Dr. Frasier Crane loves opera. Kelsey Grammer, not so much. In fact, he laughs out loud at the question. “No, not even close, I saw some as a kid,” Grammer reveals during a chat at a Hamptons watering hole. He has an upstate New York beer, called Faith — the name of one of his seven children — which brought him to the East End, one of several celebs this summer who made appearances to pour and discuss their spirited brands.
But the opera question is about another gig. It’s called Stage Access and it brings classical music to movie theaters like the Regal in Hampton Bays. On Saturday, September 16, soprano Renée Fleming streams one of her “Cities That Sing” concerts there, this one from Venice. Stage Access founder and CEO Bruce Lipnick calls Grammer “the perfect host. He introduces our content like Robert Osbourne used to do for Turner Classic Movies.”
We talk to Grammer about his time in the Hamptons — he lived here with third wife Camille for six years — and his latest film, “Jesus Revolution.” But we begin with the idea for his latest venture and why he thinks it’s important.
How do you describe Stage Access and how did it come to be?
It’s a home for classic arts, born of the idea that the lockdown stopped people from seeing things. And this is now a way to reintroduce it to people from magnificent venues all across the world.
And how did you get involved?
Well, I’ve always been a bit of a nut for the classics. And I always think somebody should loan their voice to it and make sure that it’s still of concern and still vivacious. Alive by breathing life into it and keeping it in front of people. And my voice does that and that’s why I signed on. The arts are important to the human condition.
And Stage Access goes all over the world and films things that we might not otherwise see.
Right. Traditional and classical entertainment suffered during the lockdown. It shut down any number of things. I still think it was a horrible mistake, but in terms of children and the refined education that the classics give, they really took a hit… This is another echelon of trying to bring classic entertainment to the masses.
People either forget or never knew that you were a classically trained actor.
Shakespeare was my first love. And I love ballet. And I didn’t know much about opera until I started playing Frasier. I caught on a little more there. But even as a kid attending Juilliard, I would sneak into the second act over at the Met. A season ticket holder would hand us a couple of tickets. Fourth-row center. And we finished it up because they were leaving.
Let’s talk about some of the faith-based entertainment out there right now. You were in the film “Jesus Revolution” earlier this year. Jim Caviezel in “Sound of Freedom” is making more money domestically than Tom Cruise did in “Mission: Impossible.”
That’s pretty good.
Do you see a disconnect between what Hollywood is putting out and what some audiences want to see?
I don’t know. I think we’re in a pretty difficult time right now. And when those times reach a certain height, some of the things that are traditionally valuable to us, like faith, and something bigger than ourselves, start to become more interesting because the other option is really hollow. And I think there’s a lot of people turning away from cellular and mobile devices and this or that website and saying “I’d rather have something real.” And faith is more powerful. That magnetism and the idea that there is a creator bigger than us.
What do you miss most about Long Island?
I had many friends in the Hamptons and still do. I spent a good deal of time with Joe Farrell. I bought one of his homes. It was another life. I actually wanted to stay in the Hamptons but the way the divorce went, it just wasn’t going to be nice. But I loved just biking around. I used to ride my bike everywhere. The one thing I’ve always thought about the Hamptons — at least from my side of the equation — is that people respected the fact that you had accomplished something. That you were a person of note in whatever circle you had chosen. And I always liked that about the Hamptons.
When was the last time you had tossed salad and scrambled eggs?
(Laughs.) Never had it.
Was that planned? You singing the closing credits song on “Frasier”?
I had said years before we started working on the show that I always wanted to sing a theme song. And when we sent out the pilot, we used the Joni Mitchell’s “Twisted” with “My analyst told me…” and we thought “Something like that.” And then I threw a kind of bluesy jazz singer idea at it and it worked out pretty well.
Speaking of worked out pretty well, when you walked on to the set of “Cheers” for a guest shot in 1984, would you have ever imagined that you would portray one of the longest-running characters in television?
I did not think that. But I thought Frasier had a shot at being a significant contribution to our culture, and that’s turned out okay. And as far as “longest running character” I think I’m now beaten by Mariska Hargitay.