Theater

TV stars who’ve returned to the stage

Experienced theatergoers know that nearly every performer’s credits in the program inevitably list appearances on “Law and Order” and its myriad offshoots. But there are plenty of other TV shows represented on New York stages these days — with a plethora of former and current TV stars now treading the boards. From Sarah Jessica Parker to Mandy Patinkin, there are numerous opportunities to see your favorite small-screen star in the flesh. Here’s but a few examples of these performers who have returned to their theatrical roots:

Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City”)

Sarah Jessica Parker with Blythe Danner take the opening night curtain call in “The Commons of Pensacola” November 21, 2013FilmMagic

Parker truly hit the big time with her iconic role as the relationship columnist Carrie Bradshaw on HBO’s long-running series and its subsequent big-screen incarnations. But the actress is a longtime theater performer, having once starred in the title role in the original Broadway production of the musical “Annie.” She’s now playing the daughter of a Bernie Madoff-type financial swindler in actress Amanda Peet’s play “The Commons of Pensacola” at the Manhattan Theater Club through Jan. 26.

Mandy PatinkinWireImage

Mandy Patinkin (“Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds,” “Homeland”)

The veteran actor has starred in several successful television series including the current “Homeland,” in which he plays the bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison’s (Claire Danes) mentor. But his theatrical roots run deep, having won a 1980 Tony Award for his galvanizing turn as the Che Guevara-inspired revolutionary in the musical “Evita.” Starting on Dec. 14, he’ll be co-starring with downtown theater favorite Taylor Mac in a workshop production of “The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville,” directed by five-time Tony Award–winning director/choreographer Susan Stroman (“Crazy for You,” “Showboat,” “The Scottsboro Boys”). It plays the Abrons Arts Center through Dec. 31.

Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne”)

Another longtime theater actress, Metcalf began her professional career at Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company alongside such now-familiar performers as John Malkovich, Gary Sinise and Joan Allen before achieving fame as the title character’s police-officer sister Jackie in the hit sitcom “Roseanne,” for which she won three consecutive Emmy Awards. She’s currently co-starring on HBO’s “Getting On” and, on the stage, with Jeff Goldblum in the Lincoln Center production of the drama “Domesticated” in which she plays the aggrieved wife of a philandering politician. It runs at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater through Jan. 5.

Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Goldblum in “Domesticated”

Daniel Sunjata (“Rescue Me,” “Graceland”)

Daniel Sunjata, left, and Ethan Hawke in “MacBeth”T.CHarles Erickson

The handsome, strapping Sunjata is no stranger to our stages, having earned a Tony nomination and a Theatre World Award for his breakout role as a gay professional baseball player in the award-winning 2003 drama “Take Me Out.” He went on to a recurring role as a womanizing firefighter on the hit series “Rescue Me” and in USA’s summer drama “Graceland,” about undercover agents operating out of a California beach house. He’s now playing Macduff in the Lincoln Center production of “Macbeth” starring Ethan Hawke, running through Jan. 12 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

David Harewood (“Homeland”)
James Rebhorn (“Homeland”)

Showtime’s hit CIA-themed series clearly provides plenty of opportunities for moonlighting by its cast members. That’s especially true for British actor David Harewood, whose CIA Deputy Director character was killed off in a massive bombing of CIA headquarters in the finale of Season 2. But he’s recovered nicely, currently playing Oberon, the king of the fairies, in Julie Taymor’s acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Brooklyn’s Theatre for a New Audience through Jan. 12. Rebhorn, who appears as Carrie’s concerned father on the show, is one of those ubiquitous, instantly familiar character actors who’s long appeared on New York Stages. He’s currently playing the ghost of an elderly woman’s late husband in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Too Much, Too Much, Too Many” at its Black Box Theatre through Jan. 5.

David Harewood in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”Gerry Goodstein
Phyllis Somerville at the “Too Much, Too Many, Too Much, Too Many” Opening Night after partyGetty Images

Phyllis Somerville (“The Big C”)

The veteran actress, who had a recurring role an irascible neighbor who became a slightly less irascible ghost on the recently ended Showtime series starring Laura Linney, plays the reclusive widow in “Too Much, Too Much, Too Many,” mentioned above.

Debra Jo Rupp (“That 70s Show”)

Debra Jo Rupp at the opening night of “Becoming Dr. Ruth”FilmMagic

Best known for her role as Kitty Forman on Fox’s hit comedy “That 70s Show” (1998-2006) which made stars of such young performers as Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama, Rupp’s theater credits include the 1990 Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” starring Kathleen Turner and Charles Durning. She’s currently playing America’s most beloved sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, in the solo bio-play “Becoming Dr. Ruth” at the Westside Theatre through Dec. 22.

Peter Scolari (“Bosom Buddies,” “Newhart”)

Best known for his drag turn opposite Tom Hanks and his role as a shallow television producer in Bob Newhart’s eponymous hit sitcom, Scolari’s stage credits go back decades. Having recently appeared in his old buddy Hanks’ hit Broadway debut “Lucky Guy,” he’s now playing a WASP husband and father in A.R. Gurney’s drama “Family Furniture.” Co-starring as his wife is another TV veteran, Carolyn McCormick, who played Dr. Elizabeth Olivet on “Law and Order” for twelve seasons.

Peter Scolari (center) on stage with Tom Hanks, Richard Masu, Courtney B. Vance and Christopher McDonald in “Lucky Guy”Joan Marcus