2012 Interview with Barbara Bain

Actress/director Barbara Bain, three time Emmy Award winner for playing Cinnamon Carter in TV's original Mission Impossible from 1966-1969 still loves to be challenged by the work she does whether it be in the fields of acting or directing. She is currently doing a little of both in an evening of one-acts entitled Love Struck to open May 11 at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. She is also getting ready to close in the successful run of Why We Have a Body at the Edgemar Center for the Arts. I caught up with the busy Ms. Bain at a rehearsal for Love Struck in NoHo. It is clear that she is highly opinionated, loves what she does and is justifiably proud to be involved in the creative process of bringing good intelligent theatre to LA audiences.

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                               Tell me about Love Struck.

It's a series of one-acts, and they're lovely, lovely observations of life...pretty funny, pretty not so funny, but there's a giggle probably in every one, at least. So each of them has merit in terms of reflecting life as we find it, which is always somewhat surprise, disappointment, joy, pleasure, and all the rest of it. 

And you are directing a piece as well as acting, correct?

I am. In fact, I haven't started with it yet, so I don't like to take full credit for that, yet. I'm meeting about that this afternoon for the first time, and if I feel like I can bring something to it, then I will. I don't want to just say I'm directing something without really knowing what I'm doing.

How are the plays structured? Are they monologues?

No. They're two characters, three characters. There are two monologues, and they're brief and lovely. Most of them engage us with at least two people struggling. There are a lot of nice twists and turns. She's (Dale Griffiths Stamos) a good writer. I had worked with her last year at the Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica. We did six of them, and of those, I did three. Each one was very different, each of the women, and I really loved doing it. When they asked me if I'd do it again, I said "Oh, OK!" and here we are.

But this time around the plays are different, right?

Totally different material and different theme.

Are you still running in Why We Have a Body at Edgemar?

as Cinnamon Carter in Mission Impossible

I am. Tanna Frederick has directed it, and it's really, really fun. It's totally different work that I'm doing there than this material. That's why it intrigues me.

You like to be challenged?

Absolutely, absolutely. Why We Have a Body is an interesting piece that's written somewhat straightforward. Even though the play itself is not linear, the characters are written rather straightforward. The woman I'm playing is an unusual woman. When I first picked it up, I thought, "I don't know what to do with this", which is why it intrigued me, and I knew Tanna was a first time director, and I went in to meet with her... and the first thing she said opened the door on how to proceed. She said, "We're going to do this like a Terry Gilliam movie, like a cartoon." I said, "Woo! So we can do all kinds of things!" And that is what we're doing. It's great fun, a different reality than what I usually play. Now I'm rehearsing this while doing that, so what could be better?

in quirky why we have a body

You're doing what you love to do.

Exactly.

Do you have a favorite role?

No. Once you embrace something, that's who you're with for a time. I've done some extraordinary plays...I've played Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey...I've done Ionesco's The Chairs, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound...extraordinary women, incredible people. I couldn't pick one.

What about playwrights?

Again, it's hard to say. If I am going to do something, I have to have a certain kind of attachment to it. These playwrights are alive, which is kind of exciting, because I mostly grew up with dead playwrights. Williams, O'Neill, Miller...Miller wasn't dead yet, but he certainly wasn't rewriting a play for me (she laughs), so he was part of my heritage as a theatre person. I did have the opportunity to work with Paddy Chayefsky, who was extraordinary. (big smile) I just love it all, what can I say.

So how do you go about choosing a role?

At this point it treats me as something that makes me say in an odd way, "I don't know how to start with this; where do I start?"  There's almost a mystery to it, and in front of it is finding that mystery.  You know what I say to myself? "When the play is well written, you can stay home and read it. Why am I here? I better bring something to this." I love to read, always have since I was a kid. I used to make up my own pictures. Although I didn't know it at that time, wasn't I playing all those parts? Wasn't that part of the reading experience? Wasn't I Anna Karenina standing in the train station waiting for Count Vronsky to come, but he didn't (voice expressive and full of emotion) and he broke my heart? Therein the actress was probably born, unbeknownst to me.

And when you direct, is it the same feeling?

70s TV sci-fi work

Oh, definitely. The question is, what can I bring to this? And if I don't, I'm not directing just to direct. I'm directing, because I go "Oo, what about directing it that way?" I have been involved in the last few years with the Young Playwrights Festival at the Blank Theatre. It's marvelous, and the kids are so young. We need new playwrights. So, number one, that's important. And to go through the whole process with them, where they've written it; they have a professional director with professional actors and they're up: it's not a reading; it's a production.  For them to see that realized is wonderful. I've had a really fun time with everyone I've directed there. It runs on weekends the whole month of June, and I'll be there this year at the Adler; they use the Adler Theatre.

I know you have a dance background. Do you have fond memories of Martha Graham?

Fond memories? I loved it. Dance was my first love; if truth be told, to get out of P.E. I absolutely loved the whole feeling of going through space. It turned me around, so I got on a plane and went to New York to study with Graham. It was kind of interesting, because I was a smart-ass kid who thought she was terribly intelligent; little did I know what I had to learn. I knew she was extraordinary but I wasn't going to fall under her spell. I didn't need a guru. The first day in the studio she walked by, I hit the ground. I just nearly fainted. She was tiny, but such an extraordinary persona. She walked past, you couldn't talk. It was an incredible experience. I wish every dancer and every actress, because then I worked also with Lee Strasberg as a teacher, to work with a master teacher. It's so important in an art form to have exposure to somebody who really has something to offer.

What about Lee Strasberg? Did you like him?

He was a wonderful teacher for me. And I worked with a lot of other marvelous teachers. Lonny Chapman, for one, was extraordinarily generous and kind to me, as I began working and didn't know what I was doing. He was an incredibly loving teacher; Lee wasn't. He was very removed, an academic; he knew his stuff, but he didn't want to talk. You said hello, and he looked at you like you were a nut. He didn't have time for a hello, he would  just dismiss you. What he did have, amongst everything else, because he certainly had it, was...he knew how each actor was getting in their own way, where they were, in a particular point in development. He could give you exercises that would help you take that next step. He was an incredible diagnostician. He was not a shrink but he did help you find that instrument that you had, access it and then what to do with it. A lot of teachers will have you get up and cry... and now what? How does the character in that material behave with all that going on? When does it get revealed? A lot of really wonderful stuff, so Lee was a very important teacher for me, and I've been in some class my whole life.

Are you a lifetime member of the Actors Studio?

