Interview - Gale Harold

Best known for his 6-year stint as Brian Kinney on Showtime's Queer as Folk, actor Gale Harold is currently treading the boards at Theatre/Theater in the rarely produced Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams through February 21. Talk about commitment to a role! On the night I attended the play the cast did a Q & A after the performance with audience at which time Harold shared a story about iconic teacher Stella Adler's script interpretation notes in which it was stated that she once shut a student down in scene study class for his "pedestrian interpretation" of Williams' lyric poetry in Valentine's monologue about the bird with no wings.

GH: She said something like "You cannot speak this as if you heard the story down on the dock." For an actor with great expectations, it gives you cold feet.

Q: You have obviously taken your preparation for this role to heart. As an actor, you are a very good listener, but so is Valentine. What do you feel this attribute contributes to his overall symbolism in the play? Is he a healer of sorts?

GH: I don't think Valentine's aware of that. Even though he's a hustler, he's had to survive by his wit and by his charm and by learning other things on the streets. When he communicates, I don't think what results he does consciously. I think it's just his spirit that's driving him. He loves to listen; he grew up all alone without family. There's that aspect of hearing things that probably most people couldn't hear. It's not what's coming through the words, but what's coming through your eyes and your heart. Like Stella (Adler) said, he listens to a voice, what's communicated through the soul. It's not something that we always come across.

Q: He's an unusual person. He's bigger than he knows.

GH: That's absolutely true. It's an allegory. He's a mythological character and a real person. You can't really be both if you know you're both. I'm treading very lightly on this, as I'm not really sophisticated to know.

Q: It's very complex and you're doing very well with it. What is the tune that Valentine keeps singing throughout?

GH: It's a poem that Williams wrote. The words of the poem...it's straightforward and simple. The meaning there is ...it's almost this country blues kind of song about this bird who is or is not this boy who is or is not this bird that used to be free. When he walked, he walked in a way on the grass that was growing in heaven. He was up in the stars and he watched the stars and he watched the sky, and one day he fell to earth. When he was given birth, he came out of his mother, but he's not himself in a different place. A beautiful image...the whole idea of it, I think!

Q: You played Dr. Cukrowicz in another Tennessee Williams play, in a New York production of Suddenly Last Summer. Would you compare this character to Valentine?

GH: I enjoyed playing him immensely. The characters themselves, even though they are both listeners, they're similar structurally in that a lot of their function in the piece is to listen. Listen to the memories, the ideas, and the passions. But they're incredibly different. Cukrowicz is young, somewhat ambitious, but still in his early stages, dealing with the procedure of lobotomy, which was very, very new. Not much was known about it. It was experimental, dangerous. That character is much more restrained, more about being the sounding board between the female characters. Valentine is much more involved. He's a transient and has some real problems in terms of the things he's done and up against. He's under scrutiny and gets put in a vey dangerous situation. He's a much more lyrical, active part of the story. The ideas are much more complicated in Orpheus Descending. In our production, Lou Pepe (director) has done a great job. When you take a great myth and incorporate it into a modern story, you get vastly different aspects, ambitious and compelling.

Q: Do you have a role that you really yearn to play?

GH: There are so many. I don't like to talk about it, actually. I let those ideas kind of percolate out there.

Q: Is there one part that you've played that stands out in your mind?

GH: There've been some great ones, but I'm still waiting for that one... Valentine is probably the most encompassing. You do the background work and it grows on you. It's quite a fire.

Q: You have a good singing voice. Have you done musicals? If not, do you want to do one?

GH: I haven't. I'm an extreme novice. I'm so out of my league.

Q: How did you enjoy your role in Desperate Housewives?

GH: I enjoyed it. It was something very different, very new for me. The way that Marc Cherry writes, the way that he sees what's going on...it was challenging. I'm not a comic and didn't have a lot of experience doing comedy. In that project, there's that fine line between comedy and dark drama. The things that are funny are not horrifying, but shocking or troubling. There's a very specific idea of timing and the way it works. And I immediately realized I had to say, "Marc, tell me, direct me, because I'm not sure where I'm really at!" It was fun.

Q: Are you more challenged with stage work than with doing film?

