New Interview with Bill Pullman

Bill Pullman will open Friday, June 5 in David Mamet's Oleanna at the Mark Taper Forum. He has championed the common man in a variety of film roles over the last couple of decades, including Meg Ryan's unappealing finance in Sleepless in Seattle, and other memorable characters in classics like The Accidental Tourist, A League of Their Own and Sommersby. He's even played the Commander in Chief of the United States, but a very human one in the midst of peril, in the mega-grossing film Independence Day. No stranger to the theatre, on Broadway Pullman created the straying husband in Edward Albee's brilliant The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? An actor's actor, Pullman recently earned an honorary doctorate from my alma mater the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In our talk, he discusses Mamet's play, and his favorite roles on stage and screen.

Q: Why is Oleanna relevant to today's world?

BP: The play stands on its own as a very interesting document of two very personal responses to an issue that gets emtionalized in a very extreme way. But then also there are the issues of higher education and... sexual politics... and how they are functioning... It's a curious thing. The play was written in 1992 and a lot of the federal laws came into effect in '95 and a few years after. It seems like a lot of these issues about how you conduct yourself are almost more hyper-managed than they were at the time. So it has an interesting ramification in a world where maybe the magazine thing isn't talking about it as much but within corporations, institutions, a lot of internal politics are evolving...

(He cites the recent case of West Indies poet laureate and Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott who withdrew his candidacy for Oxford professor of poetry due to a smear campaign of allegations of sexual harassment that actually occurred over 25 years ago. The opposing candidate who made the accusations Ruth Padel, after attaining the position, stepped down after only 9 days and offered an apology.)

Q: It's just a very powerful drama - in one-act, is that correct?

BP: It's got 3 acts and sometimes people take an intermission. When Julia (Stiles) did it before in London, they had an intermission. But we've chosen to play all 3 acts together.

Q: What is your favorite film role so far?

BP: I've had quite a few, and I've really liked them all for different reasons. I've been lucky to be a part of many blockbuster movies...in which it's hard to get to that level of being memorable, but I still have fond memories of Independence Day, to be sure. There are also many small ones I've had that give me many fond memories.

Q: What's your favorite film of all time?
BP: For different reasons there are many...Lawrence of Arabia...and then there are those that have been very influential and informative to me as an actor, like Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage...

Q: Any favorite actors?

BP: I've always been a fan of George C. Scott, who was working in movies when I was in college...films like Patton and Hospital. I was really impressed by him, and I had seen him onstage as well in Uncle Vanya. He was a champ to me.

Q: I saw him do the comedy Sly Fox on Broadway.

BP: Oh, yeah...

Q: He was so irascible...

BP: (laughs)

Q: Is there one play that stands apart from all the others for you?
BP: I really enjoyed doing Albee's The Goat. It's a powerful piece and a really exciting play to do...I did it originally on Broadway with the wonderful Mercedes Ruehl...no one had ever seen it before and audiences didn't know what to make of it. There were a lot of disagreements about it. There were a lot of people vocally disturbed, audibly groaning and complaining and other people hushing them up...

Q: I heard people laughing. I think..out of nervousness, not really understanding the

symbolism.

BP: Yeah...It really uncorked a lot of feelings, and then when the reviews came out, things started to even out. That period of my life is about as rock and roll as I've ever lived through and Oleanna is reminding me of that. It does feel like the audiences are being tweaked into a different level of engagement.

Q: Do you long to play any role...any Shakesperean role like King Lear?

BP: I did a lot of Shakespeare touring when I was in college in Montana..there are some great comical moments as in Measure for Measure, the duke. I've always liked Shepard's (Sam) plays too. I love his language, his word choice. One of the first things I did in New York that was a real breakout for me was The Curse of the Starving Class ...

...now I'm ready to play the older guy.

Q: Let's get back to Oleanna. What are the greatest challenges for an actor performing Mamet?