Oh, yeah. I took dance class up until three years ago. I love it all. I took David Craig's singing class, even though I can't sing at all. I learned an extraordinary kind of discipline about..."You've got to do it now!" Music has a rhythm; it's now, now, now (she slaps her hands). The now kind of demand on some of us method actors can get a little loose, and that was really important. 

Crossing over to TV, do you think Mission Impossible could be produced today the way it was in the beginning?

It could never be produced the same way after Bruce Geller died. Bruce Geller created it; he had a vision that was clean and pure and strong - he knew just what he wanted about everything. There wasn't anything that was unknown to him about that show. In fact, when it all fell apart after the third year, and I left, Martin (Landau) left, and Bruce was asked to leave, they never really understood the fabric of the show. It kind of got pulled apart. It wasn't the actors' or directors' fault, it was that Bruce wasn't there. Little kinds of things were different. Even in that apartment scene...we didn't ask a question, we didn't say, "You mean there's a 10 megaton bomb there?" We just stated it and knew the danger. The minute you put the question in...then why are you in the room? Now that's a tiny thing, but it's a big thing. We were a team, and it was a whole different thing. The movies today are just ... something else. We did it well, we knew it and we felt good about it... I have no complaints about anything in terms of career; I enjoy what I do.

What does it take to survive in this business?

(laughing) You've got to have the soul of a poet and the skin of an armadillo. It doesn't usually happen in the same person, so...it's not easy. It's not an easy turf.

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It may not be, but Barbara Bain has made it work for her, and  in our favor, she's still going strong.

Catch her in Why We Have a Body at the Edgemar Center for the Arts through May 6 and then, opening May 11, in Love Struck!

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Love Struck also co-stars Peter Van Norden and Nick Ullett

Runs Fri, May 11 – Sun, May 27 / Fri & Sat 8:00PM / Sunday 3:00PM and 7:00PM / $32.00 General Admission / $25.00 Seniors 

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL: May 13th @ 3PM & 7PM: All Moms get in for Half-Price on Mother's Day! 

Reserve in Advance - Bring Your Mother to Beverly Hills Playhouse / 254 S. Robertson Blvd. / Beverly Hills / call (323) 960-7787 for reservations

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Update on Barbara Bain since the interview: In July Miss Bain will direct  the world premiere of a play called To Quiet the Quiet by 29-year-old Christy Hall. It opens July 13th at The Elephant Theater in Los Angeles, starring Lisa Richards, Stephen Mendillo and Michael Friedman.  Currently Hall is writing the book for Home, a new musical with music and lyrics by world renowned composer/lyricist Scott Alan, and includes Scott Alan's hit songs "Never Neverland," "Home," and "Goodnight."  Alan and Hall are joining efforts with commercial Broadway producers StylesFour Productions in heading to Broadway.

Interview with Billy Elliot's Rich Hebert

Actor/singer Rich Hebert will open Thursday April 12 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood for Broadway LA in the second national tour of Billy Elliot, playing Billy's dad. Other credits on stage include in Vegas: We Will Rock You. Broadway/Tours: The Life, Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables, Cats, Saturday Night Fever, and Rock and Roll the First 5000 Years. Other: Captains Courageous, Elaborate Lives, Annie. TV: Brotherhood, Law and Order SVU, NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, Deadline, Line of Fire, The Oldest Rookie, 21 Jump Street, The Young and the Restless, Loving. In our talk, he elaborates on the changes in Billy Elliot onstage since the first national tour and his challenges in playing this role and others.


How long have you been playing Billy's dad?


About a year and a half. We started in Durham, North Carolina. There are two aspects of this tour. This is the second. At one point we closed down for a while when we were in San Francisco last summer. We got new producers and they started rehearsing us again about a month later in New York. We basically brought together from the first national tour the people that wanted to come back or were asked to come back and merged with the newer actors who were cast. We resumed November 1 in St. Louis. There was a rehearsal down time period of a couple of months.


I understand that the latest production is much scaled down. Is that true?


It is scaled down, and ultimately it is to the benefit of the show. They took out automation, some lights; they took out the dancing dresses, that were these exaggerated giant things in the first national tour and on Broadway. When director Stephen Daldry, who also directed the 2000 film, came and saw this scaled down production, he said "This is the way it was supposed to be. This is the best production of the show I've seen." You see the community on stage because we're moving things around ourselves. It creates much more of a community effect, which is what the show is really all about. It's still the same amount of people. We have four Billys right now and they alternate every night.

How challenging is it to play Billy's dad?


It's challenging emotionally more than anything else. I played Valjean (Les Miz) for a couple of years in the nationals and that was physically, vocally and emotionally challenging. This is as emotionally challenging but not as physically or vocally challenging. I only sing one song. It's an arc and a growth. Responsibility, growth, arc, because he really comes from one place. It's not even that he's prejudiced or homophobic or anyhting like that; he doesn't know what's going on. He's trying to make do. He's a miner who's uneducated to a certain degree about a lot of things. He comes from a small town and what his dad did, that's what his oldest son does. Basically, it's providing. And that's being taken away from him. His wife died and he really doesn't know how to raise this second kid who's all over the place. He tries to send him to boxing to toughen him up and give him something to do. Billy decides to be a ballet dancer. It's all off the charts to him (his father), who says "You're not going to do that. It's the opposite of what I'm trying to do for you." And then there's the grandmother who's almost in Alzheimer's land; she's got a bit of dementia going on. So, there's no book for him; he's trying to do it all on his own.


Is this one of the hardest roles you've played?


Had I not become a father myself six years ago, I don't think I would understand the amount of commitment that is involved in trying to raise a child. The father in the play is the local head of the union that's on strike and he decides to cross the picket line, so that he can get some money to send his boy to a ballet audition at the Royal Academy. I stopped acting for about four years, I thought it wasn't steady enough money, although I've been an actor for 30 years. I tried to do other things. I sold cars, I taught, I worked at a bank, I taught college, so I made compromises in my life...and he has to do that. Having gone through it, I totally understand.

What remains your favorite role to date?


I have to say Valjean is my favorite. I've worked with kids a lot; I played Daddy Warbucks (Annie) a couple of times. I did it at Papermill in Jersey with Sarah Hyland who's now on Modern Family. I love working with kids. I did Captains Courageous at the Manhattan Theatre Club. When you work with kids, you always learn. It takes so much imagination.

Where did you do Sunset Boulevard? You understudied Max, correct?


I was in the original company here in LA and then went to Broadway with it. I played Max a lot; it was great. I got to work with some divas: Glenn Close, Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige. It was a lot of fun, and I got to learn so much from George Hearn (Max). I got to learn so much about how he would make himself invisible on stage. To be such a domineering presence while being invisible. He's the greatest guy any how. 


