Alec Baldwin: ‘No more’ Broadway

Alec Baldwin is done with more than just “30 Rock.”

Now that the Broadway revival of Lyle Kessler’s “Orphans” is behind him -- as well as the very public squabble with planned co-star Shia LaBeouf, who exited the production during rehearsals due to “creative differences” between the two actors – Baldwin is determined to leave the Great White Way behind him. For good.

“No more,” Baldwin told Zap2it. “Broadway has changed. It is not what I remember. It was a very, very, very exhausting experience. The last week we did the show it settled in.”

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The eldest of the Baldwin brothers has a long history in the theater. He made his Broadway debut in 1986 in the revival of Joe Orton’s “Loot” and also appeared in the off-Broadway revival of Orton’s “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” in 2006. His role as Stanley Kowalski in the 1992 revival of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” earned him a Tony nomination for best actor.

Baldwin also appeared in Caryl Churchill’s “Serious Money” in 1988, and he starred in a production of “Macbeth,” alongside Angela Bassett and Liev Schreiber, in 1998 as well as the 2004 revival of “Twentieth Century” opposite Anne Heche. Musically, he appeared in a concert production of “South Pacific” at Carnegie Hall in 2005 -- among other productions.

In “Orphans,” Baldwin played violent, thuggish Harold opposite Ben Foster, who replaced LaBeouf. The production closed six weeks early on May 19.

Overall, Baldwin spent seven years on “30 Rock,” during which time he won two Emmys and three Golden Globe Awards. Acting in the sitcom had been a great experience for him, he has said; but, alas, all good things must come to an end.

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And sometimes, not such good things -- like the current state of Broadway theater, as Baldwin sees it.

“Broadway has changed in the past 21 years,” he wrote in a May column for the Huffington Post.

Referring to the firing of LaBeouf, Baldwin wrote in the column: “Bad press about films or shows of any kind can negatively affect your chances. The opportunity to influence an audience through any kind of well-conceived or well-timed ad campaign is lost. First impressions do count. If ‘trouble’ is that first impression, it’s difficult to swim out of that riptide.”

Baldwin told Zap2it that in addition to steering clear of Broadway theater, he also can’t imagine being able to re-create the jovial atmosphere or quality of comedy writing he’d found on “30 Rock” – and as such, he doesn’t plan on pursuing sitcoms at the moment.

“All of the things I want to do now are dramatic,” Baldwin said.

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Twitter.com/@debvankin