The Surprise Star of 'Relatively Speaking': Marlo Thomas. Time for a Quiz!

OVERNIGHT GUEST Marlo Thomas, left, and Lisa Emery in Elaine May's "George Is Dead," part of "Relatively Speaking."


TAKE OUR QUIZ to become a Marlo Thomas expert. Or prove that you already are.


GLORIOSKY! Marlo Thomas, 73, has finally found her true calling. Broadway theatergoers are having mixed reactions to "Relatively Speaking," an evening of three one-acts by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen. But the best of the bunch is Ms. May's "George Is Dead," and its star is Thomas (as a blonde!), playing her horribly oblivious, lovably hateful character to the edge of farce and back.

1. Marlo Thomas was born in

(a) New York as the daughter of a German-born cosmetic surgeon
(b) Beverly Hills as the daughter of a Lebanese comedian
(c) Brewster, N.Y., as the daughter of a restaurateur
(d) A trunk

2. In the TV series "That Girl," Thomas played

(a) an aspiring actress with a journalist boyfriend
(b) a temp who types 15 words a minute
(c) a fashion model who's a size 10
(d) a sex worker whose father thinks she's a virgin

3. Thomas made her Broadway debut in

(a) "The Shadow Box," a drama about grief and dying
(b) "Social Security," a comedy about art gallery owners
(c) "Thieves," an urban comedy
(d) "A Highland Fling," in which she played a Mrs. Ferguson, even though she was 7 years old

4. The dumbest career move she ever made was

(a) Turning down "Rosemary's Baby" because she "thought it was corny"
(b) Turning down "Barefoot in the Park" on Broadway
(c) Turning down "Sophie's Choice" because she "couldn't do any accents but Italian"
(d) Turning down Warren Beatty

5. Since 1980 she has been married to a former talk-show host:

(a) Larry King
(b) George Lopez
(c) Phil Donahue
(d) Joan Rivers

6. On "Friends" she made guest appearances as

(a) Rachel's critical mom
(b) Chandler's transsexual mom
(c) The ghost of Phoebe's mom
(d) An older woman that Joey picks up at Central Perk

7. Thomas's screen-acting debut was on the TV series

(a) "77 Sunset Strip"
(b) "Bonanza"
(c) "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"
(d) "My Favorite Martian"

8. Her childhood nickname was

(a) Pookie
(b) Snookie
(c) Mugsy
(d) Mortimer Snerd

9. In "Relatively Speaking," she plays

(a) A depressive whose husband has overdosed on Xanax
(b) A narcissist whose husband has been killed in an avalanche
(c) A kleptomaniac whose husband rooms with Bernie Madoff in prison
(d) An alcoholic whose husband drives his Audi into a fern bar

10. Thomas's next film, opening in 2012, is

(a) A second-time-around romantic comedy with Ted Bessell
(b) An Internet-age comedy with Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus
(c) A Holocaust drama with Philip Seymour Hoffman
(d) A 3-D animated version of "Free to Be . . . You and Me"


"Relatively Speaking," by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, directed by John Turturro, Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (877) 250-2929, telecharge.com.

Before you check out the answers, read more about:

"Relatively Speaking"
Marlo Thomas
Danny Thomas
"That Girl"


WHAT'S MY SCORE?

Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer.


1. (b) Her father was Danny Thomas, star of the family sitcom "Make Room for Daddy." (c) was Ann Marie's provenance.


2. (a) A vivaciously virginal, cheerfully struggling young actress named Ann Marie. Her clean-cut, sexually patient boyfriend, Donald Hollinger, was played by Ted Bessell.


3. (c) "Thieves." She starred in (a) and (b) as well. As for "A Highland Fling" (1944), Mrs. Ferguson was played by Margaret Julia Thomas (Marlo's real name), but we're pretty sure it was a different Margaret Julia Thomas. Will somebody tell IBDB?


4. (a) Yes, she could have starred in "Rosemary's Baby." At least that's what she told theatergossip.com's founder and editor in chief in a 1994 New York Times interview.


5. (c) Phil Donahue. She was attracted to him when she appeared as a guest on his daytime show.


6. (a) Rachel's mom. And when you see her, you understand why Jennifer Aniston's character has so much to overcome emotionally.


7. (c) It was a 1960 episode of "Dobie Gillis," which featured another newcomer, Ryan O'Neal, in the cast. But Thomas also appeared in the other three series early in the '60s.


8. (c) Mugsy. We don't know why.


9. (b) And what a deliciously horrible narcissist! Her husband was on vacation with his children in Aspen.


10. (b) It's called "LOL," and it's scheduled for release in 2012. Thomas plays Gran. Moore plays Cyrus's mother. (a) would be difficult, because Bessell died in 1996.



WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? We're into quizzes right now. Scroll to read the quiz about the Off Broadway hit "The Submission," Frank Langella and Samuel L. Jackson. Or search to read posts about scores of stage stars (Sutton Foster, anyone?) and shows (farewell to "Follies"?).

What if You Missed 'The Submission'?

NO HITTING From left: Eddie Kaye Thomas, Jonathan Groff, Rutina Wesley and Will Rogers face off toward the end of "The Submission."

You missed the must-see Off Broadway hit of the moment? Fear not. Take our theatergossip quiz, and you'll be able to lie convincingly about having been there.


IT'S too late to see "The Submission." It closes this weekend. It was sold out anyway (if the man at the Lucille Lortel box office on Thursday night was telling the truth). And it was only around for 27 days. But you can still learn enough about this hot show to appear in the know.


1. "The Submission" is about

(a) a white playwright who has the nerve to write about a black family in the projects
(b) a black actress who pretends to be a playwright
(c) a gay man who gets produced at Humana and can't tell anybody
(d) all of the above

2. In "The Submission," the passing of time is signaled by

(a) the changes in Jonathan Groff's hairdo
(b) Eddie Kaye Thomas's packing his boyfriend's seasonal clothes
(c) Will Rogers's baseball caps
(d) the blackboard specials at Starbucks

3. The first line of "The Submission" is

(a) "I've written a play"
(b) "There was this kid on the subway."
(c) "Yo, mother-fucker!"
(d) "Occupy Wall Street!"

4. Rutina Wesley, the only woman in the cast, stars on HBO's "True Blood" as

(a) a waitress whose best friend is a fairy
(b) an heiress in love with a vampire
(c) an orphan with a secret life as a shape-shifter
(d) a born-again Christian who eats human hearts

5. The line that makes the Lucille Lortel audience gasp loudest is

(a) "Faggot!"
(b) "Nigger!"
(c) "Cunt!"
(d) "Republican!"

6. Jonathan Groff, who plays the central character, has appeared on the Fox series "Glee" as

(a) Rachel's ex-boyfriend
(b) The gay boy who was named prom queen
(c) The glee club sponsor
(d) Sue Sylvester's fashion consultant

7. Walter Bobbie, who directed "The Submission," has already moved on to his next job:

(a) Directing "Venus in Fur"
(b) Directing the revival of "Godspell"
(c) Restaging "Chicago" with all "American Idol" finalists
(d) Replacing Linda Lavin in "Other Desert Cities"


"The Submission," by Jeff Talbott, directed by Walter Bobbie, Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street. Closing night: Oct. 22, 2011.


BEFORE YOU CHECK OUT THE ANSWERS, READ MORE ABOUT:
The New York Times review
Jonathan Groff
Rutina Wesley
Walter Bobbie
Jeff Talbott
The Humana Festival of New Plays
"Venus in Fur"
"Glee"
"True Blood"

WHAT'S MY SCORE?

1. (d) All of the above. A middle-class gay white male playwright is afraid people will be skeptical that he has written about poor black characters, so he chooses a pseudonym that sounds like a black woman's name and hires a black actress to pretend to be her.

2. (d) In the first scene, pumpkin latte is on the board. By the time the play within the play is chosen for the Humana theater festival in Kentucky, there's a St. Patrick's Day special.

3. (c) And of course the line is spoken by the white playwright to his equally white friend.

4. (a) The fairy is Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin.

5. (b) The word "faggot" is spoken too, but the reaction is much less intense.

6. (a) His name is Jessie St. James, and he returned as a good-guy on prom night in Season 2.

7. (a) "Venus in Fur" opens Nov. 8.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to read the quiz about Frank Langella, star of "Man and Boy." Then search to check out our Samuel L. Jackson ("The Mountaintop") quiz and posts about shows from "The Addams Family" to "War Horse."

He Was a Lizard. He Was Dracula. And Now, God Help Us, Frank Langella Is Bernie Madoff.

Are you seeing "Man and Boy" on Broadway? Do you want to know more about its star, Frank Langella? Here's a quiz that will make you an instant expert.

THE thing about Frank Langella is that he always seems distinguished but almost always a little dangerous too. At a still-sexy 73, he's starring on Broadway in Terence Ratigan's Depression-era drama "Man and Boy," playing a wealthy businessman who has built his financial empire on lies. Maybe Bernie Madoff will get a day off for good behavior to see it.

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW FRANK LANGELLA?