Do you enjoy doing musicals more than plays?


I like to sing. I don't get to sing that much in this show but I like to sing. But, I like to work, so it doesn't matter.


What do you tell hopeful kids who want to become actors?


(He laughs) I met Ruth Gordon once. I'm from her hometown, Quincy, Massachusetts. We had a mutual friend, who was like a grandmother to me. She and Garson Kanin (her husband) were sitting at a table signing books. When I walked up to her, I explained who I was, how I had just gotten out of Boston University and I asked her if she had any advice for an actor going to New York.  She said, "Kick ass!" (we both laugh) I'm not sure that that's what I'd tell the kids, but just learn everything you can about every aspect of doing what you can possibly do. Listen to people, listen a lot. Just get involved in classes, in every kind of class. I've been in musical theatre for a long time, but I'm not a dancer. I was in Cats and played Rum Tum Tugger. I walked out of the final call, because I said, "I can't do this!" These are the best dancers in New York. They said, "We'll teach you, we'll teach you." So, if you can get ahead of that and learn. The kids in this show are prime examples of that. They are constantly learning, and they are smart to learn from. Joel Blum, who is in the show, is a two time Tony Award nominee, and he showed the kids some steps that will be great for them for years to come.


We wish Rich Hebert and the entire cast of Billy Elliot the best of luck in their run in LA.

For ticket info, visit:
http://www.broadwayla.org/production/show.info.asp?ID=55

Pantages Theatre

April 10 – May 13, 2012

Five Weeks Only

L.A. Premiere

Interview with Deathtrap Star Burt Grinstead

Actor Burt Grinstead may have a short theatrical resume at this stage, but he has been working consistently over the past couple of years essaying plays in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Since coming back to LA last summer, he has been in the highly successful Esther's Moustache at Sidewalk Studio Theatre this past fall and is currently treading the boards once more in the all new critically acclaimed production of Deathtrap at the Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood. In our chat he discusses Deathtrap and the other roles he's played, his focus as an actor, and those actors who have had the most influence on him.

Tell me where you're from and how the whole acting thing got started.


I'm was born in the Worchester area of Massachusetts, and then I grew up here in Thousand Oaks. From 10-16 in school I started doing plays, and then it started branching out into that whole entertainment world; I started doing commercials and going out on auditions for movies, soap operas, and then I hit puberty and it flatlined. I moved back east to Massachusetts again, and fell out of the acting world in my high school years and into the whole sports thing.

Was there one play that you did that made you say, "Yes, this is for me"?


I studied with Stu Levin who did repertory theatre in Agoura Hills, and from that time, the one role that I wish I could do over is Hal in Picnic. The other play is Hello Out There by William Saroyan. When I did those two plays, I was too young to develop any real sense of character, and Hal is a very modern man. He's very specific to my type and I'd love to play him again. Picnic is an Inge play and it's got that teen, soap opera kind of feel to it, the sex and the dynamic character thing, so it's very in all the time.

Didn't you study at AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts) in New York?

ladies in retirement

Yes. I did the two year program and graduated from there. I decided against auditioning for their company. I just went out into the world of New York and tried to book as much theatre as I could.

What did you end up doing?

deathtrap

It went really well. Coming right out I did A Midsummer Night's Dream with a great little company called the Pulse Ensemble Theatre, headed by Alexa Kelly. She had strong faith in me and always kept bringing me back. I also did a great murder thriller called Ladies in Retirement at the Mint Theatre. Then in Pennsylvania I did Julius Caesar for a Shakespeare company that tours high schools. Then in Boston at the Speak Easy Stage I did Neil LaBute's Reasons to Be Pretty, in which I played the ultimate jerk. All the reviews said Burt Grinstead is the biggest douche bag. He plays the most chauvinistic male. It was definitely an intense experience to play that. My testicles got stomped on at the end of the play; that was the defining climax. Every time the other character would do that, he got a standing ovation. I played such a jerk.

Tell me about Esther's Moustache that you did out here last fall.

esther's moustache

It was incredible. Laurel Ollstein is the writer/director of it. It was a fun experience, a very comedic, farcical kind of play but with real family issues. I played a German messenger that would deliver cartoons to the magazine...it's a complex story, and I became an Orthodox Jew by the end of it because I was so in love with the main character. I got a chance to do a very intense German accent, so it was great fun.

How did Deathtrap come about?

deathtrap as cliff anderson with brian foyster as sidney bruhl

I auditioned for Ken (Sawyer) and Jon Imparato. It hasn't been produced in LA for years, and Jon really wanted this to be successful...and Brian (Foyster) has been involved from square one too. It is so easy to act with him on stage; it's one of the easiest things I've ever done.

There's not one slouch in that cast and what a great set by Joel Daavid!


I was so thrilled by everything about this play, and the fact that we got to work on the set from day one! It had been designed, built and everything was underway when we came in. It's been a fantastic rehearsal process, and Ken (Sawyer) is an incredible director. He just knows how to tell you to do things without you realizing that he's telling you.

Was the nudity a new experience for you onstage?

esther's moustache

Yes and no. Every play I've done, I've definitely had to be shirtless. I guess they use what they have, but this was the first time I've had to be fully nude.

Does it bother you as it does some actors?

No, I mean...one of my focuses is to be comfortable with who I am, and I think that's something that a whole lot of actors have trouble with. You have to be comfortable with yourself.

Good and that shows in your performance!  Who are your acting idols?


I have quite a few that I look up to. Christopher Reeve is an incredible actor. I saw the movie of Deathtrap when I was in high school, and he's the reason I wanted to do this project. I haven't watch it recently because I don't want to be influenced by it. But Christopher Reeve is an idol human being as well as an idol talent. I really, really love Robert Redford. I've been compared to him looks wise, but I don't think I'm anywhere close to him talent wise. He is just one of the more natural artists. The way he brings a role to the screen. I did a scene from Barefoot in the Park, and I had seen that movie a hundred times, just 'cause I love him so much, but I could not do it, I couldn't do it because it's a Neil Simon, quick banter...it's so hard to do. To keep up that energy and to keep up that pace as well as to hit the lines while keeping it serious and real; he could do it...Jeramiah Johnson is one of the best performances I've ever seen onscreen, and he speaks maybe three times in that movie. In modern times, maybe not as a human being, but I have a lot of respect for Jude Law as an actor. He picks and chooses his career very specifically so that he gets to do these really kind of cool roles. I saw him do Hamlet on Broadway and he was incredible.

