By Bonnie McGrath
His first star? Himself. He will play the professor in David Mamet’s Oleanna.
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“We want to do serious productions of legal significance,” says Daly. “We want the public to see talented lawyers in a positive way. And we want people to think. We’re going to have discussions with the audience afterward. This is a lot of work for one night–maybe we’ll take [these shows] on the road.” Daly wants to do a lot of “major-legal-theme” productions like, for instance, Inherit the Wind.
“Yeah,” Petretti tells Berman, “you’ve lost the stuff you’ve built into your character. Think Joan Cusack–daffy but likable. Be lighter. Get a fun quality.”
“He’s unsatisfied,” offers Berman, “so he likes to have his fingers in many pots.”
Daly explains that he’s like a lot of lawyers: he likes to argue cases, he doesn’t like paperwork. Which has worked out fine for him–he’s a trial lawyer and a TV news anchor, which may give him some credibility in the courtroom. He’s been affiliated with the law office of Philip Corboy, and now he’s with the office of attorney Burton Joseph. Recently he defended a Glencoe woman’s right to decorate her yard with an art installation: “But I didn’t win.”
“I was in a restaurant on Dearborn, gulping food one night,” says Daly, “and I saw Mockingbird was being reviewed. And then I saw a headline that said, ‘It’s Called Acting, Stupid,’ and I thought I was going to be in for a vicious attack. But the headline was in reference to a different play. The review actually said ‘He Is Atticus Finch.’” o
