Not a glamour puss? Follow your star to the theater

NEW YORK - In the movies, you usually have to project some glamour to be a star. The theater, though, sometimes lets regular folks take center stage.<br><br>The stars of three current New York revivals

Monday, April 3rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK - In the movies, you usually have to project some glamour to be a star. The theater, though, sometimes lets regular folks take center stage.

The stars of three current New York revivals are well known to movie and TV fans as sidekicks. Recent episodes of NYPD Blue have regularly featured Debra Monk as Andy Sipowitz's recovering alcoholic, deeply religious ex-wife. Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly turn up in what seems like every new movie - both in Magnolia and Boogie Nights, Mr. Hoffman in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Patch Adams, Mr. Reilly in The Thin Red Line and Love of the Game, to name a few.

William H. Macy even won an Academy Award as the ultimate sweaty weasel in Fargo, parlaying that honor to frequent appearances on film and on TV - most recently in his wife, Felicity Huffman's, sitcom Sports Night.

All of these performers have distinguished theater backgrounds. Ms. Monk has been a bundle of talent just waiting to bust out. She made sensational impressions in Broadway's 1995 revival of Company and in 1997's Steel Pier.

Mr. Hoffman has been a king of off Broadway, Mr. Reilly a regular at Chicago's distinguished Steppenwolf. Mr. Macy has frequently headlined plays by David Mamet and other distinguished American dramatists.

What fun it is to see each of these ordinary-looking folks carry a whole play. Mr. Macy, the nerd you wouldn't notice in a crowd, has long been appreciated by critics and audiences alike. His name actually draws people to American Buffalo. But the doughy-faced Mr. Hoffman, the square-jawed Mr. Reilly and the matronly Ms. Monk are still far from household names. Their blazing current performances may change that.