Anything you want to add about Deathtrap or anything else?

Just to put in good words for the rest of the cast. They're all incredible - and the director - and the design team.

Burt Grinstead is no slouch. He knows who he is, what he's got and how to use it. I predict great things for him. Tall and handsome - and he can act too! - he's the perfect soap type: producers, take note! I wish him the best of everything!

2012 Interview with Donna McKechnie

Tony Award winning triple threat Donna McKechnie will always be remembered as Cassie in A Chorus Line, and of course for her solo within it "The Music and the Mirror". This vet of Broadway, TV and film is currently teaching a musical comedy class at HB Studio in New York and in our chat offers some choice anecdotes from her career. She will appear in Original Cast 3, this year's S.T.A.G.E. (Southland Theatrical Artists Goodwill Event) benefit for APLA (Aids Project Los Angeles) Saturday April 28 at the Saban Theatre.


Tell me what you are doing in Original Cast 3.


I'm going to do material from A Chorus Line. It's kind of a secret, a surprise, but essentially I'm recreating "Music and the Mirror".

That's great! Do you go way back with director David Galligan?


OMG, way back, and David was my first champion out there in Los Angeles when I cam out in the early eighties. I did a show early on... I was kind of breaking down some material into cabaret, try-out things and I worked with Tom Rolla at the Gardenia. David did a beautiful story for Dramalogue. He was a great champion and introduced me to a lot of wonderful people. I became a part of that community and of course when he started producing, especially for APLA, it's really been an effort of love for many years. Whenever you do a show, there are happy reunions of people; it's very familial. When I was out in LA doing (choreographing) Guys and Dolls (at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009), I was able to cast many of the roles from all the people I've met and worked with, who live there.

Let me give you the name of a show or film or TV show you did and tell me an anecdote or some kind of memory that has stayed with you.


The Little Prince. (1974)

It was a thrill of a lifetime, really, because, as a little girl, when I first started ballet, The Red Shoes was the movie...we even talked about it in A Chorus Line...the character of Sheila was my inspiration, Moira Shearer. All these years later, I was in the same studio where they filmed The Red Shoes, and I'm working with the same cinematographer and the same makeup artist, who had put makeup on Moira Shearer...It was a private kind of "I can't believe this!" series of events. And of course Stanley Donen (director of The Little Prince) was a great film director to be able to work with the first time out. It was thrilling. It wasn't always fun to make because I was without music and dancing with a black background; it was a challenge, but that's part of it, the magic of movies. You do it in a hole and all of a sudden you're in a beautiful atmosphere in the film.

Dark Shadows. (1969-70)

Dark Shadows is one of those unique experiences. I wrote in my book Time Steps (My Musical Comedy Life), a very funny story...those were the days when they would lift the cables and go tape live from set to set. You had to get out of the way with your big hoop skirt. Before I went into Company, I had to leave and on my last day, they left me on the ground underneath all these Styrofoam rocks and peat moss. The lights went out and there I was. That's show business!

Promises, Promises. (1968)

mckechnie at far right in "turkey lurkey time"

It was record-breaking...first of all, it was a landmark in two ways. This is theatre trivia. Burt Bacharach hired Phil Ramone a famous producer/engineer for the sound and it was the first covered pit on Broadway. And the first computerized set on Broadway. I'm working with Margo Sappington (danced "Turkey Lurkey Time" with her) again; she's putting together a company called American Dance Machine, and I'm training some of the ballet dancers, original Broadway choreography, to be always kept alive and accurate, in an accurate way.

How to Succeed (in Business Without Really Trying). (1961)

That was in some ways my favorite experience because it was my first Broadway show. I was just a kid and looked up to all these incredible people I was really lucky to work with...George Abbot, Abe Burroughs, Cy Feurer and Ernie Martin. Frank Loesser was a beautiful soul. I didn't know how great he was when I met him, but I just adored him. He was a sweet man. Robert Morse was incredible, a great star. Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon intimidated us all because she walked in and was going to be the dance captain. She was a great star, but she loved that kind of work, as his assistant.

Company (1970)

It was great...it was Michael Bennett. I had a great success with Michael; he was my other major champion, I guess. He was a great director/choreographer, and we had a challenge to create a dance number for that show. He did a great job. I just loved the set, the company...it was the first really adult cast I had been with, when you think of an adult ensemble. It was really the first adult-themed show about relationships, and even though some did more than others, it was an ensemble piece, a story that was told by all of them.

Mack and Mabel. (2000)


I did that in LA and again at Goodspeed. They keep trying to get it back to Broadway. We had a great company and Jerry (Herman) was with us every step of the way. He was a great mentor also.

A Chorus Line. (1975)

It never ceases to amaze me how far-reaching the show is. You only know that when it becomes real after all these years. It's always playing somewhere. I'm training two different Cassies right now. It's wonderful, it's like when Gwen Verdon took me by the hand and taught me every step of Sweet Charity, of Charity Hope Valentine,  a role that was written for her. I took it as a great gift. And to be able to do that now, I keep thinking of Gwen, when I'm able to train these other Cassies, to make it not my version but their version, giving them Michael Bennett's intention. It feels bigger than me; in a way, it feels significant and wonderful to
be able to pass it on.

Were you happy with the documentary film Every Little Step?

Yes, I thought they did a great job with it. When you think of all the hours they had, and they didn't have a script. They didn't really know their point of view. They kind of put it all together, and I think the filmmakers did a really great job. I think Michael (Bennett) would have loved it, because it has a desired effect that I know he always wanted the film to be, that would create the emotion in the viewer the way that it did in our live audience, in the theatre...that they would really get caught up in the emotion of the story. They captured something real and quite wonderful. It's another valentine to dance, so I loved it.

Girls' Room. (2008)


I thought it had some really wonderful aspects. I can't judge it, but I enjoyed doing it...I love Carol (Lawrence) and Lynne Taylor (director). When you're able to work with people again and again, some things are successful, some not, but you keep making the effort. We had a great time. Any time I can come to LA, because I live in New York... when I go to LA, it really is about the people, having reunions and seeing my friends I don't see enough.

Inside the Music. (1995)

I don't do that show anymore 'cause that's a theatrical show. I've done another version of it called My Musical Comedy Life, which has the core material but it's a different show. I have some original stuff. I opened it in my first Australian tour two years ago and I continue to do it all over this country.

Who are your dancing idols?

It's so boring because I have the same ones that everybody has. Fred Astaire to me is the perfect dancer with line and taste and style. Anna Pavlova was my first favorite ballerina, and Margot Fonteyn came a close second.

