that movie stars really can act - and on the boards, no less.
To prove it, Harrelson is winging his way to Norfolk to talk to the delegates at the Southeastern Theater Conference, running through Sunday, at the Marriott and Omni hotels in downtown Norfolk. For an hour and a half Friday afternoon, Harrelson plans to advise the thespians to stick to live theater.
His local appearance, open only to convention delegates, was prompted by loyalty to his theater professor at Hanover College in southern Indiana. That professor, Tom Evans, will introduce him. Evans is a long-time member of the conference, which meets in a different city each year.
Harrelson declined an advance interview but his publicists forwarded a biography that emphasizes his theater allegiance more than you'd guess. For example, he took time out from movies and returned to his alma mater last May to play, on stage, the role of C.S. Showers in a production of ``The Diviners,'' co-starring alumni and current students.
Harrelson's first love was the theater. After earning his degree in theater and English in 1983, he moved to New York with an eye toward Broadway. He was not an overnight success. And when the ``big break'' did come, it provided a dilemma.
He was offered the youthful lead in Neil Simon's ``Biloxi Blues'' on Broadway at the same time he was offered a role in the highly successful television sitcom ``Cheers.'' His agent advised him to take the TV offer. Eight seasons and an Emmy later, he still vows that his first allegiance is to the stage.
His crossover to the big screen has been steady and successful. After roles in ``L.A. Story,'' ``Doc Hollywood'' and ``Wildcats,'' he scored a major commercial breakthrough with ``White Men Can't Jump.'' Superstardom came with ``Indecent Proposal,'' in which he co-starred with Robert Redford and Demi Moore. The steady climb included snaring a controversial role in Oliver Stone's ``Natural Born Killers.'' Even in ``The Cowboy Way,'' a critical and commercial flop, he got good reviews.
In Los Angeles, he co-starred with Glenn Close on stage, but he has yet to make his move on Broadway. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Actor Woody Harrelson will speak Friday to delegates at the Norfolk
conference.
by CNB