A STAR IS BORN (AGAIN); TONY DANZA'S CAREER ENTERS THEATRICAL STAGE.

Byline: Heather Wood Staff Writer

Tony Danza's career spans more than two decades, but if you ask him, he'll tell you that it feels like it's only the beginning.

The Brooklyn native won hearts and ratings on TV with two of the most successful series in television history: as Tony Banta for five years on ``Taxi'' and as Tony Micelli for seven seasons on ``Who's the Boss.'' But not everything Danza touches turns golden. In 1995, he launched ``Hudson Street,'' an ABC sitcom in which he assumed yet another Tony identity, as Tony Canetti, a divorced New Jersey detective. Despite Danza's high hopes, the sitcom failed before it saw its first season come to a close.

Danza struggled with the defeat, but he has always been a fighter. From the days he trained as an amateur boxer through his first audition, Danza says he knew he had to give acting another shot. That opportunity came in the form of 1997's ``The Tony Danza Show,'' where he played Tony DiMeo, a sports writer and family man. A year later, Danza was once again out of work.

With the exception of appearing occasionally in TV movies or in a New York cabaret lounge, Danza remained relatively obscure until the theatrical stage came calling.

With his Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's ``A View From the Bridge'' last year, the 47-year-old father of three staged a comeback. This year, he received rave reviews as Rocky the bartender in the Broadway smash hit ``The Iceman Cometh,'' co-staring Kevin Spacey. It may have taken a few years, but Danza may have finally found his second calling in theater.

These days, Danza divides his time between Las Vegas, where his singing, dancing, jestering cabaret act is a staple at the Desert Inn, and Los Angeles, where his family and local theater productions keep him busy.

On Wednesday, Danza began playing the title character in ``Fiorello'' at the UCLA Freud Playhouse, where it runs through Nov. 21. Taking a break from his crash-course rehearsal schedule, the actor spoke about his new career path and his political connection to ``Fiorello.''

Q: What drew you to ``Fiorello?''

A: I really didn't know the play that well. I had to call a friend of mine who knew everything about it. He said, ``You're going to love it.'' So I decided to take a shot.

Q: Fiorello LaGuardia was one of New York's most flamboyant and famous mayors. His story is a legacy filled with controversy and emotion. How do you fit that into a musical?

A: Here you have a crusading politician who sings. To me, that's it. It's this grand production, but what I've discovered about it now is that it's a great story. That makes it a great play.

Q: What do you love about it?

A: First of all, it's a great character to play. Not only significant in the play, but in reality he's significant. He takes on incredible causes. At a time when women weren't even voting, he's out there on a picket line with them. Then he has the candor to say: ``I believe in your cause and today your cause is my cause.'' He's this bigger-than-life character, and he let that get the better of him. He's a complex guy. A great political figure.

Q: Are you active in politics?

A: I haven't been that active. The fact that you're an actor and you have, even if it's an intangible sort of clout and influence, you may have a little bit more than the normal guy opening his mouth.

Q: You're worried about your influence?

A: I'm careful about that. But certainly I believe in certain things. What's happening to me lately is a very funny thing, you know. You grow up blue collar. My father was a garbage man. My mother was a bookkeeper. You know, working people. And then you're a power-to-the-people person in college and you're a leftist. You can really be a leftist.

Then you make a little money and you run into a couple of charismatic presidents like Reagan, who sort of, you know, made us feel like, I don't know, like he had kind of an idea, you know? But it's interesting how you go back and forth. Now I'm totally getting the other way again, and doing ``Fiorello'' doesn't help.

Q: Many people might be surprised by your singing. You had your own cabaret act for the past four years, playing in places like Atlantic City, Las Vegas and New York's Rainbow Room. There was tap dancing, too. I think that surprises a lot of people.

A: I know they're surprised. I actually do that joke in my act. I say to them: ``All right, great, I know you all came to see Tony Danza and I know you all have one question: `What the hell does he do?' '' But then we show them.

Q: People know you best as Tony from ``Taxi'' or Tony from ``Who's the Boss?'' In theater, you have branched out considerably from those types of roles. Did you find it difficult to branch out like that after so many years in television?

A: Unfortunately. when you are on a show for eight years, what happens is that you are sort of making sure people see you a certain way, because they see you that way every week. So then it becomes an obstacle, I think, having people see you in other things. When I did ``A View From the Bridge,'' a very close friend of mine said to me after the show that all the way there he was driving himself crazy. ``How am I going to see Tony as this character?'' But then he told me five minutes into the play he had forgotten all of that. So you know, you have to get that chance to have people have that reaction. It just takes time.

Q: So why this career change to theater?

A: I just love the theater, there's nothing like it. It's a whole other thing that happens in a theater. It's different than anything else. It's different than movies. And it's so great to take kids, you know. Just to see kids watching theater. One of the things we need to do in this country is realize that the theater is not just for old, rich, white people. Broadway cuts both ways.

The facts

What: Tony Danza in ``Fiorello.''

Where: Freud Playhouse on the UCLA campus, Westwood.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Nov. 21; through Nov. 21.

How much: $50.

Information: [phone].

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Photo

Photo: Tony Danza stars as singing politician Fiorello LaGuardia in the musical ``Fiorello,'' at the UCLA Freud Playhouse.