GH: In theatre, you go up, you do a performance each night, and you have things that change from night to night... the house, the way they're responding, the vibration that's coming back to you, or how they are not responding, your own nervousness, the fun of just being able to let it run every night. The other side is keeping your energy up, keeping your perspective clear. There's the challenge of making sure that you're playing each scene as if it's happening for the first time. On the other hand, I love films and working on film sets. And there's something that really fascinates me about getting into the light someone that may be over in 18 days or however long you're working. What seems banal is challenging. I love it all. If the material is good, and if the people that are putting it together are motivated and have a sense of humor and aren't afraid of really pushing each other to uncomfortable places, then there's nothing better.

Q: Good! What do you think is the real success of Queer as Folk? Why is it still so popular in rerun?

GH: It represents for many people something new and the way to have their voices expressed. There is a combination of...the way the original was (the British version), there's a bit of an anarchic: life is short, don't get put in a box, don't be scared to make choices that are not based on someone else's ideas, stay true to the things that you believe in whether they are good or bad, right or wrong. There's a bit of soul survivor, as in the role I was playing. That ideology was in the original and to some degree in ours, and also there's a lot of sex. Anytime you have something with a lot of sex, you're going to have fans. It's human nature. The American version had a bit of camp built into it. If you can hit the bullseye and make it funny and make it relevant, but still have some soul to it...

Q: What do you feel is your most important mission as an actor?

GH: Oh, God, I would hope it would be to ...on some level whatever the job is, whatever the part is ...to try and find the truth in whatever you're doing. Nonjudgmental truth. And then communicating it so that it is believable, even if it is a lie, and that it is true for each person that watches it. Everybody knows eveybody on some level. We can all imagine. And that's why the arts, drama is so important, because it continually tells our story. It allows us to revisit and live on through it. Be a storyteller and get it out there so that it can be understood, make sense and do its job.

Q: Anything up and coming for Gale Harold?

GH: It's all pretty much up in the air at the moment.

Based on seeing this man in Orpheus Descending and talking with him, I sense that it won't be up in the air for long. He's a serious actor who is not afraid of taking risks, big risks and is therefore bound for glory.

Squigs Shows MY Lines

Caricaturist Justin 'Squigs' Robertson shows my lines above. Be sure and check out my interview with him below and also @ http://www.broadwayworld.com/ los angeles
(Search under Don Grigware!)

Happy 2010 to all my readers and check out my new website design by Fred Barca @ Euro American Media!

2010 Interview with Justin "Squigs" Robertson

Actor Justin 'Squigs' Robertson is an amazing caricaturist of theatrical celebrities. Born in Corvallis, Oregon and raised in Lebanon, Oregon, he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to attend college.

Q: When did you start drawing?
JR: I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember. All kids draw. Some just don’t stop. Dad has artistic abilities too and I think it was his encouragement early on that led to my passion for drawing. My folks were so great about getting lessons for whatever us kids showed an interest in, and so I took some painting courses at a local studio and won an award at the town fair. I just kept at it, and once I started performing semi-professionally in the theatre in 1993, I began giving cast sketches as closing night gifts. My vocation came directly from the word of mouth and support from many angels over the years.

Q: When did it become more than just a hobby?
JR: Over the years, the closing night gifts led to commissions, and gradually commission requests were not only coming from folks in my local Los Angeles theatre community but also from far-flung locales like Seattle and Chicago and Washington DC and then Broadway. It’s been gradual, but I would say that the career has taken a few steps forward with some extra self-promotional effort since 2006. And in 2009 I committed myself to the exercise of creating at least one fresh and timely sketch each week for posting on my Facebook page, “Squigs Knows His Lines.” It’s been a great exercise that has opened some doors, both professionally and, more importantly, in my own perception of my work.

Q: Is Hirschfeld your idol? How do you respond to people who say you are the next Hirschfeld?
JR: I would definitely say that he’s an idol. I own nearly all of the published books of his work and I own one of his lithographs. No matter how many times I look at his drawings, I’m always astounded by his potent economy and the dance of his line. I’m incredibly honored when folks see his influence in my work, but there will never be another. He’s a true legend. If I can fill even a portion of the void he left, with a fraction of the style in which he worked, I’d be happy.