1. Langella was born in

(a) New York City
(b) Bermuda
(c) Seattle
(d) Bayonne, New Jersey

2. He developed his resonant, distinctive voice by

(a) Listening to John Gielgud records
(b) Attending Broadway theater from age 9
(c) Taking acting classes with Uta Hagen
(d) Smoking three packs of cigarettes a day

3. Langella made his Broadway debut in

(a) Zorba (1969)
(b) Sheba (1974)
(c) Yerma (1966)
(d) Dracula (1977)

4. He's won three Tony Awards, but he didn't win one for

(a) Fortune's Fool (2002)
(b) Frost/Nixon (2007)
(c) Seascape (1975)
(d) Dracula (1977)

5. In the movie "Diary of a Mad Housewife" (1970), his character was

(a) The heroine's imperious, status-conscious husband
(b) The heroine's psychiatrist
(c) The bad boy the heroine has an affair with
(d) The fancy caterer whose omelets everyone is sick of

6. Langella has played many famous fictional men, but not

(a) Sherlock Holmes
(b) Ebenezer Scrooge
(c) Perry White
(d) Humbert Humbert

7. He had a longtime affair with a co-host of "The View." That woman was

(a) Barbara Walters
(b) Whoopi Goldberg
(c) Joy Behar
(d) Rosie O'Donnell


"Man and Boy," by Terence Ratigan, directed by Maria Aitken, American Airlines Theater, 229 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. Opening night: Oct. 9, 2011.



Read more about Langella on IMDB, IBDB and Wikipedia. And take a look at "The Art of Wreaking Havoc With Other People's Money," Ben Brantley's New York Times review of "Man and Boy."



WHAT'S MY SCORE?

Answers are below. Each correct answer is worth 10 points. This is a tough one, so if you earned 30 or 40 points, you're a winner. If you scored 60 or 70, Frank Langella should send you free tickets to every show he does.

1. (d) Yes, Langella is a Jersey boy.



2. (a) He listened to recordings of Gielgud's voice. And apparently learned a lot.



3. (c) "Yerma" was based on a Frederico Garcia Lorca story about a woman desperate to have a baby.



4. (d) "Dracula." He won for playing an effete Russian land owner in "Fortune's Fool," the disgraced Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon" and a real lizard in "Seascape." "Dracula" made him a star, but he didn't take home a Tony for it.




5. (c) He was an emotionally brutal, womanizing playwright who broke Carrie Snodgress's character's heart. Richard Benjamin played the husband.



6. (d) Langella never played Humbert Humbert, the protagonist of "Lolita," but he did portray the perverse Clare Quilty, with a full frontal nude scene no less, to Jeremy Irons's Humbert in Adrian Lyne's 1997 remake. He was Holmes in an '80s TV movie version of "Sherlock Holmes," Scrooge onstage in New York in "A Christmas Carol" and White (editor of The Daily Planet) in the movie "Superman Returns."



7. (b) Whoopi Goldberg. They were together for five years or so, beginning in the mid-'90s.



WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll on to read the quiz (the answers will show up first, so don't peek) about Samuel L. Jackson, now starring in "The Mountaintop." Then search to read about the stars of shows including "The Book of Mormon," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and "Anything Goes."

Answers to the Samuel L. Jackson Quiz

DID you take our quiz about Samuel L. Jackson, starring on Broadway in "The Mountaintop," which opened just hours ago? Here are the answers.

1. (D) "The Piano Lesson." Charles S. Dutton wasn't available for the Yale Rep run, because he was doing a movie. But when Jackson was cast, it was understood from the beginning that Dutton would come back when the play went to Broadway.

2. (D) A doorman. Jackson worked at the Manhattan Plaza apartment building in the West 40s.

3. (B) and (C). Believe it or not. Jackson, who was in college in the '60s, was quite the activist. But then weren't we all?

4. (D) He had just gotten out of rehab.

5. (C) Leroy is his middle name.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll on to read more about Jackson, who is playing Martin Luther King in a play set the night before his death. Then search to read about stage people (from Carey Mulligan to Brian Stokes Mitchell) and great shows (from "Anything Goes" to "War Horse").

It's Samuel L. Jackson -- Who Else Would Play Martin Luther King?

ROOM SERVICE Samuel L. Jackson in "The Mountaintop," which opens on Thursday at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in New York. Angela Bassett is his co-star.

Below, a quick Jackson profile, plus a TheaterGossip quiz to determine how much you know about him.


"THE MOUNTAINTOP" opens on Broadway on Thursday. We'll talk about the play when the reviews come in. For now, let's talk about its megatalented star: Samuel L. Jackson.

CURRENT GIG Playing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall's Olivier Award-winning play "The Mountaintop," set in a motel room on the night before King's assassination in Memphis.

AGE 62.

