Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts is presenting An Evening with Jeffrey Tambor, the multi-award winning actor of film, television, and Broadway.
He is best known for his television roles on The Larry Sanders Show and Arrested Development and for the films And Justice for All and Meet Joe Black,
“I’ve been travelling all throughout the United States for the last couple of years talking to a lot of different groups, Jewish groups, business groups and last week was a convention of psychiatrists, if you can believe it,” says Tambor.
“I’m very interested in why people don’t do what they set out to do. In my field, I’ve taught thousands of really fine actors over the years, and I would say, although I have had some really great graduates, actors and directors that are working in the field and some getting awards and some getting lots of money…I’d say about 85 per cent of the people stop and I’m curious about that. I especially like going to colleges and talking to young kids because the pressures are so great and so different nowadays,” says Tambor.
The evening is all about his life and his family. It’s very revealing, yet filled with humour. “I grew up with humour, humour is one of the great instructional tools of all time and I certainly use it. It sheds light on the subject in a way. The best teachers I’ve ever had—had laughter in the classroom.
“My humour is Jewish, my upbringing was Jewish and all the roles I do are Jewish because I’m Jewish. I was bar mitzvahed at gunpoint, by the way,” he adds. “My family had huge senses of humour, I get into it in the show, we had troubles but we had humour. We were dysfunctional but we laughed our way all the way through the dysfunction.”
Married to Kasia Ostlun, Tambor who has five children, four under the age of nine, says when it comes to his kids, he’s the Red Buttons of this group. “That is I go and make them laugh, that’s my job, besides taking my kids to cub scouts and piano lessons. My kids have great senses of humour, I think kids either are nurtured in it or talked out of it, we don’t talk them out of it, we believe in humour.”
Tambor says audiences at his show will see that he tells it like he sees it.
“It’s interactive, I work with the audience and I have people come up on the stage and I show them some techniques and we have a huge question and answer period which is always fun. I think you’ll walk away inspired and maybe get back to basics.”
He is delighted the shows are being received so well. When he meets audience members after the show they often tell him that they are so glad they came, didn’t know what to expect and ask when they can see him again.
Tambor is currently starring in the critically acclaimed television show Transparent seen on Amazon in the States, and not available in Canada as of yet. “It is a wonderful show and is having a huge impact,” he says. “We are getting wonderful press. I play a parent who was once the patriarch of the family and is now the matriarch of the family, named Maura. It is the most transformative role that I’ve ever had to play. It is created by the great Jill Soloway and stars Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Landecker, Judith Light and my best friend is played by Bradley Whitford.”
An Evening with Jeffrey Tambor is at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Oct. 24. at 8 pm. For tickets 905-787-8811 or www.rhcentre.ca.
