2014 Interview with Eric McCormack

Eric McCormack is best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of Will Truman in NBC's hit sitcom Will and Grace and for his latest TNT crime drama Perception. He has also appeared on Broadway and is an avid musician. On June 1 he will join Joan Ryan in her new show On the Edge at Catalina Jazz Club. In our chat he talks about Joan Ryan, the show and his musical career.

Many folks do not realize that Eric McCormack can sing. Did music come first in your professional development? If not, how important was it to you?

I did my first musical in 4th grade, as Huck Finn. By 11th grade I was starring in Godspell and Pippin and pretending to be “Che” in Evita in my bedroom. Singing has always been a huge part of me.

What are your musical tastes?

Schizophrenic, to say the least. When I was 16, I’d ping pong between AC/DC and Barry Manilow without any sense of irony. If we’re karaoke-ing, I’m as likely to do Aerosmith as I am Sweeney Todd. 

Do you have a favorite singer? Composer? Broadway show?

How much time ya got? Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Billy Joel, Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry, Burton Cummings, Elvis Costello; they're the singers I emulate to this day. Show-wise, I love Little Shop and Big River, Avenue Q and Spring Awakening. And I’m still waiting for that Frank n’ Furter offer… if they don’t give it to Neil Patrick Harris first.

Well, they did, but I'd still love to see you do that. What are you performing on June 1? If a surprise, just a tease…

I always take advantage of opportunities like this to do songs on my Bucket List. As soon as Joan called, I said, “Let’s do “Suddenly Seymour”!” I’ll never get to play the role, but I love that song.  Joanie wanted me to do something solo, too. Last fall, I did a musical show of my own in LA called The Concert I Never Gave (except for, like, 2000 times in my bedroom), is a sadly accurate title. It was a really fun evening of songs I’ve always wanted to do and stories from the last 15 crazy years of my life. The last song in the show is one Burton Cummings made famous (in Canada, at least) called “Dream of a Child”, which is as good a song as I’ve ever heard about growing up and making your dreams come true. I’m doing that one for Joanie’s audience.

What is your association to Joan Ryan?

Our kids go to the same school, and we met singing at a couple of the fundraisers. She’s an amazing performer and I can’t wait to see this fancy award-winning show of hers!

2014 Interview - Joan Ryan

2013 BWW Award winner for Best Female Cabaret Artist, Joan Ryan will perform her acclaimed night club show On the Edge on  Sunday June 1 at Catalina Jazz Club with special guest star Eric McCormack. The show will benefit The Trevor Project. In our chat, Ryan discusses the show, her music and theatrical career.

Joan, you have had a wonderful singing career in LA for many years. Talk about this in detail, including shows you have done.

Thank you. You know, I love Los Angeles theater and I've been pretty lucky to get to do some wonderful roles. My  first show in Los Angeles was in  Angry Housewives. I played Jetta,  a mousy housewife who joins a punk band whose breakout number is  "Eat Your Fu@$#NG Cornflakes" while throwing cornflakes on the audience. Then I got to do Niteclub Confidential with Scott Bakula,  where I  played a mousy club singer, who turns into a gutsy star.  There was certainly  a pattern. Then, one of my favorite roles, Audrey in  Little Shop Of Horrors, Joseph and the ..…Footloose and so many more.  I love roles where I really get to sing and that have lots of heart. It was also very exciting to get to do  Leonard Bernstien's " The Mass" at the Hollywood Bowl, and of course, Judy Denmark/Ginger Del Marco in Ruthless!


Let's expand on Ruthless, if you would.

Ruthless was the catalyst to jumpstart my career and visibility.

 It was also a very exciting experience to be in that kind of  a cult hit with such a fantastic cast and director. But, boy, was it a demanding role.I will never forget that when the director Joel Paley told me I had the role, he said "Don't come crying to me when you see how hard it is"!  The original LA cast is ready for a reunion,  and we can all still fit in the costumes, except Lindsay Ridgeway who played Tina..she is taller than me! Both Ruthless and Angry Housewives led to television roles. Angry Housewives led to my role as Tina Pallodrino on Saved By The Bell (my first tv series) and Ruthless to a two year stint as everyone's favorite psychiatrist, Kathleen Houghton on The Young And The Restless. I also loved that I got to record the Ruthless album. That was a thrill.

