Far deeper than a creative bond

It’s Day 4 of rehearsals for “Wrong Turn at Lungfish” at the Falcon Theatre, and the actors are still finding their way around each other, the props and the play itself.

“It’s all choreography,” says Hector Elizondo, garbed in blue pajamas as he climbs into a hospital bed. He’s playing an intellectual former college dean, a widower who has suddenly gone blind. A young woman, Anita (Ana Ortiz), is brought in to read to him at his nursing home. The actor is nearly letter-perfect as he performs a poignant scene in which he confronts Anita about her hot-tempered boyfriend, played by Jason Gedrick.

It’s no surprise that Elizondo has nailed his scene. The actor, best known for his work in films such as “Pretty Woman” and “The Princess Diaries,” is a stage veteran with 42 years of experience under his belt, appearing in the controversial 1970 off-Broadway play “Steambath” as well as the 1976 Broadway hit “Sly Fox.” But he hasn’t done a play since 1992, when he appeared on Broadway in Arthur Miller’s “The Price.”

What may seem strange is his presence at this small theater in Burbank. Strange, that is, until you hear that the director of the play -- and owner of the theater -- is Garry Marshall.

Friends for 24 years, Elizondo and Marshall speak in a sort of shorthand. On this day, Marshall makes a few suggestions -- mainly about blocking -- to his small cast. The mood is light. As someone’s cellphone rings, Marshall calls out, “Maybe that’s Tom Cruise calling for an interview.”

Marshall has cast his buddy Elizondo, 67, in every one of his movies -- and it’s not just because of Elizondo’s acting.

“He helps me with the behavior on the set,” says Marshall, 69. “He is such a respected actor. So if somebody gets crazy, you say, ‘Hector, what happened here?’ He’ll go talk to the actor and I’ll talk to the actor. If things get really tough, we’ll both together talk to the actor. And at points -- and we don’t want to name names -- we have said it might be time for the three of us to go into the parking lot and settle this situation. Then it will calm down.”

“Wrong Turn at Lungfish,” a comedy-drama by Marshall and Lowell Ganz, marks the first time Marshall has directed his friend in a play. The play opens today. “This is a very comfortable process,” says Elizondo, who appeared in two Marshall films this year, “Raising Helen” and “Princess Diaries 2.”

“First of all, we both know the theater, and we trust each other. Over the years, we have evolved a certain vocabulary. I can tell his body language. But if we have something to discuss, we go into a corner and discuss it.”

“It’s also a sense of a trust of craziness,” adds Marshall. “When we were doing ‘The Flamingo Kid,’ he was doing a speech, and he’s in the moment, and he’s saying, ‘This is my car; this is my land; this is my chair.’ And I say, ‘Behind you is a picture of a dog.’ And he picked up on it, and he didn’t look to see if there was a picture of a dog.”

“I just said, ‘It used to be my dog,’ ” says Elizondo.

Most actors, Marshall says, are unwilling to wing it: “They say, ‘Excuse me. You want me to do what? I better call my agent.’ ”

For years, Marshall and Elizondo have been itching to do a play together.

“We thought of a couple of plays,” says Elizondo, “and it always came down to this. We carved out the time and made the commitment, and here we are.”

Marshall had directed George C. Scott, Laurie Metcalf and Tony Danza in the original production of “Lungfish” 12 years ago at the Coronet Theatre. But it was Elizondo who did the early readings of the play. “He was always too young to play the role,” says Marshall, glancing over at Elizondo. “But now he’s close. We have to age him just a little.”

Elizondo is embracing the chance to play such a complex role. “I love the journey this man goes on,” he says. “More than anything else, he’s afraid he’s going to die. He has lost everything of value. He’s going more blind by the day. His wife is dead. Everything is gone. It’s not a very good future. But at the end, everybody gets something of what they want. He has made some kind of connection and made a difference.”

The transition between comedy and drama is effortless for Elizondo, Marshall says. In fact, they both see life as comedy and drama. “We have been through some heavy moments. And this play is heavy and then it’s fun. Some people can’t walk the line,” Marshall says.

“That is my favorite stuff to do,” echoes Elizondo. “Comedy is based on tragedy.”

The two had known each other for a year -- they met after Elizondo joined Marshall’s weekly basketball game -- when the director cast him as a gangster in 1982’s “Young Doctors in Love.” It was Marshall’s first feature film as a director.

“It’s hard to find talented people who are really trying to work who don’t take it too seriously,” Marshall said. “We both know it’s a fickle business, yet we can laugh.”

And now, before Marshall reads a movie script, he is already thinking about Elizondo’s part. “Even the studio calls and says, ‘Did you read it and like it? Who is Hector going to play?’ Sometimes I say, ‘He can’t play much. He only has two days.’ In ‘Overboard,’ he had two days.”

“Less,” corrects Elizondo. “I had just arrived from a movie in Italy. I unpacked my bags and the next day I am in Long Beach on a garbage scow.”

Perhaps the most successful Elizondo/Marshall collaboration was “Pretty Woman,” in which Elizondo played the kindhearted hotel employee who befriends Julia Roberts’ character.

“After I read a piece called ‘3000,’ that was the original title of ‘Pretty Woman,’ I said, ‘This is a boring guy,’ ” Elizondo recalls. “The guy behind the desk, he’s been done 900 times. But Garry said, ‘We’ll change it.’ He gave me the clue -- create the guy you would like to work for. He may not even remember saying that.”

“I do,” says Marshall.

“I said, ‘That’s it,’ ” recalls Elizondo. “The rest was relatively easy.”

*

‘Wrong Turn at Lungfish’

Where: Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays

Ends: Nov. 14

Price: $25 to $37.50

Contact: (818) 955-8101