Great choices! What else have you been doing besides My Musical Comedy Life?


I just did a movie called Thirty Six Saints. It's an independent film and I had a ball making it with these wonderful filmmakers in New York. That'll be out in November. I also did a TV pilot. Who knows what'll happen to that? But I like the activity. And I just got back from Little Women in Naples, Florida. We had a great company. And I have some wonderful concerts coming up. Marvin Hamlisch and I are putting a show together. I would love to do a Broadway show, but I love the concerts, the time when you can go out and work for a couple of days and have the rest of the week off. (she laughs) I'm getting kind of spoiled.


What do you tell kids that want to be dancers?


Keep dancing, go to class, get a good ballet technique. Those are the basic things, and if you want to be on Broadway, you have to do everything, which includes singing and acting. It's not easy, but it's a total..., that's what theatre is. I teach a course at HB Studio on Bank Street; it's a noble school. I teach what I'm able to for any length of time... my class is called Musical Theatre Performance but it's acting based. I get so much inspiration and satisfaction. I'm inspired by the talent I see; it's tremendous.

What a talented lady, Miss Donna McKechnie! She is a true inspiration to us all, and we can see her perform in S.T.A.G.E.'s Original Cast 3 on Saturday April 28 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.
Visit their website for ticket information, and remember you are supporting one of the greatest charities APLA and the fight against AIDS when you purchase tickets.
http://www.stagela.com/home.php

2012 Interview with Kaye Ballard

Actress/singer/comedienne Kaye Ballard remains one of the great living legends of stage, screen and television. She did comedy and sang with bandleader Spike Jones. She was the costar of TV's The Mothers-In-Law and The Doris Day Show, and the very funny film The Ritz among many others and too many Broadway musicals and road shows to mention. This lady brings mirth and goodwill wherever she appears. Animals are close to her heart, so it is no wonder that she, Lee Roy Reams and Liliane Montevecchi are mounting Doin' It For Love, for two nights only at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre March 9 and 10 to benefit PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). In our chat she talks about PETA, her love of animals and offers choice bits about her accomplishments and costars.


Tell me about PETA.


First of all I love animals as much as I love people, and maybe even a smidgen more. I have four dogs and two rescue dogs, and I agree with what they're doing. They've got to change the laws. People don't understand that. I fight for abused animals. I would be the one to pull the lever on somebody.

Whenever I see infomercials on animal abuse, I tear up.


I can't take it either. Animals are little souls. Just like we have souls, if we do...I feel animals have them. When I look in their eyes, I can see it. I've got to spend the rest of my life trying to make money to keep animals.

Bless you! You are equally comfortable in a book musical and on the cabaret stage. Would you rather do your act or a show?


I'd rather do a show. I did a show five years ago with Sean Phillips, a Ronald Harwood play called Quartet.
That was the most exciting thing I've ever done. I'd rather do a play or a musical...really a musical, than anything. If you are not on television, they think you are dead. I've never stopped working and I'm 86.

You don't look it. I've seen you twice in the Palm Springs Follies and you look sensational.


Thank you, Don. I use my Henny Youngman there (he was famous for one-liners, short jokes delivered rapid-fire), because that is so commercial. Every single word I've ever done on stage, though, is true. My two favorite comics in the world are Kristen Wiig from SNL (Saturday Night Live) and Bridesmaids, I love her. There are actually three. Catharine O'Hara and...I'm thinking as I'm talking... Melissa McCarthy. She's adorable, but the only thing is I wish I could say, "Don't go that far!"

How do you feel if you have a young audience and you're performing standard material. How do you grab them?

This is what we're going to find out, Donald. Like the Henny Youngman thing, if it's funny, it's funny, no matter how old it is, it's funny. I do a takeoff on Sophie Tucker that is funny, because she was the old sage. I'm going to find out because there are a lot of young people in PETA. I love them.

with lee roy reams and liliane montevecchi 

They don't understand the old stuff.


And they've got to be taught.

What's your favorite role on stage?


Without question, it's Quartet or Gypsy. I did that in Dallas in 1961-62 with the original company and got an award for it. Mama Rose...I guess I was 40 then. I also did it in San Diego for three months.

Do you have an icon, a favorite performer?

I've got a couple. Judy Garland, Martha Raye...and Bea Lillie. When I was at the Macambo, Judy Garland sat in the front row and she came in with Ethel Merman...how about that? She'd say, "Do me! Do me!" When I started out in show business, I did an impression of Judy Garland. I've been very fortunate. I've had wonderful contacts in my life.

I'm going to mention a show, film or TV show you've done or a celebrity you've worked with. Say the first thing that comes into your mind about them.


The Mothers-In-Law.

That was the happiest time for me. Eve Arden said, "Do you have a good side?" I said, "I don't know." She said, "Well this is my good side." Her good side was always showing, so there was never a problem. (we laugh)

The film of The Ritz.


The only thing that disappointed me about that is that they took really some of the good scenes out. It's a director's medium of course. I would like to do one movie where I can say "That's the best I could do."

Your personality never changes. You're always so warm.

Thank you. I'll tell you something. I was George Clooney's mother in one episode of The Law and Mrs. McGraw. Six months later, he got ER, and we know what happened. I just saw him recently, and he acted like he just saw me yesterday. It was so thrilling.

Molly.


When you watch shows today, Molly wasn't so bad. The score was wonderful, but it was the wrong time. Everybody was curious about the set, because it was a depression set. They said, "It's too gloomy." And about me playing Molly Goldberg, "She's too Italian." Molly's son told me I gave the very essence of his mother.

Carnival.


The most fun. I'm lucky, I'm very lucky. It was wonderful.

Nunsense.


Fun. It was not my favorite show, because you wear one costume. (we laugh)

The Full Monty.

minnie's boys

I think that show deserved more than it got. What a beautiful score! ...You know one of the best things I did was Minnie's Boys. I did it with the original cast in Pittsburgh. Lewis Stadlen wrote in his book, "If Kaye had done the part originally..." Shelley Winters played it and she was a dear friend of mine. I loved her. It should have been called My Sons, The Marx Brothers, then I think it would have had a better chance. Shelley took out a lot of the songs that were wonderful, but I love her, so there you are.

The Pirates of Penzance.


That was the most difficult to do. (she sings the staccato lyrics) I talked like a typewriter in that one.

A House Is Not a Home.


That was fun. I never achieved what I wanted to achieve, but to think I had a scene with Robert Taylor. (I can sense her swooning as she thinks of him) It's so funny, because he was very nervous. I said, "You can't be nervous" and he said, "Oh, yes. I'm always nervous the first day of shooting." And I thought "Robert Taylor's nervous. I don't feel so badly."