BP: I think you have to find where you're emotionalized personally and then make sure you don't make it become Talking Heads...and it's a bear too because the language is fractured and ...there's no hiding. During rehearsal...I have these 2 fast changes in the second act and my fly was down. And this is the kind of play where that can be dangerous. There's no place to hide and I turned upstage...and I just couldn't get it. (laughs)

...The play is very much a living organism. Rehearsals...explorations to find the execution ...and I'm looking forward to the run of it too. Theatre is such a privilege, for those of us who get the chance to do it. With an audience you learn so much and the challenges just get deeper.

Be sure to catch Oleanna starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles at the Mark Taper Forum from June 5-July 12. For tix call (213) 628-2772 or go online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

2002 interview with Jerry Herman

I am so thrilled that the 2009 Tony Award committee has decided to honor Jerry Herman with a special Tony for Lifetime Achieve-

ment.

In 2002 Mr. Herman opened up his home for interviews, just around the time that his concept CD Miss Spectacular was released. Also at that time he made a rare appearance with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles for an evening called Jerry's Boys.

Here is our interview, originally published in NoHoLA in the July 4, 2002 issue.

Q: How do you account for the incredible fame of the song "Hello Dolly"?

JH: The interesting thing about me is that it sounds like I intended all those songs that people know ... to be popular songs, but I honestly did not. The biggest surprise to me was "Hello Dolly". It was written for a very emotional moment where a woman is returning to the human race after mourning her husband for many years. She puts on her finery, comes down a staircase and says, "Hello, Harry!" "Well hello, Louie!" It's very 1890s. And Louis Armstrong is the reason that that's a popular song. He saw something in it and made a jazz classic out of it.

Q: One of my favorite shows is Dear World. The music is just enchanting. Why do you think it bombed back in the 60s?

JH: It was a charming idea that was so overblown. By the time the show opened, it was no longer a little chamber piece that Lawrence, Lee and I had intended. But it became a huge Broadway show in one of the biggest theatres at that time, the Mark Hellinger. I wanted a seven-piece ensemble to play it, and we had a huge, huge orchestra and chorus - and klunky big sets. It was not what I wanted, but now I have a second chance with that.

Q: There's a new production in the works. What changes did you make?

JH: We started to pare it down. We've gone a little further and have beautiful new orchestrations. It's going to play Sundance in Utah, and Maureen McGovern is going to sing it. When you hear these songs come out of her, it's really something gorgeous.

Q: Speaking of new productions of oldies but goodies, what's the latest on Mack and Mabel's move toward the Great White Way?

JH: We'll open it in Texas and have producers come and look at it.

Q: What's been the greatest problem in remounting it?

JH: Getting the book straightened out. We have it now. Michael Stewart's (now deceased) sister has done a beautiful job of making it tighter and clearer and more romantic. I love the new ending.

Q: Miss Spectacular is a breath of fresh air. How did that come about?

JH: I was commissioned to do a revue for Las Vegas where they wanted huge production numbers from me with a little storyline that went through it. So I made up this whole idea and did it, and just as the show was about to be mounted, the man that had commissioned it sold his entire interest to MGM, and my contract went along with it. MGM didn't have a venue for it, because they're doing FX.

This is a nice show business stroy: very kindly they called me and said, "We would like to return the rights to you". When they did that, I released the album that we had done, because I just wanted the world to hear the songs. Nancy Dussault is guesting with the Gay Men's Chorus and will perform "Where in the World Is My Prince?" This will be the first live performance of the song, recorded for the concept album by Faith Prince.

Q: How did you feel about the film version of Mame?

JH: I hated it more than any performance of mine that I've ever seen. I'd like to burn all those films.

Q: By films, you're referring to Hello Dolly as well?

JH: I don't hate Hello Dolly; it's just not the Hello Dolly that I opened in 1964. It's about a young girl (the film) ... who for some reason (he rolls his eyes) ... is a matchmaker.

Q: Do you envision yourself composing another big musical?

JH: Oh, I certainly do. I feel great. I've got all the energy in the world. It's just a question of finding material that you want to live with for the rest of your life. I've been blessed with The Matchmaker, Auntie Mame and the original La Cage Aux Folles, the play. The three of those pieces of material are such a foundation that it was hard not to write a good show. Finding that is not as easy as it sounds. I would do another one if I found at least a character that I fell in love with.