You have won numerous awards, including BWW's Favorite Female Cabaret Artist for 20013. How does that feel?

Amazing…grateful and I'm  really happy! This show was a real stretch for me, and I put  my trust in Andrew MacBean, my director, to go in a very different direction. It wasn't a safe direction for me, certainly not in my comfort zone, for sure,  so it was great to see that it paid off with our reviews and awards. So yes, did I say AMAZING!!!

How was performing at 54 Below? Was that your very first New York experience?

May I say here and now, I absolutely love and treasure New York. I don't mean to sound trite, but the minute I step off the plane in New York, I am immediately happy. I have felt that ever since I was a little girl, when my mom would take me to see Broadway shows every year. I have always felt that I belonged more on the East Coast than the West, and I now find myself going back and forth between the two cities way more often. 

54 Below was a fantastic experience. I love the room and the people that run it. It was so exciting!It was scary at first, because coming from LA, I wasn't sure how my show would be received, but after I sang my opening number, my fears were put to rest. The audience was so smart and got every musical reference. I had a ball and can't wait to go back.

Tell me about the film that you are in that was recently released.

The film is called Hot Guys With Guns and was a fantastic experience to do. Hot Guys is a really funny heist movie a la Moonlighting or Lethal Weapon. The difference is that the leads are gay.I got to play Patricia, the overbearing,oversexed,  coke snorting, ecstacy loving mom to one of the leads, Brian McArdle. Totally inappropriate, totally fun. I loved our director, Doug Spearman. He really gave us a lot of room and was known to let the camera keep rolling more than once  to see what we would do. It was sure hard not to laugh as we were shooting.

Tell our readers a little about the Joan Ryan Show that they will see on June 1 at Catalina.

First and foremost, it's a really entertaining one!  It's autobiographical and yet, it has so many relatable themes. It tells a story, from beginning to end. We have chosen every song for the story, not the other way around. As I said, very different than what I'm used to! There are parts of the show that I am not really sure what's going to happen, so it keeps me on my toes. 

And let's talk about Eric McCormack! He is so talented, sings great and is so funny.  I am really thrilled to have him in the show.  I am also very honored to be raising money for The Trevor Project with this evening. It's an organization that is doing amazing work.

Who are your favorite singers?

 There are so  many. Bernadette Peters, Joni Mitchell, Betty Buckley, Billy Joel, Linda Rondstadt and Pink, to name a few.  I am a self professed Beltaholic, but I am in treatment

Favorite composers?


Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, Schwartz, Bernstein, Jason Robert Brown…the usual!

Favorite Broadway musical?

My mom has four kids and whenever we  ask her who her favorite is, she says "Whoever I'm with at the time"  That's pretty much how I feel about Broadway musicals.  Good ones, anyway. It's so hard to choose. Little Night Music, Aida, Sunday in the Park, Sweet Charity,West Side Story,  the list is endless!

 Do you have a mentor or mentors who have meant a lot to you over the years?

I've been blessed to have worked with so many talented directors. And I learn so much from all of them. Michael Chapman, directed my very first club act in the 80s, and what I've learned from him I use to this day. Joel Paley, Andrew MacBean, Doug Spearman the list goes on and on.

What is your very favorite kind of music? Why?

 Well, show tunes, of course! Because they make me feel, make me sing, make me happy.

Actor Emrhys Cooper Talks About the Bhutanese Film Pattern of Love To Be Released Later This Year

HOW THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN CHANGED MY LIFE!
BRITISH ACTOR TALKS OF HIS EXPERIENCES AS THE FIRST
WESTERNER TO STAR IN A BHUTANESE FILM
London, UK 26th May 2014

"Bhutan is a country?" Almost no one knows the answer is "yes". Or, that it is firmly landlocked between India, Tibet, Nepal and China, perched high in the stormy Himalayan Mountains. Or, that it has that the only Capital in the world that bans traffic lights. Or, where everyone has the same birthday (officially, the day after New Years Day. This way, no one forgets anyone’s birthday). Or, that it was the first country in the world to ban the production and sales of tobacco. Or, that it was the last country in the world to get television in 1999.

