Tom Wopat, best known as Luke Duke from TV's "Dukes Of Hazzard," is more of a renaissance man than one might expect. The Lodi, Wis. native is an accomplished actor in theater, on and off Broadway, but his real love is music. Wopat released an album of jazz standards called "Still of the Night," and is preparing another disc for next year.
A classically-trained vocalist, Wopat, who grew up on a dairy farm near Madison, can look back and laugh at his days behind the wheel of the General Lee, because his career continues to evolve with more twists and turns than a dirt road in Hazzard County.
We caught up with Wopat recently for this latest edition of Milwaukee (or in this case, Lodi) Talks.
OMC: You turned heads on Broadway opposite Bernadette Peters in "Annie Get Your Gun." Are you still touring with the off-Broadway run of "Chicago?"
TW: As we speak, I'm on my way to Appleton to do "Chicago" for a week, then we open in Michigan. It's been on and off since the beginning of the year. Before that, I did the show on Broadway for six weeks.
OMC: How different is performing in, say, Appleton, versus Broadway?
TW: It's quite a bit different. The touring cast actually has a little more zip than the Broadway cast.
OMC: Do you get back to Wisconsin often?
TW: About three or four times a year. In fact, I was down in Janesville with my jazz trio during Labor Day.
OMC: Tell me a little more about your work as a vocalist.
TW: It certainly is rewarding, and I enjoy it a great deal. I was doing a play called "Last of the Boys" at Princeton's McCarter Theatre, and I met (keyboard player) Ben Sidran from Racine. We cut an album in three days. I'm signing standards, doing the music of Harold Arlen, the man who wrote "The Wizard of Oz." It's gonna be out early next year.
OMC: In fact, you're coming to Milwaukee on Jan. 24, right?
TW: Yes, for the Arlen promo.
OMC: Do you think you're Lodi's biggest star?
TW: (Laughing) I might be, I can't think of another.
OMC: What's your favorite medium in which to work: TV, theater or music?
TW: Whatever I'm doing at the time. I hate to admit it, but making music and performing it live is an awful lot of fun. But I enjoy the theater, too.
OMC: Do you have any thoughts on the upcoming "Dukes of Hazzard" movie?
TW: Oh they're definitely doing it. I say good luck to them. I hope it's not awfully disrespectful -- we made enough fun of it while we were doing it.
OMC: Who's playing your role of Luke Duke?
TW: Johnny Knoxville, I think.
OMC: Speaking as someone who had a "Dukes of Hazzard" theme for his seventh birthday party, are you surprised about the Dukes' longevity? It was definitely a show that defined the childhood of my generation.
TW: You know, it was a big phenomenon in its day, so it's hard to say. But I'd say I am surprised that it has had that much of an impact.
OMC: Are there any more "Dukes of Hazzard" TV movies in your future?
TW: No, I think we're done.
OMC: Final question: What's cooler? To have an action figure made of you or to have an "E! True Hollywood Story" produced about part of your career?
TW: The action figure, definitely.
OMC: So do you have one at home?
TW: (Laughing) No, but my little brother does.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