Pia Zadora.

She was one of the best Funny Girls. She didn't get the credit she deserved. She made it her own and she was great.

Eve Arden.

A class act! That's how I really gained weight. I'd see her eat a bagel or a donut and think, "If she can do it, I can..." She never gained an ounce. If I read a menu, I gain a pound. (we laugh)

Spike Jones.

Spike Jones was a musical genius. Everything was timed within seconds. What a pro!

Alice Ghostley.


My darling. We did Cinderella and we both took the same salary. Even the chorus kids made more than we did with the overtime...(she laughs hard)

Doris Day.


She was wonderful to work with. She was so real, I didn't know if she was talking to me or doing the scene.

Linda Lavin.

A wonderful actress! I did Alice with her one time, and she was having trouble with producers. I said to her, "Linda, you don't know this, but this is the best time you'll have in your life in show business." She was making so much money. A very talented lady!

Your costars in Doin It For Love: Lee Roy Reams and Liliane Montevecchi.

They are adorable. Lee Roy is the cutest white man...(she laughs)...I call him Baby man! He's like a little kid. If a light goes on, he does three numbers. Hilarious! He's staging part of the show. Nobody directs because this is material we've all done for years. I'v known Liliane for 40 years. We did Follies together at the Paper Mill Playhouse. It was called the definitive version. Ann Miller was in it as well. She'd come off and she'd say, "Oh, Kaye, I forgot the lyrics." And I'd say, "That's OK, don't worry about it. They don't understand you anyway." She was adorable! In this show Doin It For Love, we (Lee Roy, Liliane and I) do three numbers together and we each do our individual spots.

I love to hear you talk about your Nana.

I do that. That's an important part of my life; it's earned me my salary. And if it's real, it holds up. With the direction that comedy is taking...I mean I worked with some of the greats, and I think they'd be upset. Gross is not necessarily funny; it's an embarrassed laugh rather than a laugh.

One thing about Kaye Ballard. She knows how to make people laugh, and it's within the realm of wholesome good humor. What a warm-hearted and lovely human being!
Rember Doin' It For Love: one night only!
Info below!

http://do512.com/event/2012/02/24/doin-it-for-love

It's 2012. Rich Little, The Man of a Thousand Voices, Has This To Say...

Needing no introduction, popular TV star of the 60s, 70s and 80s impressionist Rich Little, who is known for his impressions of Ronald Regan, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Richard Nixon, among others, will appear at the Welk Resort in Escondido Wednesday February 29 thru Sunday March 4. In our interview he gives us a little preview of his latest solo show Jimmy Stewart and Friends, which he hopes to eventually take into New York.

When did you first know you had the knack for doing so many different voices?


Oh, when I was about 15 or 16 I started imitating teachers at school. Kids loved it; the poor teachers were bewildered. They didn't know why I was talking in such a strange voice.

Didn't you start professionally imitating politicians?

No. In the beginning actually I did teachers and movie stars and TV performers; I didn't do politicians until a Prime Minister in Canada came along, Diefenbaker (John), who was very stupid, very strange...everybody was trying to imitate him; I hooked on to his voice, and it went over extremely well. He was the first politician I ever did.

You had a partner in those days, correct?


Yeah, I did. We were school boys and clowned around a lot, I suppose, and did voices and stuff; it was just a hobby. When I started to make money, it became a different story. (he laughs)

You were a disc jockey as well, weren't you?

Yeah, I was. I used my voices all the time. I used to do takeoffs of movies, little sketches I had written; I did an all night show when I was a teenager. I had quite a following, because I would do so many crazy things. It was Friday night and I'd work until six in the morning. Later I joined a radio station, where I was born in Canada, about fifty miles from Ottawa, and became a permanent announcer on that.

Was The Judy Garland Show (1963) your American TV debut?


I had done a show in Toronto with a friend of mine, Mel Torme, and he got me on that show.It was just terrific. I was doing voices nobody else had done, and Judy took a liking to me, and when I did James Mason from A Star Is Born, her reaction was...she really flipped out. When you watch it today (on video), you can't take your eyes off her (she was relishing it so much).

Who's your favorite character to play?

There's a couple I like. I love to do Regan, 'cause I knew him so well. He was such a fan, and he was the best audience in the world. And Carson (Johnny) was one that I still do, and a lot of people knew me from doing Nixon. I'd say Carson and Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, those are the voices that everybody remembers from early in my career. I don't think he's going to go anywhere, but the best one to imitate is Ron Paul. (he chuckles) I always tell people, "Vote for Ron Paul. Who cares? Would he make a good President or not, give me a break!"

What would Jimmy Stewart say about Congress today?


(in his best Stewart voice) He'd say, "Wow. I made a movie called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a story of greed and corruption in the Senate. If it was made today, it would probably be called Fantasy Island.
(we both laugh) That's right out of my Jimmy Stewart show.

What would Ronald Regan say?


(assuming Regan's voice) He'd probably say, "Barrack Obama's campaign is picking up speed, but then things do pick up speed when you go down hill."

I read a review of an LP about the First Family that you did in 1981, which stated "there are too many ancient jokes and impressions of dead people." How do you feel about negative comments like that?


The best voices are the ones that are deceased. They say that about everything; "just an excuse to do impressions"! You can destroy anything if you want to. My main objective is to please the audience. When I put Dr. Phil in Jimmy Stewart, he doesn't really belong there, or Andy Rooney, but it works. It doesn't have anything to do with Jimmy Stewart, but the idea is to entertain. There are so many things I knew about Jimmy because I knew him so well, things that he told me, but somebody could say "That isn't true. He made that up." I told him a couple of years before he died that I was thinking about doing a one-man show about his life, and he said, "Rich, I don't think that's a good idea. With the way I talk, that show would be over 4 hours long." I said, "I'll speed it up a little." He said, "Oh, I'll be on a faster speed." He had a wonderful sense of humor. So did Regan...and with the two of them together...

Give us more of a preview of the show you'll be doing in Escondido at the Welk Resort.

I'm going to do my Jimmy Stewart show, which ends up having about 26 impressions in it. There's the obvious ones with Stewart, like Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Ronald Regan, Robert Stack and Lionel Barrymore, but, as I said before, I put a lot of other people in it, like Louis Armstrong because Gloria's (Stewart, Jimmy's wife) favorite tune was "It's a Wonderful World". It's a tour-de-force for me, because I go from Jimmy Stewart right into characters. I take license. Every time I stand up, I do a character; every time I sit down, I do Jimmy. So, it isn't like a usual one-man show. I mean, you see George Burns or you see Clarence Darrow talking for an hour and a half. Me doing Jimmy Stewart is going through a raft of impressions. It's certainly not boring. I didn't want to bore the audience;  I want them wondering who's coming next.

