Robert Creigthen (right) essays James Cagney in a musical he co-wrote to honor the Hollywood Golden Age actor. (Photo: Lenny Stucker)
For Robert Creighton, the “Hollywood Golden Age” actor James Cagney has become far more than a character — he is a life’s work.
As co-creator, composer, lyricist, and star of the musical, Cagney, with co-star Melissa Manchester, he has created an exhilarating theatrical tribute.
A Broadway veteran whose credits include The Lion King, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes, and Chicago, Creighton grew up equally passionate about sports, music, and performance. The combination made him feel a natural kinship with the legendary entertainer.
After an acting teacher remarked that he looked and moved like Cagney (“You were both built like fire hydrants!”), Creighton immersed himself in the film icon’s work.
Eventually he spent more than two decades researching, writing, composing, and refining the musical that has become his signature project at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater.
Cagney celebrates not only one of Hollywood’s greatest talents, but also a man whose courage, integrity, and belief in standing up for the underdog continue to resonate today.
In an interview with The New York Independent, Creighton reflected on the long road to realizing his dream, the physical demands of embodying one of entertainment’s most electrifying performers, and why he hopes audiences leave the theater feeling hopeful, uplifted, and inspired.
Robert Creighton captures the spirit of James Cagney’s hits, like ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.’ (Photo: Lenny Stucker)
We tell this story because James Cagney lived his life in a way that warranted making a musical about telling his story in the world, and just so grateful that I get to be a part of this.
NYI: As the co-creator of the musical [with Christopher McGovern], what inspired you to tell his story on stage?
Creighten: When I was in acting school, I had a teacher who told me I reminded him of Jimmy Cagney. I was told that I looked like him and I was built like a fire hydrant. I had a lot of energy. I became obsessed with his films. Right off the bat I watched “Public Enemy,” “The Roaring Twenties,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy”… I was so enamored and mesmerized by who he was on the screen, and how ahead of his time he was as an actor, even while there were stylized things happening around him.
They bleeped every word that came out of his mouth. As a young actor working on my craft, I was totally immersed in that and trying to get better and learn. Then I started reading about his life, where he started, and how he was all about justice and fought for the little guy. I saw myself in him and felt a connection right off the bat. We were alike because he played baseball and he was a guy’s guy; I loved sports as much as I loved singing, musicals, and dancing. I felt a connection with him in that way.
NYI: You originally auditioned for a straight play about Cagney written by someone else and then worked on that for a while.
Creighten: After that I said, ‘I am the guy who needs to do a show about James Cagney.’ Thus began my journey of sketching out a one-man show. In 2002, I started collaborating with Peter Colley, the successful Canadian playwright. He helped me realize that a bio-musical-story has to be something anyone can enjoy even if they don’t know who the subject is. I think that’s what we’ve created. You can come to this show and get excited about Cagney and his journey.
It became a four-person show, I wrote the music and lyrics for nine songs, and we did a reading of it at Florida Stage. We got a director and we met our producer, Riki Kane Larimer, who said it needed to be done commercially in New York at the Westside Theatre. We did 15 months of it there. We did a big version of it at the Pioneer in Utah, and then the pandemic hit and derailed things. We did a lot of work in that time and here we are.
NYI: What does it mean to bring Cagney to Bay Street? Why is this a good venue for the show?
Creighten: It’s fantastic because of the intimacy. Cagney’s story is so relevant right now. One of the advantages is being patriotic without being political. No matter where you are on that spectrum, you come away feeling, ‘That’s my show.’ I love the American dream of it all, and everybody leaves uplifted. The story really resonates right now. People come out feeling hopeful, and that is the reason to do it.
NYI: Tell us about the challenge of dancing and performing as Cagney while getting inside his persona. You juggle a lot!
Creighten: I didn’t grow up tap dancing; however, I danced all the time. I had four sisters, and through them I learned how to lead on the dance floor. We did a little Christmas Eve show at our house and we would invite the neighbors. All of us had to do something. Coming out of high school, I was clear on the fact that I wanted to build my foundation of training.
I was really cautious about building the music side of it and the acting side of it. Now I have done eight musicals on Broadway, and lots of plays. I think all of the things that I did to train myself were in preparation to create and tell Cagney’s story, because he could do all of those things. The fun thing about our show is that you can’t hide in it. Everyone is featured and everyone had very specific roles and multiple roles. It’s very exciting in that way.
The cast of Cagney, with Robert Creighton, front and center. (Photo: Lenny Stucker)
NYI: You have enjoyed an impressive career on Broadway. How has performing in, and creating, Cagney changed you as an artist?
Creighten: I am similar to Cagney in that I am friends with the crew and everyone involved, same as he was on the set. I consciously like to be a good leader of a company and set that tone. That’s also how I would like to go through the world. He stood up for himself and knew his value. He was on a contract making $250 a week and he was the biggest star in Hollywood! He was like, ‘This is not fair. You’re getting rich and no one here is making a living. We’re just in this factory of making movies to make you rich.’
He walked off, went to Martha’s Vineyard, and renegotiated his contract. He was all about justice. I think he has influenced me in that way. I am very Canadian — I apologize all the time. Because of Cagney, I have grown into being able to respectfully say what I think about what is fair and right.
NYI: If James Cagney were sitting in the audience tonight, what do you hope he would say after the curtain came down?
Creighten: I think he’d love the show. I talked about that with his niece, who recently came to the show. She said, ‘I am so glad to be here, because whenever I see the show it’s like I get to have a visit with Uncle Jim.’ That’s the best review I could get. She said he would be so delighted and touched by it. I hope he would say, ‘Thanks for telling my story.” I felt like it was part of what I was meant to do.
NYI: Is Broadway in Cagney’s future?
Creighten: The idea to take the show to London is in the works and is very real. We also want to have a licensing agreement so that the show can go out and be done by high schools, regional theaters, and amateur productions. My goal is to get it out in the world. I moved out of town five years ago, so I was focusing on TV and film stuff. That’s definitely percolating as well.
NYI: Tell us something that no one else would know about you.
Creighten: You see me do the show and fly around the stage. When I come home at night, I have to ice my knees, stretch, and cool down my voice. It is a massive operation doing this show multiple times each week! The athleticism that it takes to get through the week is nonstop. I have to live like a monk. I think part of the excitement of seeing the show is witnessing the level of endurance required for an actor to do that for two hours. I personally love seeing that when I see a show, so knowing that I do the same thing is special. Also, golf is my passion. If anyone is a member of Shinnecock or one of the other nice courses near Sag Harbor, I would be delighted to play there…
To purchase tickets for Cagney, now playing at Bay Street Theater through June 26, 2026, click here.