Q: Who are other inspirational artists?
JR: I’m consistently blown away by Robert Risko, Sam Norkin, Bob Staake, John Kascht, Kristen Ulve, Steve Brodner, and the recently departed David Levine.

Q: Do you do anything besides caricatures?
JR: I play ukulele. And I can sort of juggle. Oh… the art. I have also dabbled in character and logo design, coloring books, storyboarding for short films, and educational illustration.

Q: Do you do work on both coasts or pretty much in California?
JR: I’ve lived in Los Angeles for almost 20 years (with one or two trips to the east coast each year for the past five years or so), but I’ll be in New York soon… May in fact (after a few months in chilly Milwaukee). But wherever I’m located, I work rather well from photos (and videos when available). So I feel grateful that I’m able to draw anyone anywhere with the right reference material.

Q: Who do you consider your best caricature?
JR: That’s really hard to pin down. There are so many factors. Each time I draw someone I do my best to capture not just their likeness, but their essence in a specific moment. And I try to do it in the fewest possible lines. If I’m successful at that, it makes me very happy.

Q: Things are going well for you!?
JR: I’m incredibly grateful to do what I love, and so many amazing folks have helped me along the journey. It has been quite a ride and we’re only picking up steam. Thank you Don for the opportunity to ramble a bit. Happy New Year everybody!

(Above left, the current New York revival of A Little Night Music with Alexander Hanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury; right, T. R. Knight and Lara Pulver in the Taper's brilliant Parade this past season.)

Visit:

www.squigsink.com

for many more!!!!!!!!!!!

2010 interview with actor/producer Chad Borden

Actor/producing director of Havok Theatre Company Chad Borden has been treading the boards in LA theatre for many years, this year being Ovation nominated for his portrayal of Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman (photo, above top).



Q: Tell me about Havok's new season and your opening production.
CB: THE STORY OF MY LIFE opens our new 2010 Havok Theatre Company season at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood with previews beginning on February 25. Two years ago when our inaugural production of THRILL ME was running at the Hudson, several people said we should look at this new musical called THE STORY OF MY LIFE which was part of the NAMT Festival. Nick DeGruccio (our Havok Artistic Director) and I have multiple shows which are constantly swirling around our brains as potential production material. After producing something as ambitious as KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN to close our first season, we felt something small and simple would be best for our next show. We chose STORY because of no other reason than...the story. Nick and I always gravitate towards material with a moving core story. Written by Neil Bartram and Brian Hill and nominated for 4 2009 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, it is a beautifully distilled treatment of two best friends who grow apart over the years for seemingly unknown reasons.

Q: How did you enjoy F*cking Men?
CB: I really enjoyed my first experience at the Celebration Theatre in F*CKING MEN. It was a great part, and a very different part for me. As an actor, I always relish the chance to dive into new material and new characters.

Q: Is your commitment to Havok the reason for your not being in the extension of it?
CB: Yes. I just finished playing the Grinch in the GRINCHMAS shows directed by Dan Mojica at Universal Studios while doing pre-production on THE STORY OF MY LIFE. Our Havok production and rehearsal schedule in January and February will require all of my time and focus.

Q: How was Fiddler at the Rubicon?
CB: I loved working at the Rubicon! James O'Neil and Karyl Lynn Burns create a wonderful family with each show up there in Ventura. FIDDLER is simply iconic, and I was so lucky to play Motel in a great production with lots of friends, new and old.

Q: Is Molina in Kiss your favorite role? If not, what is?
CB: Yes. Molina in SPIDER WOMAN is my favorite role. Also close to the top of the list are my roles in THE LARAMIE PROJECT and the Emcee in CABARET.

Q: Who is your favorite actor? actress? Film or stage!
CB: It's hard to name just one, but when I think of one actor who has affected me over the years in film, on television, AND on stage, I would definitely say Glenn Close. She always makes the unexpected choice, and that's thrilling to me.