Press release - The Unseen

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY

Contact: Mark St. Amant
213.309.2482 or press@roadtheatre.org

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE:

Playwright and creator of TV’s Dirty Sexy Money
CRAIG WRIGHT
Set to Direct the Road Theatre’s Mounting of
THE UNSEEN

4 MAY 09: Co-Artistic Directors Taylor Gilbert and Sam Anderson of The Road Theatre Company have announced the next presentation from the ever-ambitious company, where the long-extended west coast premiere of Keith Huff’s The Bird and Mr. Banks plays on to appreciative crowds and critical acclaim through May 16.

Opening at the Road on Friday, June 19 is Emmy and Drama Desk-nominated writer Craig Wright’s THE UNSEEN, which debuted at the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival 2007 and concluded a much-heralded off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane in March. THE UNSEEN expands the Road’s association with Wright, as the playwright will make his directorial debut at the Road, continuing the company’s artistic collaboration with one of the American theatre’s most talented writers. The multi-award-winning company’s 2008 west coast premiere of Wright’s Lady received four Ovation Awards and five LA Weekly Award nominations, garnering two LaWee wins, including Best Supporting Actor for Matt Kirkwood, who will also be featured in THE UNSEEN.

Last season’s subsequent New York debut of Lady was recently nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding New Play and received a nomination for Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award. Wright’s other works for the stage include The Pavilion, also a Drama Desk nominee in 2006; Main Street; Orange Flower Water; Recent Tragic Events; Molly’s Delicious; Melissa Arctic, which won Washington, DC’s Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play; Grace, a nominee for the Hayes Award and, for L.A.’s Furious Theatre, winner of the LA Drama Critics Award for Best Play and a TicketHolder Award for Wright as Best Playwright of 2006. Wright is the recipient of fellowships from the McKnight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and holds a M.Div. degree from United Theological Seminary. He has written for numerous television shows, including his Emmy-nominated work as Executive Story Editor for Six Feet Under; Supervising Producer for Lost; Co-Executive Producer for Brothers and Sisters; and he was the creator and Executive Producer of the ABC series Dirty Sexy Money.

THE UNSEEN is a Kafka-esque, darkly humorous examination of faith in an uncertain world, a curiously fascinating psychological thriller about two prisoners (Matt Kirkwood and Darin Singleton) incarcerated by a totalitarian regime. Mercilessly tortured for unknown crimes and living without hope of escape or release, they desperately try to crack the code of their cryptic imprisonment. Only familiar to each other by voice as they cannot see one another, the men try to keep mentally and emotionally stable through their cell walls by sharing stories of their interrogations and torture, putting the pieces together about their captors, and attempting to devise a plan of escape.

The puzzle is further complicated with the introduction of a new prisoner placed between them, who only poses more questions than answers, and a childish yet sadistic guard (Douglas Dickerman) who seems to regret his job as resident torturer as much as he relishes talking about the details of it. As noted of the Cherry Lane production in TimeOut New York Magazine, “[THE UNSEEN] demonstrates what the Greeks always knew: If the writing is good enough, violence needn’t be seen to be believed.”

The Road Theatre Company has enjoyed an amazing 17-year history, honored with 10 Critic's Choice selections from the LA Times, 5 Pick of the Week selections from L.A. Weekly, 12 Critic’s Picks from Back Stage, 61 Valley Theatre League Artistic Director Achievement (ADA) Awards, 8 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards, 4 LA Weekly Awards, 2 Back Stage Garland Awards and 32 Garland Critic’s Citations, 15 Ovation Awards, 4 TicketHolder Awards and 27 runners-up mentions from Entertainment Today, and 5 Robby Awards. The company was honored with the 1998 LA Drama Critics Circle Margaret Hartford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre and the 2003 Back Stage West Landmark Award for Excellence in Theatre. The Lankershim Arts Center is a facility of the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles.

