By Melissa Rose Bernardo

Just about every actor fresh out of drama school dreams of starting his own company, but few achieve the quick success Greg Naughton has with the Blue Light Theater Company. In just three years, Blue Light has proved a force to be reckoned with: Its debut production, Dogg's Hamlet, Caboot's Macbeth, was staged by B.H. Barry and funded primarily by a grant from (Paul) Newman's Own; in the next two years, Joanne Woodward directed well- received revivals of Odets' Golden Boy and Waiting for Lefty. And this year, Blue Light looks poised to get even bigger, with its first- ever membership drive, a season-long home at Theatre Four (424 W. 55th St.), and a line-up most fled ling companies could only imagine: Eduardo de Filippo's Filumena: A Marriage Italian Style, translated by and starring Maria Tucci; Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Austin Pendleton; and a new play, Amazing Grace, by Pulitzer winner Michael Cristofer (The Shadow Box), starring Marsha Mason. Explains Greg, “We wanted to create a home where the up-and-comers could work with the great veteran actors on great plays of classical scope.” And so, it appears, they have.

Working with great veteran actors is something the 29-year-old actor knows intimately; his Filumena director is his father, actor James Naughton-—he of City of' Angels, the current smash Chicago, and other stage, film, and TV appearances too numerous to list. James is just one of the high-profile names on Blue Light's letterhead; Newman, Woodward, Barry, Pendleton, and Frank Langella also sit on the board of advisors. But James' involvement with the company runs deeper than anyone else's: This is Greg’s brainchild, after all, so he's giving more than just parental support.

And like any proud father, James is quick to give his son the credit he deserves. “I don't know if he told you the way Blue Light evolved,” James offers, as he joins his son for an interview before rehearsal. “He and B.H. Barry were talking about doing a project together, and B.H. was thinking about a staged reading. Well, Greg took the bit in his teeth - rented the Ubu Rep, negotiated with Equity, got the rights to a Tom Stoppard play [Dogg's Hamlet ... ], got the company. B.H. met the people, they cast the show, and Greg did all the rest of the work and wound up producing a play.”

“Don't let him influence the tenor of this article,” Greg interrupts. “He's making it sound like I'm doing this by myself.” James replies, “Well, I wouldn't say he did it all by himself, but he certainly was the instigator of it. So in the spring of [1994] they filed for not-for-profit tax status and went into business, called it the Blue Light Theater Company, and planned a season. And that’s when his mother and I launched a major fundraising event, which is never-ending. What we need is an angel—someone with a lot of money who says, ‘I’d like to be a patron of the arts, and this is a theater company that gives me more bang for my buck.’ And if you want to print that, that would be cool.”

To help the family business, James is doing more than fundraising. He acted in Golden Boy; “Greg and I were playing a fighter and his manager who are both fighting over the same woman. It was a delightful experience—amazingly uncomplicated,” he says of acting opposite his son. And now he’s directing Greg in Filumena (now in previews in Theatre Four, running through Dec. 7), an experience he terms “peculiar,” but not uncomfortable. “We’ve done stuff all our lives,” James says. “I coached him in Little League baseball. When he was in high school, I ran an acting workshop. And we’ve acted together. I can see where it would be difficult. At the age of 20, it would have been more difficult for him to take direction from his father. You go through that period, you know, when your father’s a jerk and you’re fighting against authority.”

“Wait a minute,” Greg says. “I didn’t think my father was a jerk.” James smilingly backtracks, “I’m speaking hypothetically here.” Greg tries to clarify: “There was a while where I wouldn’t have liked to be in this position, working with my father. I wanted to go off and do things by myself and prove that I belonged here. You have to prove that, not only to everyone else but also to yourself. And once I went through that, I became more comfortable with the idea of working with him.” James adds, “And you know, we’re such cool guys…”

The participation of actors like Naughton has helped Blue Light make a name for itself. “That’s really been the success and the secret endowment of the company—that we have such a great group of distinguished talent who works with us, gives us money, advises us, and is there for the show,” admits Greg. It’s also a big part of his vision for Blue Light, which is to be a rotating repertory company. “You hire a core of young actors to be in four to six plays a season, and then you have a bunch of great veteran actors,”—Greg nods to his father—“playing the mature roles.”

And though James says he never really imagined passing theater along to his children daughter Keira is a recent alumna of NYU's Graduate Acting Program -Greg names his dad as his biggest resource and influence. “My father is a great inspiration to me. I'm certain that's why I'm here in the business. I saw somebody who really cared a lot about what he did, believed in it, did it well, and had a nice life in the theater. He's someone who's a little extraordinary in this business, because he believes so much in it, and has healthy reasons for being in it,” Greg says.

While theater clearly is the family business—the kids spent many summers in Williamstown, Mass., observing their father and friends like the Newmans and Filumena's Maria Tucci—it wasn't until Greg and Keira were in college that acting was permitted. Recalls James, “I remember saying to both kids, ‘Listen, you're not going to be little professional actors; I don't believe in it. Play ball, do gymnastics, ride horses, have normal childhoods. If you want to act in school, go ahead. And then after you get out of college, if you still want to do it, then we'll talk about it.’ ” The family has also worked to maintain a circle of “civilian” friends, living in Connecticut and engaging in non-theater activities. Having a life outside of show business, James maintains, keeps them healthy.

Perhaps that's why the family is able to work so closely together, what with James directing at Blue Light, Greg acting (and serving as actor-manager), mom Pamela serving as head of development, and Keira performing in The American Clock at the Signature Theatre, (It's likely that Keira will join Blue Light too, “if we can find a role for her that's not a romantic one with either of us, which has been a problem in the past,” says Greg.) Working together, playing together, and—at the end of the day—eating together is where you'll find the Naughtons.

“Last night, we were all having dinner at the West Bank Cafe,'' says Greg. “And a few actors came over to the table and said, ‘What is it with you Naughtons? Been together all day and you're still together at night.’ ” Greg and James share a knowing laugh; it's clear there's more holding this family together than a theater company. But Blue Light is something they obviously cherish. “At a time when the American experience is the dissolution of the family,” James says, “it's pretty nice to have a family all involved in a project together—to be able to spend time together, and to want to.”