Q: Do you have a favorite play or musical of all time?
CB: For musicals...anything Kander & Ebb...SPIDER WOMAN, CHICAGO, CABARET. I also love BIG RIVER, and I'm still a sucker for OKLAHOMA! As for plays, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is rooted in my recent memory, but I would still say ANGELS IN AMERICA is my favorite play of all time. I will never forget scoring a last-minute cancellation ticket on Broadway, and seeing that play front row center mezzanine with the original cast.

Q: Do you yearn to play a certain part?
CB: Albin in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES....someday....when I grow up!

visit http://www.havoktheatre.com/

December, 2009 Interview - Alan Cumming

Actor/singer Alan Cumming, Tony Award Winner for his role of Emcee in the smash revival of Cabaret (1998) is a singular performer and humanitarian. He reopens his brilliant cabaret solo show I Bought A Blue Car Today for one week only December 13-18 on the second stage of the Geffen Playhouse, where his initial engagement (end of September-beginning of October) was SRO for all performances.

I caught up with him after his return from Australia and his appearance on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day

Parade.

Q: What is the very favorite role on stage that you’ve played?

AC: It’s usually the role I am doing at the moment. (I’m a very in the moment kind of guy). So right now, I guess my favourite role would be me!!

Q: What role do you long to play?

AC: I have always wanted to play Jean in Miss Julie, and lately I’ve had a yearning for Iago in Othello.

Q: Were you trained in London or Scotland?

AC: I trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, bonnie Scotland.

Q: What do you think is the advantage of your training over that which American actors receive? Do you encounter a big difference in acting styles between Americans and Europeans?

AC: I think the biggest difference is that we tend to get a more concentrated sort of training, more intense and then it’s done, rather than the idea that you go on training for years in little dollops here and there. I think American actors are victim to the over-analysis of acting and the various derivations of the Method, and consequently I think they tend to make it all a bit more difficult for themselves than it needs to be. I think Europeans tend to just dive off the cliff and get on with it rather than try and remember a sense memory of what it might feel like to jump off a cliff.

Q: You mention in the show that you were shy and it was difficult for you to sing, and for that reason, this show is a challenge for you. Enhance upon that for us!

AC: Well, I know I can sing a bit, but I also know that the way I sing is not the type of singing that you might expect from a Tony award winning musical actor, and so I think over the years I have worked myself into a frenzy about the increasing potential to disappoint an audience by doing a show like mine. Therefore it got more and more scary for me and when I finally decided to do it, it seemed an even bigger obstacle. But of course doing it, and singing my way (which is sort of just like how I speak but with a tune) and realizing that audiences respond to that and are refreshed by it has been a great thing for me.

Q: What is your favorite musical show of all time (not necessarily one that you’ve done) and why?

AC: Cabaret. It’s got it all. It’s got substance, something to say and great tunes.

Q: I thought your scene in Eyes Wide Shut was hilarious. How do you feel about gay roles in film? Do you think gays will ever get their proper recognition? Will they ever be represented properly on film or television sans stereotypes?

AC: I really believe that the train has left the station in terms of equality. It has already happened in some countries, like the Uk, even Catholic countries like Spain, and I believe it will happen soon in America. I think the sooner that happens the sooner people will be forced to confront their prejudices and the sooner gay people will no longer be feared and hopefully will be represented more positively. As for me playing gay roles, I really don’t make a distinction. It’s unusual that sexuality is the most important thing about a character.

Q: Who are your favorite actors on film and on stage?

AC: I adore Dianne Wiest, Meryl Streep, Jane Lynch, Chris Cooper, Bobby Canazale. But most of my favourite actors in the world you’d never have heard of like Laurence Spellman, Siobhan Redmond, people I have worked with in the UK.

Q: The thing I love about your show is that you go out on a limb to be you. You put it out there for the world to see and admire. For that reason I’ve picked you as Best Solo Show: Male on my website for 2009.
Elaborate a little on your political views and your choice for the title of the show.

AC: Gosh, thanks so much! My political views are pretty left-wing by American standards. I want MORE government. I want a socialized health service. I want free education for all. I want the rich to pay more taxes to help out the poor. And I believe everyone should be legally recognized as equal and deserving of everything society has to offer, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexuality

Q: What’s up next for Alan Cumming? I read you are going to New York this spring to star in a new musical? Elaborate on that!

