The primary Stages Off-Broadway Oral history Project

Celebrating the visionaries who created New York's vibrant Off- and Off-Off-Broadway theater.

June Gable

June Gable

Actress

Interviewed on: Friday, March 11, 2022
Location: at Ms. Gable's home via Zoom
Interviewed by: Casey Childs
Interview #182
"Maybe there will be a revival of Off-Broadway…always less expensive than to see a Broadway show. It depends on where we get our writers from…and how we can learn to develop new plays with that incredible energy exhibited so long ago. Can that be revived?"
June Gable Highlights
Video Length: 8 Minutes, 37 Seconds
June Gable Interview
Video Length: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes

June Gable is an actress known for her work on television, Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in films.  From the time she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University she never stopped working.  Growing up in Brooklyn in a family that spoke many languages, her ability to assume the diverse aspects of the many characters she created later came naturally.  She was allowed to create many distinctive roles on the television show Friends, a rarity in conventional programming. Her passion for the work, whether in a reading, regional tour, or repertory company, provided her with unlimited possibilities for performing.  As she explained, ‘I worked with so many wonderful people.  The variety of things I could do in Rep…that was not something you could do always in New York or in commercial theater…I could go from classical productions to modern plays…it was just great for me as an actor.’  Ms. Gable would also work with specific playwrights developing their plays, among whom were Wendy Wasserstein, Albert Innaurato, and Michael Dorn Moody.  As she said, ‘So much a part of my life in the theater was where you work for the playwright.  Whether the show runs or not, you’re helping the playwright develop a play.’  Her Off-Broadway work includes: MACBIRD! (1967), JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS (1968), HOUDINI (1969), MOD DONNA (1970), A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JUST ABOUT EVERYONE (1971), LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET (1972), WANTED (1972), CANDIDE (1974), THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (1975), SHOE PALACE MURRAY (1978), CHINCHILLA (1979), COMING ATTRACTIONS (1980), GOOD SPORTS (1980), STAR TREATMENT (1980), TIMES AND APPETITES OF TOULOUSE LAUTREC (1985), THE PERFECT PARTY (1986), RED SCARE (1991), LION IN WINTER(2001), PICON PIE (2004), FYVUSH LIVE (2010), ALL HALLOWED (2012), THIS DAY FORWARD (2016), THE SPILL (2017).

Her first Broadway show was Nash at Nine, and her first Broadway show with her name above the play title was The Ritz!  She was in the renowned ill-fated production of Moose Murders.  Ms. Gable received a Tony Nomination for her performance in Candide which came to Broadway after its Off-Broadway development and production at The Brooklyn Academy of Music (directed by Robert Kalfin). Ms. Gable is known for her work in television: Friends, Sally Hemmings: An American Scandal, Dream On, Barney Miller, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Legends of the Superheroes, Sha Na Na as well as guest appearances on many more.  Her movies include Brenda Starr and She-Devil, and The Week Of.  She has been politically active with the group People With Aids (PWA).

Mentioned in Interview

Douglas Aibel, Paul Austin, William Ball, Orson Bean, Arthur Bicknell, George Boyd, Blair Brown, Charles Busch, Al Carmines, Michael Cristofer, Art D’Lugoff, Richard Dysart, Jill Eickenberry, Michael Feingold, Fyvush Finkle, James Gammon, A R Gurney, Carol Hall, Jack Heifner, William Hoffman, Jack Hofsiss, Tim Jerome. Robert Kalfin, Lawrence Kornfeld, Mark Lamos, Linda Lavin, Eugene Lesser, Marshall Mason, Jason Miller, Michael Dorn Moody, Charlotte Moore, Rita Moreno, Patrick Pacheco, Joseph Papp, Ray Romano, Richard Ryder, Adam Sandler, Nicky Silver, Ray Stark, Elizabeth Swados, Ted Tally, Holland Taylor, Rosemary Tischler, John Tillinger, Lily Turner, Earl Wilson Jr., Lanford Wilson, Robin Williams, Lanford Wilson, Garland Wright, American Place Theatre, Astor Place Theatre, Bijou Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Circle in the Square, The Delacorte Theater, DR2 Theatre, Eastside Playhouse, Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST), Goodman Theatre, Judson Poets Theatre, Lion Theatre, Marymount, McAlpin Rooftop Theater, Mill Hall Playhouse, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Playwrights Horizons, NYSF/The Public, Roundabout Theater, Sharon Playhouse, Theater for the New City, The Village Gate, Vineyard Theatre, ALL HALLOWED, THE BEGGAR’S OPERA, CANDIDE, CHINCHILLA, COMING ATTRACTIONS, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JUST ABOUT EVERYONE, THE FOOL, GOOD SPORTS, HOUDINI, JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET, THE LION IN WINTER (2001), MACBIRD!, MOD DONNA, THE PERFECT PARTY, PICON PIE, PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES, RED SCARE, SHOE PALACE MURRAY, SHORT CHANGE

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