When he was an elementary school lad in the middle 1970s, Tony Mamet's parents wouldn't let him attend plays written by his older half-brother, David Mamet, because the language was too rough.
He wouldn't have heard anything he hadn't already read, since he sneaked peeks at the scripts David sent home.Nevertheless, he had to sit out such shows as "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" and "American Buffalo" - which, admittedly, contained rough language. But they also contained some of contemporary theater's grittiest, most searing insights into American life.
"I missed some great theatrical experiences," Tony lamented, "the premieres of some of these plays."
Things have come full circle since then, and Tony is taking a stab at theater production with David's early play "Lakeboat."
The show opened Thursday at the Tiffany Theaters in West Hollywood. He's mounting the show in a 99-seat auditorium adjacent to another hall the same size where David's newest play, "Oleanna," is currently playing.
Tony and David have the same father: the late Chicago labor lawyer Bernard Mamet.
Entertainment appears to run in the genes. Tony's half-sister, Lynn, is a screenwriter, and his brother, Bob, is a jazz pianist. His sister, Julie, the only sibling not involved in the arts, is a preschool teacher.
David, 46, is about 20 years older than Tony and was away at college when Tony was born.
Still, David has been a strong influence.
"If he were not my brother, he would still be my favorite American playwright," Tony said. "So what a thrill to be an actor and have as your brother someone you admire so much as a writer."
The younger Mamet holds an acting degree from Brown University and trained in London for a year at the British Academy of Dramatic Art.
Since college he has concentrated on music, singing and writing songs with rock 'n' roll bands the Alternates (in Chicago) and Big World (in Los Angeles).
Recently, he wrote the title song and served as associate producer on brother Bob's coming Atlantic Records release "Signs of Life."
"Lakeboat" has been percolating through his mind since a 1986 chat with David's actor friends J.J. Johnston and Jack Wallace, who were in Chicago with the touring production of David's "Glengarry Glen Ross." They mentioned that the youthful Tony would be perfect as Dale, the college kid who takes a summer ore-boat job in "Lakeboat."
Years later, Johnston and Wallace still were saying "Lakeboat" would be a fun project, filled with great characters.
Tony decided to turn the talk into reality.