In this splendidly quixotic land, Bhutanese Director Karma Deki wanted to make a movie that would highlight the magnificence and mystery of her country. Plucked for the role was young British actor Emrhys Cooper. The 29-year-old plays the main character Charlie in Kushuthara: Pattern of Love. Kushuthara explores the Buddhist concept of Karma and the possibility of rebirth of two persons in one lifetime to accomplish what was left unrealized in a previous life. The film is due for worldwide release later this year and tipped for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category at the Academy Awards. To this date, no other Western actor has ever starred in a Bhutanese Produced Film.

Emrhys was advised not to take the role because of potential insurance concerns; but instead went with his gut feeling. The rising Hollywood star, who is based in Los Angeles and London, spent six weeks filming in the South Asian Himalayan country. Devon-born Emrhys, who has had previous acting roles in Desperate Housewives, CSI:NY and the film musical Mamma Mia! spoke of how his view on life has changed following his experiences in the Kingdom. "Even my arrival into the country was a whirlwind national news phenomenon," said Emrhys. "It's the biggest movie they've ever made and they welcomed me with the most amazing open arms. I was on TV across the country and I was treated like an absolute superstar. It was a truly amazing yet humbling experience."

Emrhys – a singer, dancer and producer – has documented his experiences in a  video diary, which is being made into a TV documentary for Broadcast later in the year. He says learning about the Bhutanese culture has changed his view on life and taught him the true meaning of happiness."Life in Bhutan is rich, vivacious and splendid, filled with an appreciation for home, love, family and beauty," said Emrhys. "My time there awakened me and I was completely inspired by the level of contentment and utter joy that the Bhutanese people feel within their daily lives."

Three-quarters of Bhutan's 750k people are Buddhists. Buddhism seems to be the key to their Happiness. The Bhutanese are content, resigned to their fates due to their belief in Karma, they do not search for more because they feel they are given what they deserve in this life. Karma- the belief that current circumstances are a result from our past, in this or previous life.

"At first, I was saddened for them by what I thought was their lack of modern conveniences that I take for granted. But what they taught me was to understand the importance of being content with living in the moment with what you have available to you; not worrying about what is to come next. Both my personal and creative lives have changed for the better by viewing my life in these terms. "

"It has been an incredible journey meeting amazing people and opened a number of opportunities for me. I hope my video documentary will allow others an insight very few have ever experienced." he said. "Being chosen for a lead in a feature film is an exceptional honour for any actor. To couple that with being the first Western actor to star in a Bhutanese feature film is the highest of gifts. This honour and experience is one I will hold close to my heart and cherish forever."

2014 Interview with Neile Adams

(photo credit: Jean Mulatier)

Night club entertainer extraordinaire Neile Adams will appear May 24 and 25 for two performances only at the El Portal in her acclaimed night club show, fresh from Paris, France. In our chat she talks about her fascinating background, marriage to Steve McQueen and her passion for music.

Tell us briefly about how your background in the Philippines influenced your career as a dancer.

My mother was a huge star in the Far East. She danced and she sang---totally untrained---but they loved her.   AS I was growing up she would bring me up on stage  --- when I was around 7 - 8. and I would dance with my older cousin. It was "Dancing with the Stars" type dancing but sort of infantile of course. My mother was a beautiful woman and to me she would always say ' Darling you're so cute, Work on your personality , honey." And of course, I learned the Philippine dances. I went to Catholic Schools with the nuns and when the school entertained I was always one of the dancers.

My grandfather was in the Spanish-American War. When that was over he went back to Spain (he was a Spaniard and my grandmother was a German lady) and decided he wanted to go back to Manila.  He loved the climate and the fact that he felt he could make a better living there as opposed to back in Spain. Unfortunately my grandfather died quite young and my grandmother died when my mother was only 13.  But she and her brother somehow survived by banding together. He became the Ziegfeld of Manila and she his star.

How was Paris last fall? I understand you were a great success with your act there. How so?

Paris was sensational to me.They love Americans and I'm going back in November . They really do love our music.  Jazz, standards and musical comedy music. They couldn't fit anymore people in the club if they wanted to and they are waiting for me according to all my emails.