THE UNSEEN opens Friday, June 19, playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm through Saturday, Aug. 22 at The Road Theatre, located two blocks south of Magnolia Bl. in the historic Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Bl. in the heart of North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District. General admission is $30.00 ($10.00 for special preview performances on June 16, 17 and 18 at 8pm). Visa and MasterCard are welcomed and discounts are also available for senior, student, 3-A union members, and groups. For further information, call 866.811.4111 or log on at http://www.roadtheatre.org/.

NEW - 2009 Interview with Jeff Trachta

My Entertainer of the Year 2008, singer/actor Jeff Trachta is my idea of the ideal night club performer. He is a fantastic singer, impressionist and one helluva funny man. His one-man show Jeff Trachta Live! plays the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm in the Cascade Room. An alumnus of The Bold and the Beautiful, having played Thorne Forrester for 8 years, and Broadway as Danny Zuko in Tommy Tune’s acclaimed revival of Grease (mid 1990s), Jeff Trachta is at present happy to perform alone, except on occasion with his pet golden retriever who recently accompanied him to the Cascade Room. In our interview, Trachta talks about his idols and his newfound love of PS.

Q: How do you like working the Cascade Room in PS as opposed to performing in Las Vegas?

JT: I love living in Palm Springs so much. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.The spectacular mountains.The weather. The people. To be able to work and have a life here is perfect.

Q: Someone asked, "Do you think he'd go back to Broadway?" How about it? For the right role?

JT: Right now I am completely fulfilled doing my own show.I like the total creative control and the give-and-take I get with my audiences. I wouldn't want to do anything other than what I'm doing right now and in the venue I'm doing it.

Q: You bring the audience such joy when you perform. Is this your greatest high? If not, what is?

JT: I love crack actually (Kidding).I must admit performing in front of a live audience is right up there. Although I also love being close to nature. I enjoy hiking those mountains I mentioned earlier, and I really get a lift from animals and their honest energy.

Q: Who are your singing idols?

JT: I love Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett. I'm also a huge fan of Boz Scaggs, Bon Jovi and Barry Manilow, not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and arranger.

Q: And your acting idols?

JT: Danny Kaye, Jim Carrey, and Kevin Spacey are all amazing.

Q: Which contemporary ones are appealing to you? How do you really feel about Justin Timberlake?

JT: I think Justin Timberlake is incredibly talented. I also love Usher and Gnarls Barkley.

Q: Is it nice to be away from LA, or would you bring the show back here sometime?

JT: Palm Springs is so laid back and has a comfortable, small-town feeling. You get very spoiled here.

Q: What is your mission as a performer?

JT: To put the audience in a great mood. It's that simple.

Q: Any TV offers?

JT: I'm not really pursuing any other opportunities. I love where I am right now. But I'm planning on living to 114, so I have a few more years to create new things.

Like George Burns, Trachta envisions a long life. I do as well. In 2o years time, Jeff Trachta Live! will still undoubtedly be one of the world's funniest & most popular night club shows.

2004 Interview with legend Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds will return to the El Portal from April 29-May 10 for her delightful evening of comedy and song.

When I interviewed her in 2004, she had me in stitches as she answered a question doing a Bette Davis impression. After all, who better than Reynolds to do her? She played Davis' daughter in The Catered Affair. She also does Ann Miller and others. What a talented mimic! Reynolds is no stranger to the El Portal. At the time of the interview she was about to do a benefit of Love Letters on its Mainstage with John Saxon.

Q: How often do you perform your one-woman show?

DR: I do 42 weeks a year, on the road doing night clubs and Vegas, Reno, Tahoe and Atlantic City and all the Indian reservations and different big civic theaters, like the Alex in Glendale. I've been doing that for 30 years or so. Every year I do a Florida tour.

Q: How often do you change the show?

DR: I change it every year. Different songs, different openings...I just put in a new 40s medley. My audience likes that. A Gershwin medley.

Q: You're still in great voice!