AC: I am going to play the Green Goblin in the musical Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, directed by Julie Taymor, with music by Bono and the Edge. It’s very exciting, and I think will be a totally incredible spectacle. So that’s exciting. And before that I am doing a film called Burlesque with Cher and Christina Aguilera, and also doing some appearances to promote my record.

Q: You make your characters on film – the cartoon ones – bigger than life and you are ideally suited to that. I know the recognition off screen for them is immensely satisfying, but isn’t there some great dramatic role you see yourself playing at some point?

AC: Well you know, I’ve done my fair share. I think that the more commercial films and therefore the ones that people see you doing more tend to skewer their opinions of what the entire body of your work is like. But that’s ok. I just hope that if people like something I’ve done they’ll seek out the smaller and more weirdy work too. Go to http://www.alancumming.com/ for the full skinny.

Q: Care to advise our readers on anything?

AC: Wear a condom! Come and see my show! My record is the perfect holiday gift! Call your mother!

Interview with Megan Mullally

Actress Megan Mullally, best known for her two-time Emmy Award winning role of Karen on Will & Grace, is also a versatile stage actress. Last year she co-starred on Broadway in Mel Brooks' musical version of Young Frankenstein and is currently treading the boards once more as Beverly in the controversial The Receptionist at the Odyssey Theatre, extended until November 21. Quick to admit that she is "not Karen", Mullally is a diversified character actress, who, in our conversation, became quite frank in her appraisal of herself in relation to the play and her various other acting projects. She's an actress who most assuredly knows where she's at and where she's going.
Q: Have you been a lifelong member of The Evidence Room,the company that is producing The Receptionist?
MM: Well, uh (chuckles)..since 2000, when they moved to the space on Beverly Boulevard near Alvarado (which is no longer their space), where their first production was The Berlin Circle. My friend Bart (DeLorenzo) was producing---he's the director of The Receptionist...and that's where I met my husband Nick Offerman, who was also in it...I became a company member and this is my third show for them.

Q: Don't they do very edgy works?
MM: Yeah...Bart picks really smart material that challenges you, which is good. I think one of Bart's strengths, apart from his choice of matetrial is his visual sense. The last three shows that I've seen that he also directed have all been absolutely exceptional. Voice Lessons...did you see that?
Q: Yes, it was great!
MM: Hilarious, and The Projectionist, which he staged so ingeniously and Churchill's A Number.
Q: How would you describe in your own words the character Beverly that you play in The Receptionist?
MM: The thing that I really responded to was that she's extremely loyal. I hope that's a trait I share with her. She's very no nonsense; she is the opposite of a flirt (laughs). One of the challenges...when I first read the play, I knew what I wanted to do with the character emotionally, but I was drawing a blank in terms of the visual...
Q: Very much the opposite of Karen, wouldn't you agree?