Did you put back stories of your past into the act? If you remember I said in my review that you should not deprive your audiences of the richness of your background.
You'll like this show.  It's the best one yet. I had a part of it in Paris and I have expanded it to include my entire life with visuals  (minus lovers!!!!) 

Your book on your life with Steve McQueen has been a resounding success. You gave him so much. Talk a little bit about how your life would not have been the same without him in it.
Can't imagine life without Steve.  He was my first love and we loved each other intensely. With him I had two children and now four grandchildren. One, Steven R. McQueen is doing very well.  He's been guest starring in many shows and is a regular on "The Vampire Diaries". He plays the fourth lead as brother to Nina Dobrev.   I have a grandson who is a soccer player in England. He's 19 and get this------he is 6 ft. 7 !!!!!!!!! I have two beautiful granddaughters.

Who was the biggest influence on your career?
MGM musicals!!!!  Movie dancers like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse. You'll see a dance number as my opening. Choreographers Jack Cole and Bob Fosse were my idols.  If I could do it all over again I would without hesitating.  No matter how many injuries come my way.

Tease our readers with what they can expect to see at the El Portal in a few weeks.
The story of my life in song which includes childhood, roommates, motherhood, husbands, children and dare I say lovers (smile!!!); it's me dancer, singer, actress ... with songs very rarely heard but nonetheless unforgettable.

Are Kander and Ebb your favorite composers? You sing their material a lot. What do you like best about them?
Their songs reach me in ways that are extraordinary.  I tend to think some of them are written especially for me. It's a purely visceral thing.

What do you think you bring to your act that is different from all other performers? I see a little girl inside of you, full of fun, surprises and excitement. Expand on that, if you would.

I think that's up to the audience to decide. However I will say I am different in that I have a sense of humor, I'm not a pure signer but rather an actress who sings and I think the audience relates to what I say.

Don't miss this petite fireball with the precious childlike temperament at the El Portal for two performances only on May 24 and May 25! Call 818-508.4200 for tickets or order online at  
elportaltheatre.com

2014 Interview: Robert Osborne

Robert Osborne, renowned host of TCM (Turner Classic Movies), will be participating in this year's S.T.A.G.E. on May 10 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills entitled S.T.A.G.E. Goes to the Movies. It was such a pleasure to speak with this journalistic giant who brings class and intelligence to everything he does...and who has brightened our lives on a daily basis via the TCM channel. And to think that you can see him live on May 10 is indeed something to look forward to.

Tell our readers the role you will play in S.T.A.G.E. Goes to the Movies.

      I'm hosting the evening.

It's so nice to have you in this show as the prime authority of film and film stars. If I recall, you did a shorter segment in a S.T.A.G.E. show a few years back that had to do with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Am I correct about that? Fill us in on the particulars.

    Yes, I did host a S.T.A.G.E. benefit directed by David Galligan (an old friend) years ago and had a great time, and would have enjoyed doing more through the years but it wasn't possible because of my own work schedule and the fact that the work and my home are both 3000 miles away in New York City.

As a huge fan of you and TCM, I am so pleased to be able to thank you for your stimulating work on the channel. You bring so much happiness to so many people. Of all the interviews you've done, I really loved the one with Betty Hutton. Talk about your memories of this if you would.

    The Betty Hutton interview is my own personal favorite of any I've done -- mainly because she was so open, honest and frightened, and even getting her on the set to do it was like planning an elaborate military campaign. She was terrified because she had been out of the public eye for about 35 years -- didn't look her best, and she knew it -- and didn't want to disappoint the fans who had loved her when she was a major star in the 1940s and 1950s. But once the cameras started going the years dropped away, and she was like the Betty Hutton of old -- kookie, adorable, zany and full of pep. But the killer was the fact that the story she had to tell of her life, tragic from the time she was small kid, was heartbreaking, and her need for affection and acceptance was still paramount in her life. It's the "other side" of being a star that one rarely gets to see so closeup and shattering.

I also loved your more recent interview with Kim Novak. It gave me a whole new perspective on her and the positive elements she contributed to film. Give a memory or two of this one, if you would, as well.