DR: Well, I learned years ago from Jack Benny, who used to stay at my Palm Springs house... he used to practice the violin. I'd say to him, "Why don't you just fake it for comedy?" He'd say, "No dear, that's not how you do it. You have to keep practicing, if you're really going to be good."

So, it's the same with the voice, you have to keep singing.

Q: Any comment about Ann Miller's recent passing?

DR: I was just devastated. She was one of my favorites, as well as of many others. At MGM, we were all under contract. It was like a school. Everybody there: Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Janet Leigh, Janie Powell, Kathryn Grayson, we were all friends all these years, since 1949. It's tough when you lose the funniest one. Annie was so loud. She said to me two weeks ago, (in best Miller voice) "Debbie, let me ask you a personal question. Why are you still working? It's ridiculous, you know what I mean, we could go to parties and we could play!" That was just two weeks ago. She had lung cancer, but she didn't tell us. She had osteoporosis, and with an 8 inch bone loss, her head was down on her shoulders. That was clearly why she developped all these other problems. I mean she didn't smoke. She was an athlete; she was a great dancer. She was in top condition when all this happened to her 8 years ago. It was just horrible! She was just fabulous, a greater talent than anyone I could say! She's going to be terribly missed. She had no family, so it's up to her friends to give her a farewell. She was one of a kind.

Q: Why Love Letters?

DR: It's fun to get back to acting. I do Will and Grace and a movie once a year, when you can find a part for older women, or a fun part. There are so few. It hit my fancy. I'm doing it for me.

Q: The El Portal has been in your neighborhood since you were a little girl, correct?

DR: I used to ride my bicycle to go to the movies there for 10 cents. I lived 12 blocks away in North Hollywood. I was raised in Burbank, right on the edge, on Evergreen Street. I was Miss Burbank of 1948 and I'd ride my bike to the El Portal with my girlfreind Jeanette from age of 8 to 17 years. She's coming to see the show. "Is it still pretty, Franny?" (Francis is her real name.) I said, "It's much prettier, Jeanette, you'll see, it's going to cost you more than a dime!" "Should I ride my bike?" I said, "No, bring your Rolls!"

Q: I just saw you in The Catered Affair the other night on TCM (Turner Classic Movies), and Robert Osborne was saying how the movie was a turning point in your career. You were terrific in it!

DR: Well Richard Brooks (director) didn't want me for the part, but...I was under contract, so Mr. Mayer said, "But, you've got her!" So Brooks was really tough on me, but Bette Davis and Ernie Borgnine were great, and Rod Taylor was wonderful.

Q: So were you!

DR: It's amazing, but when I look at it, I was 20, and certainly untrained. They certainly were not thinking of a dramatic actress. They took me out of my tap class and said, "You're doing The Catered Affair". It shook me up, and I had to work really hard. Bette Davis and Ernie Borgnine got me through it, not Richard Brooks. He considered me a brat. But...(she launches into her best Davis impression)...that's where I started imitating Bette Davis and doing impressions.

Q: What's your funniest Bette Davis story?

DR: She and Gary Merrill, to whom she was married, were so ill-matched. He used to come in drunk on the sound stage, wearing a little beanie with a propeller on the top. Then we'd try to do a serious scene. It was a very strange mix. There was Barry Fitzgerald with the Irish voice (she imitates his brogue) and you had BETTE DAVIS and you had Gary Merrill with the beanie and then you had Marty/ Ernie Borgnine sitting there, a serious New York actor and then Rod Taylor from Australia, trying to do an American accent. And then you had Tammy who wasn't yet Tammy. And then the cameraman who tried to run the camera over the director; they hated him so much. It was a real mixture of emotions, but all the actors loved each other.

Q: Was Bette easy to get along with?

DR: She was. She was older at that time, and she wanted to look very ordinary. It was miscasting in a way, but she did it very well, and she was very kind to me. Ernie would tell me, "Don't try to play the scene, just be it!"

Q: What are your more recent memories of Mother with Albert Brooks?