MM: It's a character that Karen would not find cute in any way, shape or form. At the beginning of rehearsal I went out with Ann Closs-Farley, the costume designer, and got that wig and then the pair of glasses...and we went to the Glendale Galleria and I put the wig on and just walked through the Ladies of a Certain Age Department (she cracks me up, as she looks amazing for almost 51) and I tried jackets on and that was good; I was set to go. I had gone to New York and looked at the ladies there and that seemed to be the haircut of choice right now and those wire-rimmed glasses are very much the rage with those ladies. I needed to take anything fresh or useful...not that she's so old, but it's that she's not a flirty or sexy kind of woman. Anything fresh or sassy with me had to go.
Q: I heard a lot of people comment about how strange the play is! But I think that's what makes it so interesting, as well as the fact that you bring to your character such a wonderful sense of humor.
MM: I think she has a sense of humor, especially with people she's very fond of like Lorraine (Jennifer Finnegan). She kind of thinks of her as a daughter. In the end when she believes that Lorraine has betrayed her, she remains loyal and goes to bat for her. And that's what's really heartbreaking about the play. I don't think the play is weird at all. I know some people do and I'm not casting aspersions on that, it's just that, first of all, it's a great piece of writing (playwright Adam Bock). It's very cool, and it's been a real privilege to work on. I love that it's not all spelled out, that there's ambiguity. And as an actor, every time it's so much fun to do and every time it just unfolds itself a little bit more.
Q: How did you enjoy doing Young Frankenstein?
MM: I loved it. I had a great time. It was just a great group of people to work with.
Q: I heard the actresses just couldn't wait for it to be over.
MM: Well, I can't speak for the others, but Sutton (Foster) went into Shrek and Andrea (Martin), that's just her temperament, she likes to keep moving and changing, but when I get in a show, I'll keep doing it for 70,000 performances...I keep going and going forever, but we don't live in New York, we live in Los Angeles, so...
Q: Might you do it here on tour?
MM: I don't think so. I feel like I did it and I did it with the greatest group of people imaginable and I'm pretty much booked up for the next year or so.
Q: Good for you! How was working on the movie version of Fame?
MM: It was so fun. I only worked on it for four days. I have a little song, the full-length version is on the soundtrack. In the movie they cut down about half of it.
Q: Bummer! Tell me about your short-lived TV talk show. What happened to that? You have the perfect natural quality for hosting a talk show.
MM: It was really a lot of fun, but it was bad timing. It was at the time that Rachel Ray premiered and we didn't have Oprah (Winfrey) behind us, but, more importantly, I really want to do something in the arena of talking to people about their stories. I don't know if syndicated television is where I'd like to be, because it's a really different world and it's much more sort of corporate - more corporate than it feels truly creative. So if I do something down the road, I prefer the talk format. It's probably going to be radio or a pod cast. I learned a lot about what I want to do and what I don't want to do. One of the problems with the show was also they wanted it to be celebrity talk, sort of what Ellen (Degeneres) does. I wanted it to be more everyday people talk.
Q: I heard people say they wanted to see Karen!
MM: I don't know how to respond to that. I'm not Karen. I'm not Beverly. I'm not Lydia, this character that I'm playing on Party Down (Starz) right now. She brings things out in people.
That's what I like to do: bring out the best in people. It's a very solid half hour of comedy from Adam Scott and Ken Marino. Last season when Jane Lynch left to do Glee, a slot became available. I'm not playing the same role. The whole cast is great and it's a well-scripted, very funny half hour comedy.
Q: Any network show in the offing?
MM: I was doing In the Motherhood for ABC last season, but it only lasted seven episodes. It was not a very satisfying experience, but I'm really happy doing Party Down.
Q: Who's your favorite film actor?
MM: Meryl Streep. I do love her, but I also love some of the character actresses, some of the Brits are great. I also like Patricia Clarkson...most of the people who haven't had plastic surgery (I laugh) I end up liking the most.
Q: No artificiality. What about Broadway actors?
MM: You mean, musical stars?
Q: Sure.
MM: I always enjoy Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters. Kind of the old school.
Q: Is there a role you really want to do?
MM: I want to do the Edward Albee play The Goat. When I read it, I fell in love with it. Bart (DeLorenzo) and I trying to get the rights to do it.
Q: I would love to see you do a play with Leslie Jordan. You were a scream together on Will & Grace.
MM: I'll be doing Karen The Musical. It hasn't been written yet; it's a couple of years out. (she laughs) Fox Theatricals is producing it, Casey Nicholaw is directing (Spamalot) and it's basically me and Leslie Jordan. He has so much stage experience. He's so funny.
Q: That's certainly something to look forward to. So you're doing Receptionist every Saturday through November 21. Do you like doing two shows back to back?
MM: Yes, but I hate waiting a week to do the show, though. You want to just keep it going. The 5 o'clock show seems just a teenie bit rusty. You have to prepare.
Q: You make the show fun to watch, as with just about every part you play.

It's been a pleasure.

MM: Thanks so much.

Remember to catch Megan Mullally in The Receptionist at the Odyssey Theatre on Sepulveda in West LA Saturdays only at 5pm and 8pm through November 21.

