The pride of New Jersey was already Nathan Lane.
The three-time Emmy winnerThis Jersey City-raised Tony Award winner has been entertaining us on theater and television for decades.
Therefore, it was the ultimate endorsement when he arrived at a local student production of Shrek the Musical and gave the cast raving praise.
At the musical’s performance at BergenPAC in Englewood on Sunday, August 3, Lane was a special guest.
Following the performance, the actor went backstage to meet actors from the BergenPAC Performing Arts School.
Lane, 69, addressed the performers, “I wanted to say how great all of you were, you really let your freak flag fly, and it was a spectacular performance” (see video below). In all honesty, you were all amazing. I appreciate a wonderful afternoon.
Lane clasped hands with Wood-Ridge’s 22-year-old Shrek actor Adam Lucas while seeing the musical with his spouse, Devlin Elliott.
Additionally, he welcomed Feriz Sulejmani, who played Lord Farquaad, and Angelina Brennen, who played Fiona. Lane informed Brennan she had a beautiful voice as Brennan embraced her.
Alexander Diaz, executive director of BergenPAC, tells NJ Advance Media that Lane’s visit was “one of those beautiful moments.”
Furthermore, this student musical was not chosen at random by the actor.
He is related to BergenPAC.
The show’s choreographer, his niece Kirsten Lane, has been a dance faculty member at BergenPAC Performing Arts School for 20 years. She performed with the New York City Ballet after receiving ballet training at the School of American Ballet.
In fact, she just celebrated her 20th anniversary with us,” explains Diaz, the Shrek musical’s director.
Her well-known uncle was attending a BergenPAC show for the first time.
Diaz claims that she invited him to the performance. We were extremely fortunate that he wanted to attend the performance and was available.
When Kirsten’s father, Nathan’s brother, saw the event on Thursday, July 31, he was completely amazed. He said, “I’m going to tell my brother, he has to come,” as we talked in the foyer at intermission. He must come.
Diaz found out her uncle will be at the show that Sunday morning from Kirsten Lane.
At the conclusion of Shrek the Musical, the BergenPAC director presented the actor to the cast in this manner, introducing Kirsten’s uncle.
Diaz claims that the show was amazing and fantastic. The students had an incredible experience. Having him in the crowd and not just sitting there as an uncle but as Broadway royalty was the cherry on top of the cake for the last performance. He was up there grinning and clapping during the final standing ovation. In fact, his husband was grinning broadly as he filmed the standing ovation and the end while holding his phone out. Thus, it is evident that they had a good time at the theater that afternoon.
Born Joseph Lane, Nathan Lane debuted on Broadway in 1982 with the play Present Laughter.
After attending Jersey City’s St. Peter’s Prep, the actor won his first Tony Award in 1996 for his role as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, his second in 2001 for his portrayal of Max Bialystock in The Producers, and his third in 2018 for his portrayal of Roy Cohn in Angels in America.
Lane’s portrayal of Teddy Dimas in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building earned him an Emmy in 2022 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.
Lane, who played Bialystock again in the 2005 movie The Producers, is well-known for his other big-screen parts, such as Timon the meerkat in The Lion King (1994) and the iconic Albert Goldman in The Birdcage (1996).
Diaz claims that everyone in the cast, regardless of age, understood who Lane was, demonstrating how cross-generational he is.
I don’t think it gets any better than hearing from someone like him about how much he loved the show and the production, and what a great afternoon he had at the theater, and that he took the time to kind of just address the work that went into this payoff. I know this because I’ve performed and understand the process.”
Other TV shows that Lane has worked on include Modern Family on ABC, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story on FX, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels on Showtime, The Gilded Age on HBO, and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix.
He now plays Bunny Schneiderman in the March premiere of the comedic series Mid-Century Modern on Hulu. He serves as the show’s producer as well.
Performers such as Clifton’s Rachel Zegler, the rising star and powerful vocalist who is presently winning praises on London’s West End as Eva Per nin Evita, have used BergenPAC Performing Arts School as an early stage.
Zegler portrayed the same part in a 2017 BergenPAC Performing Arts School production of the musical before making her film debut in 2021 as Mariain in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
For her role in the Spielberg film, the Lodi’s Immaculate Conception High School alumna would later receive a Golden Globe.
Zegler, 24, also starred in Disney’s 2025 retelling of Snow White, made her Broadway debut in Romeo and Juliet in 2024, and portrayed the musical lead in the 2023 Hunger Games film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Stories by
Amy Kuperinsky
-
The Paper follow-up series to The Office gets trailer. Not again, says returning character.
-
Why Hamilton is getting a theatrical release this summer, 5 years after streaming debut
-
What is What The F*ck Is My Password?! Just the latest movie filming in N.J.