DR: I was very lucky to get that great part. Albert is such a wonderful writer and director. It was a tough movie, because it's really a two-person show. So much dialogue, and you had to underplay. Again, like The Catered Affair, understated. Also, the reason I wanted to do Love Letters. I mean I love doing my act, but I miss acting. I wanted to do Mother on television, but Albert doesn't do television.

Q: What about a project for you and Carrie (Fisher)?

DR: We'd love it, so I told her, "Write something!" There's nothing out there. You have to write your own material. We're available.

Q: What's next for Debbie? Another book?

DR: A Disney movie for children, called Halloween Town. I turned down 42nd Street for Broadway, because I don't want to do 8 shows a week.

Q: And Unsinkable Molly Brown in Long Beach was your last musical onstage, right?

DR: It was too much... dancing. When you're doing flips in the air and that kind of hard dancing ...I was 62 at the time, now I'm 71...I don't think I should do triple flips off the bar. I think you should control yourself a little bit, so you can walk, and when you die, you can walk to your own funeral. (we laugh)

Q: You look great!

DR: Well, I'm in good shape. I love what I do, so I think that's the key. I don't have to retire to be happy.

Q: Any advice for young actors?

DR: If you're a dancer, study singing. You have to do everything and do it well. You have to study acting. You have to study all of it. You have to find workshops, get out on the stage...and fail. The only way you learn is by failure. Now if I could apply that to my marriages...

Debbie Reynolds is happy with her accomplishments, but talked about building her Motion Picture Museum in Tennessee due to the lack of interest in Hollywood. This is something that she truly wants to happen. From my understanding the project is supported by Dolly Parton and in 2009 is still in the works.

2007 interview with Sean McDermott

Jekyll & Hyde

When this interview was conducted for reviewplays.com, actor/singer Sean McDermott was about to perform at the Ford Amphitheatre as part of a benefit for Valley Musical Theatre called Broadway Unplugged. Unfortunately, Valley Musical Theatre has since disbanded, but McDermott continues successfully to cross country singing in his one-man show and in a show with Kevin Spiritas entitled Jersey Men.

(McDermott had spent the summer of 2007 on a European concert tour with Barbra Streisand. Billed as the Broadway Boys, McDermott, Hugh Panaro, Michael Arden and Peter Lockyer sang with La Streisand in Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Dublin, Manchester and London: just 10 performances in 8 cities. Various parts of these concerts may be viewed on You Tube. I have included here a couple of the questions that relate to that phenomenal experience.)

Q: How did this whole experience make you feel?

McD: It was sort of a dream come true. Barbra Streisand was a big inspiration for me. My older sister was also a singer. We both learned how to sing, listening to Streisand...Johnny Mathis...Jane Olivor came out after that...Sinatra was great too. My sister came to Dublin to see the show and came back and met Streisand. And I told her (Barbra), "You taught us how to sing."

Q: How did she react?

McD: She was thrilled.

Q: How did she treat you throughout the tour?

McD: She was great to us. She took us out to dinner; she gave us presents. Donna Karan threw us a party in London...I only have great things to say...just standing off stage and watching her...(he is awestruck)...

Q: I'm so glad she's back doing the concert scene again!

McD: Stage fright kept her away for about 20 years. You know, she got a lot of flack for the teleprompters. They're very big. There's one that sits out over the audience. It's huge. She doesn't use it a lot, but it's there for security. She's a perfectionist. She's not a club type singer to whom patter comes easy. She wants things a certain way.

Q: Let's switch to Sean. Tell me about your recent recordings.

McD: I have a CD that was released in Europe. I'm going to go over there and do some concert work to promote it. Dublin loves singers, and so, it's a big release there. I don't know about its release here, probably via the internet. The music business is very strange now, and to get a big record company (... is difficult)... It's primarily original, with a few cover tunes like "Danny Boy" and "Open Arms". It's not Broadway like my previous 2 CDs (the last being Piece of Sky) . It's more rock and pop. I'm a Josh Grobin type and producer Charlie Midnight would pull me back on a lot of my big singing, because, for radio play, it's just not as effective.