Interview with Mitzi Gaynor

What can one do but stand in awe of the legendary accomplishments of Mitzi Gaynor! Motion picture star of over 17 films, including her Golden Globe nominated performance as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 blockbuster musical South Pacific, TV star of 9 spectacular musical specials that garnered 17 Emmy nominations, and night club performer extraordinaire in Las Vegas and touring the entire US and Canada, this lady has done it all. As part of this season's month long tribute to Richard Rodgers by Reprise Theatre Company and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Joshua Logan's film South Pacific, Miss Gaynor will appear onstage this Thursday, October 15 at the Majestic Crest Theatre in Westwood. As well as a stellar performer, she is also the President of the Professional Dancers Society. Via phone, Gaynor excited me with the same high energy and enthusiasm that has remained her trademark for six decades. She is genuine, personable and caring with that vivacious charm that we have all come to associate with Nellie. What caught me off guard was her incredible -sometimes salty- sense of humor.

Q: What has life been like since the passing of your husband/manager Jack (Bean)?

MG: Jack was my whole life - my breakfast, lunch and dinner. The love of my life, my best friend, my producer, my director, my boss (ha, ha!) It's almost three years and I still think of him all day. But some great things have been happening since...my storage places were just overflowing and a friend suggested I call the museum of Radio and Television and see if they wouldn't be interested in displaying them. Well, that happened and I know that Jack is a big part of this. These two guys Rene Reyes and his partner Shane Rosamonda (co-produced the fabulous dvd Mitzi Gaynor: The Razzle Dazzle Years, the PBS special + extra footage of her Emmy winning TV specials) have become very close and it takes two people really to be Jack - I'll never be able to live without him, if you know what I mean, but these two guys are so much like my husband that because of their association life is not as bad as it was.

Q: I understand you just visited Kauai for the first time since filming South Pacific there?

MG: Such fun. When we did the picture, Rossano Brazzi and his wife Lydia were the Italian "I Love Lucy". She weighed about 300 lb and she had great big golden... huge boobies. You'd hear in the morning (in her best Italian accent) "Rossano, you international son-of-a-bitch!" "Lydia, I love it when you make love to me!" I used to say, "Grazi, grazi!" He'd answer, "Prego, Mitzi!" I'd say, "You know Rossano, you are the handsomest, most gorgeous foreign leading man that has ever lived!" He's say, "Mitzi Gaynore, I know!" We used to call Lydia Saint Francis, because she was always saving the animals on the island. One time she found two little tiny kittens, put one on her breast and said "This is a boob pissy and this one's a pussy". (I laugh heartily.) It was amazing that we got the picture done. Just think what Josh (Logan) had to go through. First of all, it was in Todd AO, they had a new kind of sound...every director in the business wanted to do the picture, no one had ever been to the island of Kauai before...and who were we? Rossano was a dramatic actor and I had always done high-kick musicals.

Q: Do you have one specific memory that shows how challenging it was for you to make the film?

MG: The crew was amazing...one time, God was really with us...the day we were about to shoot the scene with "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair". The sun was up, they dropped the needle on the record, I pulled the chain and the water came out, took the shampoo, started to pour it on my head - (sings) "I'm Gonna Wash That Man..."and the shampoo gets in my eyes. Cut. "Save the eyelashes!" I remembered when Rossano and I were in the car going onto location, there was a general store on the highway, just a little shack, and in the window there was a bottle of Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Two hours drive there and two hours drive back to the set. All in one day. So, Johnson & Johnson saved the day. How did I remember that? I'm a great believer in what's supposed to be.

Q: Tell me about your part in the Richard Rodgers celebration. You are going to host a screening of South Pacific this Thursday in Westwood, isn't that correct?

MG: I think this whole Richard Rodgers thing is a fabulous idea. You know it's on Blu-ray now? Imagine! I'll do a short onstage interview before the film. I'll talk a little about the film and...

Q: Tell them some funny stories. What about your association with Bob Mackie through the years? How did that come about?

