'Alias' to Noel Coward: A star shows his range

Cradling a cup of coffee, Victor Garber sits in a cramped office backstage at the Huntington Theatre. The space seems worlds away from the posh drawing rooms one associates with Noel Coward . But range has never been a problem for Garber, who's starring in the Huntington production of Coward's "Present Laughter " starting tonight at the Boston University Theatre .

"My blueprint was always English actors," says the Canadian-born Garber. "When I would see Alec Guinness in a movie, then read he'd done T. S. Eliot , that to me was an actor. That's what an actor did."

The variety of roles on Garber's resume speaks for itself. A four-time Tony and six-time Emmy nominee, he's best known for the five seasons he spent playing Jennifer Garner's father on "Alias. " Yet theater buffs may prefer to think of him as a Stephen Sondheim stalwart.

Garber, 58, starred in a much-lauded New York revival of "Follies " earlier this year. He was in the original cast of "Assassins " as John Wilkes Booth, and "Sweeney Todd" as Anthony. "That was a long time ago," Garber says of the latter with a mock grimace. (It was 1979.)

Not many actors can claim to have played both Jesus, in the film version of "Godspell," and the Devil, in the 1994 Broadway revival of "Damn Yankees" -- let alone Liberace, in a CBS biopic, and Ernest Hemingway, in an Italian miniseries. Even more impressive, Garber played both parts in the same year, 1988.

"He's a remarkable guy," says Nicholas Martin , the director of "Present Laughter," who directed Garber in a 1996 San Diego production of "Macbeth." "There isn't anyone as versatile as he is. I think Victor is the last leading man. That might suggest he's just a matinee idol. I don't mean that at all. His breadth and versatility are unrivaled."

In "Present Laughter," Garber plays Garry Essendine , a West End star of romantic comedy who's at his most maddening when most charming, and vice versa. He's about to leave on an extended tour of Africa when his professional and personal lives intersect with what threatens to be disastrous results.

"He's so funny, without always meaning to be," Garber says of Garry. "It's terrifying how well I understand this character. It is! I cannot tell you how comfortable I feel in this part: a reluctantly aging, egocentric actor. What's great about this part for me is the language. I love speaking these words. It's just so much fun -- and it's so well-written."

Garber admits to a special fondness for Coward. "Nicholas and I had talked about 'Private Lives' -- I love Noel Coward and had played 'Blithe Spirit' in Santa Fe many, many years ago. And I'd always thought, there's so much more here than people give him credit for.

"I'd seen 'Present Laughter,' but I'd never read it. When I read it, I thought, this is really a good play. So this was the Coward play I wanted to do."

Coward wrote some three dozen plays during his long career. "Private Lives," "Blithe Spirit," and "Hay Fever" tend be the most often revived.

"That's what's so interesting to me," Garber says of "Present Laughter" having second-tier status. "This is a classic. I think 'Present Laughter' is right up there. What's deceptive about Coward is that this is like a family comedy, almost like Neil Simon , in a way. Often it's not brought up in productions, the depth of the characters and the real intricacies of the relationships. This play, to me, has got it all."

Garber will be returning to television in the fall. ABC announced Monday it had picked up "Eli Stone, " a drama starring Jonny Lee Miller about a lawyer who has prophetic visions. Garber plays a senior partner at the San Francisco firm where the title character works. He's also the father of the character's fiancee.

Of stage versus television, Garber says, "To come back to the theater is a real charge and a real rejuvenation for me. There's no question that I love being onstage."

He has no fight to pick with television, though. "If people buy a ticket to this play because they've seen me on television, then that's really great," Garber says.

"What I like, I've come to realize, is to work. That's why television suits me. I like getting up every day, having a place to go, seeing the same people, and, frankly, it's not as stressful as doing eight shows a week. I don't have to be in perfect health. If I have a cold," he shrugs, miming the loss of his voice. "I don't miss that."

Garber owns a place in New York and rents one in Los Angeles. He considers the former home but says he's just happy to go where there's work.

"I'm pretty philosophical about all these things," Garber says. "It's not like I worry about if I work again -- it's what I'll be doing. I've been very lucky to be able to pick and choose, and I don't want to be in a position to have to take a job just to work.

"So far," he knocks on the desktop, "that hasn't been the case."

Mark Feeney can be reached at mfeeney@globe.com.