Q: Those Broadway albums are terrific!

McD: Yes, thank you. Well my producer in London who did them (Jay Records) wants to do a third, so we were recording in London while I was there this summer. I also want to do an album of Irish songs.

Q: How's LA treating you?

(he recently guested on an episode of NBC's Medium - February, 2009)

McD: I've been out for a lot of film and TV work and done some co-star stuff.

Q: What kind of music do you like to listen to in your leisure time? Besides Barbra, of course!

McD: Mathis, Michel LeGrand. Sting is a huge favorite of mine. Annie Lennox, as far as pop is concerned. It's the way they write, so poignant.

Q: Do you compose?

McD: I do not write. Just some lyrics, but no. I wish I could. I play the piano minimally. My mother studied to be a concert pianist and she taught us. But there was a point where she really couldn't teach us anymore, so we took lessons, into college. If you can't play by then, it's not meant to be.

Q: What about the newer Broadway musicals?

McD: I've been discouraged with many, but there's a new piece called Spring Awakening (2007's Tony Award for Best Musical) that is so inspirational. I loved that. I loved Wicked, although it's a little silly. I like some of the tunes quite a bit. Spring Awakening...I can remember every song.

Q: When are you going to do another show?

McD: From your mouth to God's ears. I've been busy touring and doing a lot of concert work. When the part or the moment is right, I'd love to do more theatre out here.

Q: Do you have a favorite current pop song or singer?

McD: I watched Justin Timberlake recently. He's wonderful. I like his voice. It has this real high timber to it. I also like this rapper Timbaland who performs with Elton John. Keane, a group from London...they have a great sound, a very Beatlesish sound, yet very now.

Q: Are Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz composing material that is too hard for the voice to sing?

McD: Miss Saigon is like singing an opera. You do it 8 times a week, and it's very hard. Starlight Express was extremely high, and it's really difficult to replace people in it. But they're young singers conditioned to sing that way, so I think they've kind of raised the bar, and singers are really coming up to it. They're like machines. You have to really be disciplined not only in your technique, but also in your livelihood. It's a difficult lifestyle.

Q: Do you sing every day?

McD: No, I don't. You really have to take your time off. When you're not singing at night, you have to just be silent, so that the voice can rest. We don't get the break that opera singers have. They usually have a performance and then 3 or 4 days off. Sad to say, the younger you are, the easier it is. You have to keep yourself in shape.

Q: What is your favorite show of all time?

McD: West Side Story. Especially doing it. I know it sounds corny, but there's not another role written like Tony, if you are a tenor.

Q: Favorite composer?

McD: Sondheim.

Q: Mine too.

McD: I mean, I haven't done a lot of Sondheim shows, but I love singing his music. Every one should break out with a Sondheim tune every now and then. You learn so much from singing his material. Singing is the expression of the soul, I think, so his tunes hit the heart; they resonate.

Q: Favorite role you've played? Tony?

McD: It's Tony. Chris, too, was amazing in Miss Saigon.

Q: What role do you think is your best work?

McD: I did a production of Jekyll & Hyde. That was a stretch, a wonderful part...

Q: What role do you yearn to play?

McD: That's the big question. Probably Jean Valjean (Les Miz). Also... Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom, just because I haven't done it. Today there's so much clout in the world of musical theatre.

Q: Is there any role you'd like to play again?
McD: Jekyll & Hyde. I'm getting to the age where you kind of grow into it. And ... Billy Bigelow in Carousel.

Q: What do you feel is your mission as a performer?

McD: To make people happy, to spread the light and love. To just do...You're only as good as your last film or CD or Broadway show, so you're always wanting to do better, to create something really great. I want to just keep doing my music, and I don't know if I've ultimately found it yet. With each new project, I'm getting closer to ...finding my place.

Who is Sean McDermott?

An open, pleasant guy with good Irish genes and a keen talent. Whatever lies ahead for him, he'll surely make it great.

Visit him in his home away from home @

www.seanmcdermott.com

His achievements will amaze you!