Believe me, you are not boring! Why do you think a TV show like The Kopycats (1972) isn't produced today?

The money. A show like that costs a fortune. I loved doing the variety show with Julie Andrews; it's the one I'm most proud of. That would cost ten times what it cost. Maybe if you kept it simple ...  but when you have big sets, today it's just incredible. Those Julie Andrews shows...each one was like a special. They spent a lot of money on them. Variety went out of vogue. When you think about it, there are no variety shows now.

What's the most embarrassing moment you've had as a performer?


One time years ago I introduced Gerald Ford. I set the whole thing up, and then I did Spiro Agnew's voice... for Gerald Ford...all the lines in the wrong voice. The interesting thing was that nobody mentioned it. Not much demand for Spiro Agnew today. (he laughs)

Any new impressionists coming up that you would highly recommend?


Gordy Brown down at the Golden Nugget (Las Vegas) is an extraordinary talent. He's from my home town in Ottawa. We're both Canadians. He's very good. We don't have as many impersonators as we used to.

We're looking forward to seeing you do Jimmy Stewart and Friends in Escondido.

I'm looking forward to doing it. I've never done five nights in a row. I'm gearing it towards Broadway, so all the shows I can get are like rehearsals to improve it. I won't do that, go to New York, until I know it really works. You can go into New York and open and close in a week. That would be the end of it, so...I saw George Burns on Broadway with Frank Gorshin. I never thought it was really that good, but it certainly did well in Florida and on Broadway. When they asked me to o a show, they wanted me to put Jack Benny in it...Groucho Marks, other comedians. George, they just wanted to do George.

George Burns was George Burns. In a class by himself. Rich Little, the Man of a Thousand Voices, is another comedian/impressionist like no other. He is the granddad of impressionists... a totally unique entertainer for the ages.
Don't miss him in Escondido at the Lawrence Welk Theatre February 29-March 4!

for info and tix:
http://www.welktheatersandiego.com/

Interview with BWW Award Winner Olivia d'Abo

Actress Olivia d'Abo is BWW's Best Lead Actress Award winner for Entertaining Mr. Sloan. She is best known for TV's The Wonder Years and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Few may know that she is also an accomplished musician. In our chat, d'Abo opens up fiercely about her passions, showing just how consummate a performer she truly is.


CAREER - NOW:


How does it feel to win the BWW Award as Best Actress in a play for 2011?

Well, I’m incredibly overjoyed; it’s a delightful  cherry on top of a beautifully baked cake. I’ve never really considered awards important but this one has been.The process of hard work and commitment that went into this for everyone involved set an unusually high bar. When that happens and you really pull it off come rain or come shine there’s a lot to be proud of. We created a very specific world and the characters of Sloan were very challenging, requiring lots of  guts and gusto.Though there were clearly some questionable moments when I said to myself  'Oh My God can i really do this ?Keep this amazing locomotive of a creature alive and running around the stage for two hours straight   .........even if there's no more red bull back there  to get me through ??"  It took all the trust I have and in return taught me about really letting go of EVERYTHING which feels so good. 

Kath was a gift: she never failed me, every night I'd jump into her and every time I jumped it was scary as hell but totally intoxicating. It’s also been wonderful for the whole production to be recognized the way it has on so many levels. I was so proud we won best play. Ultimately I think the production, the subject matter and performances shocked and shook people up as only Orton can and brought an intimacy to the theatre that people don’t see all that often .

 

How did you get involved in Sloan?
















I ran into Ian Buchanan and little did I know he was already cast in the role of Ed. He called me a few days later and asked me if I knew the play, as it was an English classic and would I be interested in playing his sister Kath ........"It's a dark comedy he said " and the role of Kath is a sort of Blanche Dubois. Of course I knew Joe Orton's work,  but wasn't as familiar with Sloan as some of Orton's other plays. I was intrigued enough to have a conversation with the director Stan Zimmerman ......who coincidentally I'd also met before, but hadn't seen in a long time. Ironically enough ,Stan and I were very close to working on a pilot  together awhile back called Olivia Master's Life for Brillstein Grey and ABC. So he was quite familiar with my comedic skills and I had a feeling Stan would know exactly what to do to bring out my humor  to play Kath and be a brilliant director for this play, and he was. 


Describe Kath in detail.

We spoke about flair of the piece and the music that was coming out of England at that time.Then we got into the light and shade of the character of Kath. He asked me how I felt about playing Kath, losing the beauty and playing her as a very plain, frumpy, heavyset, middle aged woman ? I thought to myself  why not ? How refreshing ! No make up, wear a wig, a fat suit, get pregnant in the second act .... which meant more padding and then dive in and stretch! To me all those things was what was so captivating about the role. What it's meant to my career thus far is that she came into my life for a reason and at the perfect time. I was able to discover different things about myself as an actress and about myself as a person through her.


 I found a different  sexuality in her, a different kind of beauty "inside first” which then permeated to an outside glow, a different kind of movement .......I swayed once I put the padding on because I felt more grounded, less light so I felt more solid and planted. A character's obstacles are always an inspiration to me. However, Kath's strength, her determination, conviction and her courage to pull herself up and out from being crippled and oppressed by her family. And the tough breaks of her life were a revelation to me and a testament to the human spirit. It was important to me that she was seen for who she is in the play, not as a one dimensional person or a parody of the the character. I just wanted her personality to shine and outweigh everything else. I also discovered playing the underdog is where the "gold" is for an actor; it's a deeper  more satisfying journey. 

Was this your first play in LA?

Not my first, I've done quite a few plays here, but Sloan  is to date my absolute favorite hands down. I just did two right before Sloan actually which were quite fulfilling...... each in completely different ways. Cyrano another classic at the John Ruskin theatre set in 17th century Paris, in which I played Roxane. And before that I played the role of Joan in a hilarious modern comedy with a wonderful ensemble of actors called It's Just Sex at The Two Roads Theatre. I had the great honor of working with both Frank Langela and Juliette Stevenson on stage at the Mark Taper Forum in another English play set in 16th century Venice after the battle of Lepanto written by Howard Barker called Scenes from an Execution  which was directed by Robert Ackerman .

Tell me about The Odd Couple in 2005 on Broadway and what it was like playing with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane? Did you enjoy playing one of those crazy sisters? Was it easier than say Sloan?