MG: We've known each other for 45 years. In 1966 I was going to do a special with Danny Thomas called My Home Town, which was Metro Studios, because he did a lot of pictures at Metro. There was a costume designer named Ray Aghayan. He's Persian and he talks like this (affects a rich Persian accent) and smokes cigarettes with two fingers like that. He's brilliant. I told him he did the most beautiful sketches. "I should only look like these sketches!" "Darling", he said "I have no time to do sketches. My partner does the sketches. His name is Bob Mackie." In the end the clothes turned out like the sketches, which very seldom happens. So, fade out, I'm going to do a new act. I called Ray, and he said, "I'm up to my ass in Judy Garland, so I cannot do it. But remember I showed you those sketches?" I'm in rehearsal above the Coronet Theatre on La Cienega and Bob Mackie was supposed to come and see me. I'm standing there in my leotard and the sash around my waist, which is the same color as my leotard...and my 4-inch heels. A knock came at the door and in walked this young blond-headed guy, Bob Mackie. We've been together ever since. We're family, he and I.

Q: I recently saw The Joker Is Wild (1957, directed by Charles Vidor and starring Frank Sinatra) on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). You had a totally dramatic role, which was quite a switch for you; you were terrific in it!

MG: Thank you so much. Nobody's ever told me that. You got a minute? Let me tell you a story. I met with Josh Logan and he said "Hello, Nellie!" and sent me to meet Richard Rodgers. Rodgers said to me, "That's a beautiful mink coat you're wearing." I said, "Thank you. My husband gave it to me for our third anniversary." We had tea, spent a lovely few hours in front of the fire in his library and later Josh told me he wanted Oscar (Hammerstein) to see me in California. I went back and started filming The Joker Is Wild. Josh called Jack (Bean) and said Oscar's going to be in town on Thursday. So I went to director Charlie Vidor - a fellow Hungarian - and said I had a chance to sing for Oscar Hammerstein for South Pacific. Vidor said, "We can't. Thursday's the big casino day and we've already hired about a hundred and fifty extras. That's a big scene for my character, who says to Frank (Sinatra) "Joe, can't we please get a divorce so we can be friends?" So, Frank walks by and he said, "What's up, baby?" I said " I have a chance to sing for Oscar Hammerstein for South Pacific on Thursday." He asked Charlie (Vidor), "What's going on Thursday?" "The big casino scene." " Should we shoot around Mitzi?" "That's up to you Frank?" Frank turned to me and said, "OK, honey, we'll shoot around you. Go and get the job!" Frank was so wonderful to let me go. I went and went crazy, I had such a good time!

Q: Well, you got the part. No one could have done better!

MG: Well, I don't know about that, Don. I did sing in the right key; that's very important for those who write for Broadway. And I had the same kind of inflections. So, Oscar and Richard had a lot to say about that. And Josh... could work with me. He was my champion.

Q: Getting back to Joker. Did doing that give you the desire to play heavier, more dramatic roles?

MG: This is the way I look at it. There are so many really good dramatic actresses that are not working right now. And there are many who cannot sing and dance and shake their butt...and I really enjoy that. I'm dramatic enough at home. I can carry on a Hungarian fit (ha, ha, ha!). the likes of which you've never seen anything like that. I bring my own fiddles, really, my own gypsies. I've really had no desire to do those roles, and I've been asked to. It gives me great joy to be with people. I love that wonderful contact you have with an audience. They're like

your friends and family.

Q: Who's your favorite movie star?

MG: Meryl Streep is a phenom. She can do anything better than anyone else. Judd Hirsch is a fabulous actor. And my favorite actress of all time? Betty Grable, because she was brilliant. Not brilliant in that she was a great actress, but... I was so in love with her...and Rita Hayworth was so fabulous.

Q: You love glamour. What about your new night club act?

MG: Mitzi Razzle Dazzle. I'm alone and I have eight costume changes, and I tell you my life story on and on and on...songs that progressed the story. There's a whole South Pacific section, a whole section when I got dropped from Fox, how I started out in San Francisco in the Civic Light Operas, how I was groomed to be a dancer and a singer...and funny anecdotes about...it's hard for a woman to go on location, especially if you're supposed to be an army nurse in the 50s. You had to wear a girdle and stockings. If you had to go to the john, pardon the expression, you had to get into a car and drive someplace to go, because the honeywagons were far from the set, they just were...

Q: Will we get a chance to see this new show in LA?

MG: We'll see. You're always a bum in your own home town.

Q: Everybody loves you here!

MG: Bless your heart, we'll see, we'll see. Don, thank you for being so warm.

Q: Thank you!