Photo, Doug Hamilton From left, F. Murray Abraham and Daniel London star in “Offices,” currently playing off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company.

By John Soltes
Editor-in-Chief

NEW YORK (April 27, 2009) — Nearly 25 years after his Academy Award-winning turn in “Amadeus,” F. Murray Abraham finds himself in the welcoming, yet difficult, world of New York theater, performing in his second set of plays by Ethan Coen, half of that duo known as the Coen brothers.

Making a link between the high intellectual drama of “Amadeus” and the vaudevillian comedy skits that make up Coen’s “Offices” may be an impossible task. But Abraham, or Murray to his friends, sees it as one more link in his long list of gainful, and seemingly fulfilling, acting work.

“It’s nice to be working,” Abraham said recently in a phone interview before entering rehearsal in New York City. “I wish we could make a lot more money. ... But theater, I think it’s my first love.”

Abraham has been a frequent presence on the stages of New York in recent years, not only performing in Coen’s last effort, “Almost an Evening,” but also playing a foul-mouthed con man in Theresa Rebeck’s “Mauritius” on Broadway.

What draws him to a project?

“Somebody asks me,” he said with a laugh. “I’m a real whore. No, but seriously, if it has any kind of value, of course I’ll do it.”

Abraham has found value in “Offices,” which comprises three short plays, all distinct in their characterizations, but sharing a common theme of office humor and workplace shenanigans. Whether it’s the difficulty of firing an employee, or the mad hunt for a lost briefcase in the Department of Homeland Security, or a homeless man (this one played by Abraham and lovingly coined the “Bum”) ascending the corporate ladder, only to find his unorthodox ways an impossible fit into the system, “Offices” turns the mundane into crazed antics.

“It’s been going nicely,” Abraham said of the rehearsal process for “Offices.” “Did you get the impression that the cast really loves each other? Because it’s true.”

The theatrical piece, as Abraham pointed out, relies on the timing and cohesion of the entire ensemble. With frequent set changes and frantic blackouts, the cast of “Offices” is as much a team of reliant equals as a house of cards. “Keeping track of where you’re supposed to go, and not falling on one another” is the challenge, Abraham said. “It keeps it exciting.”

Like air traffic control? “Exactly,” he said.

In addition to playing the bum, with requisite scraggly beard and layers of loose-fitting clothes, Abraham also plays Cassady in the show’s opening skit, “Peer Review.” Though the role of the Bum gives Abraham a whole arsenal of comedic ammo, from his unique vernacular and penchant for describing past sexual acts, Cassady also offers the actor a chance to break from the commonplace of theater roles.

“The whole show is refreshing,” he said. “If you work as much as some of us do, (‘Offices’) is a real nice balance to some of the other stuff.”

“Offices” stands in contrast to other plays in that its structure is vignette-based, and its comedy is dependent both on the quick delivery of the playwright’s words and the constant movement of its characters and sets. “There was a time when this type of theater was more common,” Abraham said. “Chekhov called them vaudevilles.”

With an economy in shambles, these vaudevilles also seem ripped from the headlines. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Abraham. “I was worried that people wouldn’t find it funny, because it’s too present,” he said.

No matter the structure or character, Abraham said he’s happy to be working, as actors are largely an unemployed lot. “I love actors,” he said. “And I happen to know that we’re almost about 90 percent without work. ... I’m very aware of that. So the idea that (the actor’s life) is difficult and tiring doesn’t enter my mind. Part of the actor’s life is being unemployed.”

Luckily, Abraham has been steadily employed ever since his days of filming “Amadeus” and “Scarface” — both filmed at the exact same time, he pointed out.

Does he watch his old film work? “No, I never watch,” he said with a chuckle. “There are certain things I can’t stand to see.”

For an actor who received his start as a Macy’s Santa Claus in 1965, Abraham said he takes any role seriously, comedy, drama or otherwise. Even as Santa, he would ask the parents of children who spoke a foreign language how to say “Merry Christmas” in their native tongue. The children always “thought I was Santa because I was speaking in Ukrainian or whatever,” he said.

Up next for Abraham is a film about gambling, set to film in Toronto. But, like a reliable boomerang, he expects to be back on a New York stage soon enough. “I don’t have any choice,” he said. “I really need the theater.”

“Offices” is current playing the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater at 336 W. 20th St. in New York City. Visit www.atlantictheater.org for more information.