Death of Tony winner Michael McGrath, a Bloomfield resident, stuns his colleagues

Sometimes, actors do break a leg. Or something close to it.

But Michael McGrath, the Tony-winning Bloomfield actor who died Sept. 14, wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop him.

"He didn't want to let anybody down," said Mark S. Hoebee, producing artistic director of Millburn's Paper Mill Playhouse, where McGrath starred in the 2017 musical version of "The Honeymooners." He did it with his foot in a cast through much of the run — a thing that few seemed to notice.

"I think he was part of the old breed — not that he was old," Hoebee said. "He wanted to do this role so badly that nothing was going to get in the way."

McGrath, 65, died at his home in Bloomfield, according to a statement from his press agent. No further details were forthcoming.

"I just I could not believe it," said actor Leslie Kritzer, who played Alice to McGrath's Ralph at Paper Mill Playhouse. When she heard the unexpected news Thursday she was stunned — not least by its suddenness.

"I was in total shock," she said "No, no, no, this can't be true. How do I feel? Gutted. That's about the best way to say it."

Teammates in theater

She and McGrath had previously been teamed in two other shows, "Born Yesterday" at Broadway's Cort Theatre and "The Boys from Syracuse" at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. They got to know each other's rhythms, inflections, approaches to comedy. McGrath, she said, was the best of the best. "No one would do it like Michael," she said.

Poignantly, Kritzer is about to appear in the show that was McGrath's own ticket to Broadway fame. Starting Nov. 16, she'll be the Lady of the Lake in the Broadway revival of "Spamalot." It was McGrath's turn as Patsy, the clip-clopping squire who bangs coconut shells together to create the sounds of King Arthur's steed, that launched him into the Broadway big leagues, in the original 2005 production.

It won him a Tony nomination then — and a eulogy, now, on the social media platform X, by Monty Python's Eric Idle: "Very saddened to hear that Michael McGrath our first and most beloved Patsy in Spamalot, has passed away. Warm hugs to all the Spamalot family and very happy memories of a lovely man."

McGrath did win a Tony for his supporting role in the 2012 production "Nice Work If You Can Get It," starring Matthew Broderick. That performance also brought him Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, Hoebee said.

"He was an incredibly talented guy, so funny onstage, and offstage a joy to be around, Hoebee said. "Really a nice, nice man."

Roles of a lifetime

Theatergoers may also have seen him in the Broadway revivals of "Wonderful Town," "She Loves Me," "On the Twentieth Century" and "Memphis." He was likewise a familiar face on the big screen ("Changing Lanes," "The Interpreter") and the small ("The Martin Short Show," "Remember WENN," "Madam Secretary").

There was a reason "The Honeymooners" was his only Paper Mill show, Hoebee said. He was that much in demand.

"He was always working on Broadway," Hoebee said. "He had a list of Broadway shows as long as your arm."

Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, McGrath made his bones in summer stock productions. His flair for inventive physical comedy, and his musical skills, brought him to Broadway in the early 1990s, when he began landing ensemble and swing roles in shows like "My Favorite Year" and "The Goodbye Girl," and then meatier parts in "Swinging on a Star" and "Little Me."

He had the rare gift, Kritzer said, for physical comedy that was both outrageous and closely observed. His humor was both broad and subtle.

"He did the best impression of a classic drunk guy," she said. "I wish I had a video. The way he would stumble would just make you fall down laughing. He'd walk toward you. Stumble a little bit — not too much. Then — you know when somebody leans into you, and they try to say the words, but they're drunk and the words don't come out, and so they nod and smile instead? It was so subtle, and so hilarious. I would make him do that for me in Penn Station. Just to make me laugh."

'His dream part'

Krtizer and McGrath were made for each other, comedically — and made for "The Honeymooners." "This was his dream part," Kritzer said.

McGrath had workshopped the musical in 2014 and was eager to do the role of Ralph Kramden, the blustery bus driver played to perfection by Jackie Gleason in the 1950s TV series. On the Paper Mill stage, McGrath played Kramden and Jackie Gleason to perfection — a tour de force that went beyond mere impersonation.

"Everybody knows the character created by Gleason," Hoebee said. "The thing that's unique about Michael is that somehow he was able to pay homage to Jackie Gleason, but make you forget about Jackie Gleason — because you were so wrapped up in his performance."

Here's how The Record described his performance on Oct. 10, 2017:

"Each familiar intonation, gesture, and grimace is more than an impressionist's trick. It's part of an organic whole.

"As Ralph Kramden, McGrath swaggers, blusters and semaphores with a variety of arm gestures, including the classic Gleason dismissal — arm extended, finger pointing: 'Out!' He is imperious, irritable, boastful, bashful. Ralph Kramden's bulk, the subject of much mockery in the original series, is less dwelt on here (ours, in theory, being a more sensitive age), but it's worth nothing that McGrath, like Gleason, uses his heft expertly. He literally throws his weight around. That's part of the character."

What most of the audience didn't know is that this very physical performance was made — for much of the rehearsal period and the run — under physical duress.

The show must go on

"We were in rehearsals, and Laura Bell Bundy, who was playing Trixie, injured her foot, and then the next day Michael McGrath jumped off of a table and injured his foot," Hoebee said. "And neither one of them would miss a show, or miss even an hour of rehearsal or performance."

What to do? Costume department to the rescue. "They gave Michael a soft cast like a boot on his foot, so that his foot was completely wrapped up in it, and the costume designer matched the boot with one on his other foot," Hoebee said.

He wore it all through the previews, took it off for opening night, and then continued to wear it throughout most of the run, Hoebee said. He never thought of taking sick leave.

"That's the kind of guy he was," Hoebee said. "He wanted to be there — for himself, for the role, but also for the company. He was the driver of that show. No pun intended. He was one of those performers who was all in, all the time."

Family first

McGrath, Kritzer said, had been all set to begin rehearsals of a stage version of Sinclair Lewis' "Babbitt," with his old co-star Matthew Broderick, at the La Jolla Playhouse in California, scheduled to open in November. "He was in a great place," she said.

McGrath is survived by his wife, Toni DiBuono, and their daughter, Katie Claire McGrath, both actors.

"Michael loved show business and he loved being on stage, but Michael's real love was Toni and his daughter, and you knew it," Kritzer said. "He did everything for them."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Michael McGrath: Death of Tony-winning actor stuns colleague