BORN AND RAISED Washington DC (born). Chattanooga, Tenn. (raised).

ALMA MATER Morehouse College.

AVAILABILITY Married to LaTanya Richardson since 1980.

BEST KNOWN AS Mace Windu in the prequel trilogy of "Star Wars" to some. John Travolta's criminal sidekick in "Pulp Fiction" to others.

BROADWAY DEBUT This is it. Although he did a lot of Off Broadway and other theater work before he became a movie star.

WHEN HE KNEW HE'D MADE IT BIG "All of a sudden I'm standing on a set doing scenes with Yoda. I said to myself, 'I've arrived.' "*

*"Tough Guy Finds His Warm and Fuzzy Side," by Margy Rochlin, The New York Times, Nov. 2, 1997.

THEATERGOSSIP'S READER QUESTION OF THE DAY If Jackson weren't playing Martin Luther King, who should be? Let us know what you think.


QUIZ: HOW DO YOU SCORE AS A SAMUEL L. JACKSON EXPERT?

1. Which play did Jackson star in at Yale Repertory but was not allowed to appear in on Broadway?

(a) "Three Sisters"

(b) "Othello"

(c) "Death of a Salesman"

(d) "The Piano Lesson"


2. When he was a struggling actor in New York, Jackson worked as

(a) a male model

(b) a bicycle messenger

(c) a bartender

(d) a doorman


3. Jackson's real-life connection to MLK:

(a) a distant relative on his mother's side

(b) an usher at his funeral

(c) took his father hostage in a college protest

(d) just a great admirer


4. Jackson did so well playing a crack addict in "Jungle Fever" because

(a) he had studied acting with Lee Strasberg himself

(b) he was given unlimited retakes by the director (Spike Lee)

(c) he lived with drug addicts in preparation for the role

(d) he had just gotten out of rehab


5. Jackson's middle initial L stands for

(a) Lawrence

(b) Lanier

(c) Leroy

(d) Loverboy


[[CHECK BACK IN ON THURSDAY, OCT. 11, 2011, OPENING NIGHT, FOR THE ANSWERS. BUT WE'LL UNDERSTAND IF YOU GET IMPATIENT AND GOOGLE.]]

Meanwhile, read more about:
Samuel L. Jackson
Katori Hall
The Olivier Award
Angela Bassett
Martin Luther King Jr.

"The Mountaintop," by Katori Hall, directed by Kenny Leon, Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Opening night: Oct. 13, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to read about the five sure bets on Broadway this fall. Then search to read about stagefolk from James Franco to Edward Albee, Lauren Ambrose to Elaine Paige, Hugh Jackman to Norbert Leo Butz.

If You Can See Only Five Shows This Fall

ALL the big Broadway openings are coming this month and next. Or at least a lot of them are. But God knows it's impossible to predict which shows will be winners and which will devastate us by screwing up royally. So for the moment, these are the only sure bets on the Great White Way.


ANYTHING GOES Sutton Foster (above, center) knocks 'em dead as Reno Sweeney making the crossing. So does Kathleen Marshall's choreography. And Cole Porter's songs just get better as the decades fly by. Stephen Sondheim Theater, 124 West 43rd Street, telecharge.com.


THE BOOK OF MORMON Nobody really expected the irreverent guys who invented "South Park" to be able to pull it off, but they did. They've created a hysterically funny musical about young Mormon missionaries stuck with the worst assignment in the world: war- and AIDS-torn Africa. And how they manage to emerge as heroes. Maybe you want to plan ahead for these tickets. Eugene O'Neill Theater, 230 West 49th Street, (800) 432-7250, telecharge.com.


FOLLIES The first big hit of the season. And nobody was surprised, because it had already strutted its stuff at the Kennedy Center. Sondheim's bittersweet musical about old showgirls remembering their past and regretting the present, with Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell and Elaine Paige, and really, how much more can you ask for? Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com.



HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING Go now, while the amazing Daniel Radcliffe is in the lead, as J. Pierrepont Finch, a young Kennedy-era window washer who reads a self-help book and climbs the corporate ladder in record time. But then John Larroquette, as his boss, is fairly amazing, too. And Rob Ashford's choreography is joyous. The happier side of "Mad Men." Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.


WAR HORSE Even if you don't like horses. Even if you don't like puppetry. Even if the story about a boy and his equine pet and World War I is painfully sentimental. This London-born Lincoln Center production is all about stagecraft, and how thrilling it is to see what magic live theater can still make! Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, (800) 432-7250, lincolncenter.org.


WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll on to read about Elaine Paige in "Follies." Then search to read about Hugh Jackman, Hugh Dancy, Cherry Jones, James Earl Jones, a Jonas brother and "Sister Act."