Doing Broadway was always a dream of mine since I was a little girl. However, doing a Neil Simon play on Broadway ........well, I'm not sure you can beat that can you?! For example, the comment I made earlier that sometimes great art will come your way and at other times you have to be an explorer and seek it out? This was one of those times for me. I heard about the auditions they were having in New York through my agent. He got me an audition a few weeks later, so I flew myself out, put myself up and went in to read for Joe Montello and Neil Simon. 

There's a feeling that comes with the territory of manifesting a role that's meant to be and I always  get a strong intuition about it  that I can see clearly. For the most part if when you're up for something all you have is your choices so then you must to go with your very deepest instinct and use it! Mine was to play a different kind of Gwendolyn Pigeon. Having grown up with watching Neil Simon films and having watched the Odd Couple as a series, I instantly was drawn in by Oscar and Felix's dynamic but when I saw the Pigeon sisters in the film I thought to myself  “they're so proper !" And there's nothing proper about two sisters who've moved all the way from England to New York City to work and answer phones for a weight loss company called SLENDERAMA! 


So for the play's audition I gave Gwendolyn a brash Spice Girls cockney twang, a loud laugh and snort  to go with it and played her from East London .....well luckily they loved it. She was lovable, funny , zany ........ not the sharpest knife in the drawer but earnest with a big heart. I loved playing Gwendolyn Pigeon with my on stage sister Cecily Pigeon for 11 months. I adored working with both Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick; they were absolutely joyous to watch and act with every night. Sometimes we'd crack up on stage so badly we could hardly contain ourselves and the audience were right there with us....... Matthew and Nathan are notorious for that. I wasn't on stage as often as I was in Sloan so it didn't necessarily challenge me in the same way. But when you do Broadway there are other challenges as well, that require just as much muscle including doing 8-9 shows a week. Every experience is unique in and of itself.

CAREER - THEN:

Let's talk a little about The Wonder Years (1988-92) and what playing that role did for your career in Hollywood. Doing TV or film, I know, is not as rewarding as stage. Did you feel suffocated doing a supporting role, where Fred Savage got more attention than you, or were you too young at that point to realize?

It did a lot for me in many ways  both personally and professionally. It was brilliantly written, extremely well constructed and a hugely successful show. People just fell in love with it and tuned in religiously to each weekly episode as audiences found the characters and the show instantly identifiable. Surprisingly we found a larger demographic than we thought we would  ...... it was recognized as much more than a family show. It set a really high bar for me to be part of such a well made series for all those seasons, and because of its nostalgic tone it started to become a part of classic American television. 


Shortly after filming the pilot and winning the Emmy  for best new show it became a wonderful springboard for me as well as the other cast members establishing our acting abilities with broader strokes through being able to tackle both subtle comedy with undertones of drama. TV can be just as rewarding as stage if it challenges you at a deep level and you're learning things and gaining insight that you haven't mastered yet. I was perfectly fine to play a supporting role as Fred Savage's big sister Karen. He had a lot more pressure then I did to sustain the momentum of the show and the ratings. I think he handled it beautifully for someone so young. The consistency of the series taught me a certain technique you need for television on a one camera show. Up until then I'd had no real experience in using props to help you make both the scene and the pacing work better. We'd have to be meticulous about that especially around the dinner table and lock it in. It was like  graduating college in a way. I came out of it  a seasoned actress which I'm very thankful for. I'm also thankful that though I was getting paid for all shows produced (including the ones I wasn't in) when the right opportunities came my way to go do a film, a TV movie, work on music or do a play, the producers  allowed me to do them. Of course, my proposition was to forfeit my salary if I wasn't in an episode to be able go and work on other projects and continue getting better at my craft.

as nicole wallace in law and order: criminal intent

You’ve played a princess in the theatrical film Conan the Destroyer and done many other roles including Nicole Wallace sociopath/psychopath in TV’s Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Considering all other roles you’ve played,  is the female role in Sloan still the best you've ever had, do you think?

Yes, it's still the biggest stretch I've had so far .

FUTURE ENDEAVORS:

Is there another part you'd like to play on stage - classical or contemporary?

Yes, there are a few  in fact . I'd love to explore doing a Moliere play. I've always wanted to play Lady Macbeth and Strindberg's Miss Julie. I would donate one of my limbs to do The Seagull  by Anton Chekhov and I'd also love to do Noel Coward's Private lives. I saw a masterful production of it on Broadway with Alan Rickman ....... and it made me yearn to have a crack at it. 

Let's switch gears to your musical career.

Did that come before acting? Do you like it equally? If so, why?

I've been writing and composing songs since I was  5 years old.......... "so my father tells me". So yes, I've been writing, singing and playing piano longer then I've been acting. But acting wasn't that far behind my musical interests. I treat and honor them equally. When my interest in acting developed I experimented fusing the two together and performing in musicals and contests at school. My father was in a group called Manfred Mann. He wrote " Build me up Buttercup " for the foundations  and "'Handbags and Glad rags " for Rod Stewart. So, coming from such a musical pedigree I'm constantly surrounded by music;  it's a huge part of my life that I couldn't live without .When I make an album, compose or write song for a film  it's a similar yet different  gear shift  for me than acting. I prefer not to have anything else going while I'm in that creative space and process as to not disrupt my musical flow.  I think in some ways it's a slightly deeper form of expression if you can write your own songs, lyrics and play a musical instrument at the same time. Because you have more control over the final product as it's completely in your hands. I think you can get the same kind of  concentrated -fulfilling  sense of expression with acting though, especially if you are an actor and a film maker.

What do you feel is your ultimate goal as a performer?

That's a really great question. I've embarked upon many facets as a performer and am continuing to explore and honor all of them. Being an artist  and a performer is an astonishingly powerful and beautiful road when you've got a lot you want to say. I wish I cold narrow it down to just one but that's tough for me. I'm really excited about Guest hosting Second City in May and doing a live sketch comedy show, as it's right up my alley ......I have a comedian living inside of me so I'm  in the process of  continuing to explore that. I think  another ultimate goal is to integrate music and characters into a live show  of some sort. A broadway musical would be  something great to work towards. I'm actually working and developing a night club act- at the moment with Stan Zimmerman the director of Entertaining Mr. Sloan. He's  conceived a wonderful show for me called British Blondes. You know, I thought I'd reached my ultimate goal as a performer when I'd gotten through a month of playing Kath in Sloan on stage. But then I realized I was just getting started ....... I  think you reach your ultimate goal and then you dream up another one.

Olivia d'Abo is the kind of actress that makes things happen. She is the one to watch.