MAYBE YOU'VE seen the Oscar-winning movie, but that was nothing compared to seeing "Chicago" live, said Gregory Harrison.
Harrison stars as slick lawyer Billy Flynn in the production playing through Dec. 7 at the Merriam.

"It's a locomotive of a show and there's nothing like live theater," Harrison said in a phone interview. "It's so superior to the movie, in that sense. There's the interaction between the audience and actors onstage. And it moves a lot faster."

Many may know Harrison from his "Trapper John, M.D." days. What you may not know is that Harrison has a broad background in musicals - he estimates he's appeared in about 20 of them, including "Follies," "The Music Man" and "Guys and Dolls."
But his role in "Chicago," a tale of murder, fame and corruption in the Jazz Age, is the funniest character he's played, he said.
"He's so gleeful with his ruthlessness, it makes people laugh and it makes me laugh," Harrison said.
Harrison said his approach to the role was to give 'em the old razzle dazzle.

"I play him as he needs to be played - bigger than life and full of himself and fast-talking and enthusiastic," he said. "Other than that, I try to stay out of the way of the incredible dancers and allow myself to be framed by beautiful women."

©   November, 25 2003 Philly.com

Is Gregory Harrison as charming, savvy and cynical as the character he plays in the touring production of the musical "Chicago"?
Yes, yes and almost.

The former star of the TV series "Trapper John, M.D." and theatrical leading man stars as the smooth-talking, sardonic, manipulative defense lawyer Billy Flynn in the touring revival that opens tonight at Oakdale Theater in Wallingford.
The role suits him well. At 53, Harrison still radiates a sexy glow, especially when he turns on the smile and sparkle, but now there's a well-earned maturity. His natural razzle-dazzle now has weight and depth.

Backstage during a sound check for the opening night show in Boston, there's affection among Harrison and his fellow cast members, who are catching up on happenings from their day off. Afterward, at a restaurant near the theater, Harrison continues his geniality, but there is also a surprising seriousness and subtext as he talks about the remarkable history of "Chicago" - and his own.
"When `Chicago' was first done on Broadway in 1975, it was considered very cynical, dark and not very representative of the real world," says Harrison. But, he says, with the O.J. Simpson trial and such shows as "Jerry Springer," "the real world has caught up with `Chicago.'"

But is the character of Flynn a class above the contemporary riffraff of Court TV and tawdry reality shows?
"I think Billy takes pride in his manipulative abilities," says Harrison. "It's a dirty job, and he is just the man to do it, and he revels in it."

So, apparently, does Harrison. After all, it's sweet to be in a hit show, having been wooed back to Broadway last summer to play in "Chicago" before hitting the road. (His availability for "Chicago" happened when plans for a national tour of "Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune" were canceled.)
So after starring in "Chicago" - preceded by the revival of "Follies" in 2001 and the Kander and Ebb musical "Steel Pier" in 1997 - is Gregory Harrison finally considered legit?
"I always felt legit to myself," he says. "But legitimacy is in the eye of the beholder. And just because I knew my artist soul was in the right place, it didn't mean that anyone else took me seriously for a long time. And I don't know if they really do now. I don't pay that much attention to it. What I pay attention to is making sure that I need to do what I need to do as an actor."

He speaks glowingly of his experience as a star in "Follies."
"I thought it was one of the very best, most satisfying and hardest things I've done," he says. "That character [of Benjamin Stone] is so hateful and self-loathing. I'm not an actor who is very good at `techniquing' their way through characters like that. I have to go there and live it, and it was very hard and exhausting emotionally every day, and it took its toll. But it was worth it."

Sometimes he gets the feeling that his efforts aren't appreciated, and a bit of bitterness emerges.
"Every member of the cast [of `Steel Pier'] was nominated for a Tony Award except me, so what does that tell you? It says to me, `What are you doing here, buddy?'"
Still, he perseveres because he knows what he has to do for himself - and he knows that he is connecting with audiences.
"I always felt at home in the theater," he says. "I just don't feel at home with the critics or the snobs. ... But I feel very at home with audiences, and that's all that matters to me."

Harrison's outsider status started early, growing up on Catalina Island, close to, but removed from, Los Angeles. Encouraging words from Jason Robards, who caught a local production featuring Harrison, was all he needed to head to Hollywood.
He landed parts in some minor films and worked in the theater, but it was in TV that Harrison made his mark, working in the miniseries "Centennial" and the short-lived series "Logan's Run." It was his role as dreamboat surgeon Gonzo Gates in "Trapper John, M.D.," a 1979 spin-off from the hugely popular "M*A*S*H" series, that made him a star.

Still, Harrison says, starring in a top five TV series for almost seven seasons did nothing to help him get work in films or a starring role on Broadway. Neither industry had yet discovered it could use high-profile TV actors to sell tickets.
"I couldn't get a Broadway play back in 1980," he says. "Who would hire me then? I was a star in a TV series. Who would want to risk the wrath of the rest of Broadway to bring in some hokey TV star who hadn't earned his stripes by starting out in theater and working his way up there. I started out in film and worked my way into TV and then was discovered in theater. I had a backward career."
Harrison took his career into his own hands and formed his own production company. His TV films include "The Gathering," "Fresno," "For Ladies Only," "Breaking the Silence," "First Daughter," "Au Pair" and "Nothing Lasts Forever." - He also formed a theater company in Los Angeles that produced scores of shows from 1982 to 1993.

He removed himself from the entertainment industry hub 12 years ago when he moved his family - he has been married for 22 years to former model-actress Randi Oakes - to the Oregon coast. (Harrison is an ardent surfer and kayaker.)
"It's a great place for my kids to grow up," he says. "A lot of work has passed me by but, you know, I look at my kids and it's worth it."

Harrison takes a philosophical view of his career choices.
"I could have had a great career doing crap," he says. "I turned down more things than most people get offered in their lives, and I'd be a much wealthier, more 'successful' Hollywood celebrity now had I taken those jobs. But it was never about the money. It was about 'I'm an actor and I want to work and I want to do stuff that's challenging and fun.' I want to feel good about what I'm doing. ...
"It's hard sometimes when you want to at least have a chance to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse."

Is Harrison cynical?
"It is hard not to be cynical in this business," he says. "I don't try to fight it very hard. There's a kid in me who is still the idealist, but I don't let him out to play very often. But that little idealistic voice still lives in me, and I love stories about idealism. I want to play King Arthur and do `Camelot.' Now you can't be more idealistic than that."

©   November, 18 2003 The Hartford Courant