2004 interview with Ellen Greene

A singer's singer Ellen Greene was about to launch her brilliant new album In His Eyes in 2004 when the following interview took place for
reviewplays.com

Q: Why has it taken you so long to record a solo album?

EG: I did an album as a youngster when I was 21. We worked on ii for a bout a year and a half. It was beautiful. On it was "Never Never Land", "Nights in White Satin", "This Amazing Thing"...it was for Atlantic...and when it was almost finished, I was told that it was not going to be released. I was so in denial, how much that hurt, because I loved recording it. Every time I would record for a show...I always loved recording and making movies, because you're only with artists. Not that I don't love stage and all that, but when you're just around artists, it's all about the creation. There's no response, there's no reward; the reward is the creating part. It's a collaborative thing.
After what happened, for many years I didn't own up to how badly I wanted to record. I've never thought of myself as a singer, but an actress.

Q: You're a terrific one and that's what makes your singing come alive!

EG: Thank you. There are also many other reasons I stopped singing. At Peter Allen's memorial, my friend Don Palladino was out in the audience, and I was singing "Love Don't Need a Reason", and I looked at him and I just knew he was next, and both of us knew. My heart just went into my throat, and I said, "I cannot do one more memorial for someone I love, and I don't want to sing again. "I'll sing for a show, but singing...me, portraying myself, I don't lie...and my heart was broken. When I started singing again with Christian (Klikovits), I realized how much I missed doing it, and he so admired my work, he made me realize that I've always wanted to do an album and was in denial about it. There are so many singers that are better technicians than I, but...

Q: You put your soul into it. And on In His Eyes your voice manages to capture so many different stylings, it's amazing!

EG: They're really great songs, aren't they? I love the writers I've chosen. They, in my mind, do the songs best. I hope that I add to the renditions. I let you see their words in another way. I'm so very proud of this album.

Q: As well you should be. Let's go back a bit. Now that Little Shop of Horrors is a great big stage hit all over again, and Audrey is in demand, does that part of your life come back to haunt you? How fond of her are you?

EG: I love Howard Ashman. I miss him desperately. That was 5 years of my life. If someone could love a character I've done...means I loved it first. I loved her. She was a sweet brunette on the page. It was one of those times...it happened in my life a few times like In His Eyes and Side Man, the play I just finished at the Malibu Stage...I get on a creative roll and I create something that's beyond me. Certain things happen; it clicks. For Audrey: the voice, the look, the clothes, the hair, the makeup...round enough to fall off the tree like a peach...Howard and I wrote some lines for her; we were very, very close. I knew things instinctually. I'm proud of her. I made her from the ground up. I thought she should be created in the land of Little Shop. Anything that was a little campy got taken out of the script. When I went to say the lines, the voice just came out of me naturally. I felt that she would be dressed-up. What she thought was in good taste, obviously was a little off. I wanted her in high heels, because I wanted her teetering. Just when you got to laugh, she makes you cry. Just when you're about to cry, she makes you laugh. I thought the power of her insides should come out when she sang. That's her inner life, and her outer life...I bought a wig, we cut it into a bob with a duck back. I remember Carol Channing coming to one of the shows and wanting my wig. When we auditioned for replacements, I said, "This character doesn't have to be a blonde. She doesn't have to be dressed like this." I'm proud that everyone loves my take on it, but to me, the key to Audrey is her innocence, her sweetness and how she views people.

Q: Getting back to the new CD, one of my favorite songs is T. Amos' "Winter"!

EG: Isn't it beautiful and aren't you touched? I remember the first time Christian said he wanted to have a tribal feel in that moment where it's the opening up realization that life is going by, and if you don't do something about your dreams and make them a reality and start to love who you are as yourself, then you will not be able to embrace any of those dreams. Who you are is the immense magic. It's a very hard thing for all of us to accept ourselves at all the different stages - the horrible side, the wonderful side, the adorable side - and who you are as a grownup. And then to bring what you learned as a child to that grownup: that is the magic of creativity. That song says so much to me.

to purchase In His Eyes, visit

www.ellengreene.com