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B ob Falls is mad about Eugene O'Neill, arguably America's great- est playwright. Over the past quarter of a century, Falls, artistic director of the Goodman Theatre, and creative cohort and actor Brian Dennehy, have made it their mission to explore O'Neill's work like nobody else in the country, mounting productions of A Touch of the Poet, Long Day's Journey into Night, Hughie, and Desire Under the Elms. Their first outing was The Iceman Cometh in 1990, O'Neill's hilarious but har- rowing vision of lost souls clinging to their illusions as they hit the sauce in a dive bar. This month, the two team up with Tony and Emmy Award winner Nathan Lane to revisit this powerful story. Lane plays Hickey, the-hail-fellow-well-met, whose demons lead him to try his perverted best to dis- abuse his defeated friends of their own pipe dreams. Dennehy, who assumed that role in 1990, now portrays Larry Slade, a fellow who fights like hell to deflect Hickey's hype. "This is the only other play I've done twice in my life—the other was The Tempest—and although it's one of my favorites, I would not have thought of doing it again if Nathan," reveals Falls. it were not "I cannot O'Neill's plays unless I have a sense of who's going to be in them. Brian and Nathan were really the impetus for doing this again." As these three Irish-Americans set off on the dark journey O'Neill has charted, Falls muses, "This play operates on so many levels. It captures all the contradictions of being human. It's about how one leads one's life, the need to form relation- ships, and the fear of intimacy. It's just thrilling to be in the presence of a play this ambitious." And amid much laughter and ribbing, Dennehy and Lane make it clear they couldn't agree more. Michigan Avenue: You two are old pals. How did you meet? Nathan Lane: Through a friend. I went out to LA in 1980. I was part of a comedy team. My partner was a friend of Mr. Dennehy's roommate in West Hollywood. We won't comment on that. MA: You've never appeared together before; what is your favorite bit of work the other has done? NL: Death of a Salesman would certainly be at the top of the list. I remember I went back to see [Brian] afterward. His dressing room looked like a frat house. And I broke out in tears, because it 118 michiganavemag.com for Brian and approach Nathan Lane (left) and Brian Dennehy share a laugh while swapping showbiz stories. "We both have flirted with—more than flirted, been engaged to—self- destructiveness."—brian dennehy was an incredibly powerful production and a MA: Speaking of that, Mr. Lane, do you sup- pose your fans will be surprised by your decision to take on Iceman? monumental performance. Brian Dennehy: He was weeping because of all the shit he'd seen me do before. For me, [it NL: For people who only know [me from] things like The Producers or The Birdcage, it will be a sur- prise. But if, for some reason, anyone has followed all I've been doing in the theater, it will be less of a surprise. was] two shows I saw Nathan do—The Lisbon Traviata and Butley—both of which are funny, but also very serious and not necessarily parts peo- ple refer to when they talk about Nathan.