By Eve Zibart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007

As the insinuating and incendiary Darryl Van Horne in Signature Theatre's "The Witches of Eastwick," Marc Kudisch is the very Devil. He is also the Devil's advocate.

"Who says the Devil has power? People who have done things and don't want to take responsibility for their actions. 'The Devil made me do it,' " Kudisch says. "Oh, yeah? The Devil is an angel, an angel who fell. He is a lawful creature designed by God. God created us in His image, and we were given free will, whereas angels have a lot of power but not free will. If God tossed him down, that was the point.

"So he may be, as some people call him, the Tempter, but only if you want to be tempted. It's people who choose to do evil. You have to take responsibility for your actions."

Though based on John Updike's 1984 novel about the possibly supernatural and certainly sexual enlightenment of three uptight New England women by a randy newcomer whom they seem to have conjured up (and then conspire to dispatch), the musical "Witches" eliminates any ambiguity about the Horned One.

"In the book he was sort of a Pan, and in the film he was a kind of a devil or a demon," Kudisch says. (In the 1987 movie Darryl was played by Jack Nicholson, for whom "devilish" is a commonplace adjective.)

"But 'kind of a devil,' what is that? Let's just settle that he is the Devil, and then establish the rules," Kudisch says. "What can he do, what can't he do, what is he capable of? . . . He has limitations; he has even more limitations because he's operating in this three-dimensional sphere. But within those rules he is the master."

Kudisch's Darryl is alternately witty, waggish, provoking and insightful, not to mention lascivious and, um, potent. (It brings to mind the book title by humorist Jean Kerr, whose son was unhappily assigned to play Adam in a school play: "The Snake Has All the Lines.") By his customized seductions of the women, fitted to each one's needs and fears, the Devil opens their eyes to their inherent magic, which is expressed through their sexuality.

"It's about their empowerment," Kudisch says. "The Devil holds knowledge, and we call that evil. But who called the apple evil? Men. Man is afraid of woman, why? Because woman has the power. Women have the power of creation: They create miracles because they give birth. God's inner strength is in women.

"All women are witches. That's the point of the play: The potential for magic is in all women. It's like the thing with the ruby slippers: 'You've always had the power.' The Devil hunts for women because he hungers for power."

And there, Kudisch says, the Devil falls into his own trap.

"I have to have empathy for my character, I have to enjoy him," he says. "But I also have to believe in the logic being correct. And that's his undoing at the end of the play. He has to take responsibility for his actions, too. He's not immune. He absolutely deserves what he gets."

Kudisch, 40, has had plenty of time to consider his character, having played the snake charmer opposite (former fiancee) Kristin Chenoweth's Eve in a Broadway revival of "The Apple Tree" just last year.

"I had the same question then: God is depriving [Eve] of knowledge, and yet he's dangling it in front of her? And that's wrong? Who said so! And consider this: Adam and Eve had much richer, fuller lives after they left the Garden of Eden. So maybe Eden is not Eden at all. Hell may be a great place. There's always another side to things," Kudisch says.

Kudisch has a flair for flamboyant Broadway roles. He has played the Proprietor in "Assassins" -- possibly a third version of the Tempter -- the French Ambassador Chauvelin in "The Scarlet Pimpernel," the inwardly beastly Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast," the bisexual Jackie in "The Wild Party" and what one publication called the "freaky, kinky Baron" of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which earned him one of his two Tony nominations. In fact, you might argue that he has played the Devil four times: He starred as the monstrous Edward Hyde in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" at the Paper Mill Playhouse, a sort of Broadway offshoot across the river in New Jersey. (Always open to seeing both sides, indeed: He also provided the voice of God in the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival production of "Altar Boyz.")

He first played Signature in 2004, as the troubled Van Gogh in "The Highest Yellow," and was nominated for a Helen Hayes award. He has sung with the New York City Opera, played the Elvis-like Conrad Birdie in the 1995 TV-movie version of "Bye Bye Birdie," has had recurring roles on soap operas and starred in a "Sex and the City" episode in which he winds up in an S&M harness. (Even Nicholson can't claim that.)

If this version of "Witches," which has been rewritten, retooled and given some new musical numbers since its lukewarm reception in London in 2000 -- and outfitted with flying gear, which Kudisch says is "tremendous fun" -- gets the call from Broadway, Kudisch says he is "absolutely committed" to going along. Meanwhile, he is relishing the run here.

"I've never liked the term 'musical comedy,' " he says. "It's musical theater; whether it's opera or vaudeville, it should all be treated with the same respect.

"But at the end of the day, this is a comedy. It's a black comedy. And the joy of it is, it's adult. It's not namby-pamby, it's not vanilla-coated, it's not watered down. It's bawdy, it's wrong, there are moments that are downright rude, but for a couple of hours, people get to let their id run wild. You know the Devil is going to get it in the end, so you don't have to worry about the moral. You can just enjoy. And who doesn't need that?"

The Witches of Eastwick Signature Theatre 703-820-9771 Through July 15