Kim Novak in her own way was much like Betty Hutton, except Kim managed to survive more fully than Betty Hutton. Kim knew it was time to get out of Hollywood, that it was more destructive than constructive for her, and she's gone on to have a rich, rewarding life on a ranch in Oregon, with a husband she loves and surrounded by animals she adores. That interview especially stands on for a moment in which she had a mini-breakdown, when the pain she felt during her big star days came rushing back to her. It was a great interview because she was so brutally honest about herself.

Do you have a favorite of all the interviews that you've done? If so, which one and why?

  My favorites are the two we just mentioned -- Betty Hutton and Kim Novak, and two Guest Programmer guests we had Tracy Ullman and Kermit the Frog. Both kept me laughing so much, so hard, so often, my sides were actually hurting when we finished. I don't think anyone has a quicker mind than Tracy Ullman, and Kermit, bar none, is the nicest frog
I've ever known. 

 Do you feel that having been an actor yourself helps you appreciate films and performances more? If so, in what way(s)?

    I feel the most important thing having been an actor has done in helping me in the work I do is that I fully appreciate the amount of talent it takes to make something so difficult (as acting is) look so easy (as the real pros do). 

I love The Essentials and your conversations with Drew Barrymore and those  from before with Alec Baldwin. It's also interesting how you bring guests in who choose their favorite films to discuss. I respect how you share others' opinions of the work. How did this whole concept get started? Did viewers ask for it or was it your idea?

    Having Guest Programmers choose four of their favorite films and then come and explain why they like them began being   considered a couple of years into TCM being on the air. The first Guest Programmer was Stephen Sondheim and that came about because he used to tell me how much he liked a certain film, and I'd always asked "Why are you so fond of it," and his
explanations were riveting to hear. So I thought. "Wouldn't it be great if others could hear why Sondheim likes The More the Merrier so much." But Steve wasn't able to come in person and do it because of deadlines he had for new show he was writing. Then Bill Cosby was the second one, and he did come on with me and explain his choices in person. And a tradition was born. 

Who was the first cohost on The Essentials?

The Essentials series started with Rob Reiner coming on air explaining why certain films were "essentai"; he did it solo for two years. Then Sydney Pollack did it "solo" for two years. Then Peter Bogdanovich did it for a year and Molly Haskell was asked to do it for a year and she was interested, but not in doing it alone. So they put her with me so she wouldn't feel the full responsibility (doing solo hosting is not as easy to do as you might suppose) and that played very well. So then came Carrie Fisher and me for a year, Rose McGowan and me for a year and just as we were having trouble finding another woman to take over the spot, Alec Baldwin did a Guest Programmer spot with me and he was so interesting, so bright and so up on his classic films we asked him to do a year of Essentials with me, and that stretched into three years. Now we're in our third year with Drew, and that's also been a great delight. Who'll be the next one getting on the ship with me is anyone's guess at this point.

 I would personally like to see you bring Charles Busch on the program. I'm sure as film historian he would make some very valuable contributions. Any plans for that?

Charles has been a guest programmer for us, and did some things at our TCM Film Festivallast April so don't be surprised if he doesn't do more. How much depends on many things, starting with his availability. When you write plays, as Charles does, and also often star in them, it doesn't leave much time for extra-curricular activities.

I remember you telling Alec Baldwin in an interview about you that your favorite movie star of all time is Gene Tierney. An interesting choice. An elegant and mysterious lady. Expound on this, if you would. Who are your runners-up for that position?

Gene Tierney mesmerized me from the first time I saw her in Laura, and in every movie she's made since, none more so than The Razor's Edge and Leave Her to Heaven. I once had the honor of having lunch with her in the old Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles and she was everything I'd hoped she'd be -- warm, elegant, sophisticated, and certainly beautiful, still. Other favorites as a moviegoer: Alan Ladd, Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall, Jennifer Jones, Angela Lansbury and the actor I think may be the best one who ever made films, William Holden. Rare is the movie I've ever seen that I didn't think would be better if William Holden had played the lead in it. 

 Is there any particular movie star that you feel was LUCKY to get there...someone who perhaps should not have gotten that special recognition? If so, why?

I think anyone who has made it big in films was lucky to get there. I think some stars who collect Academy Awards and elicit screams when they walk the red carpet owe it all to luck. But that success will slip away very quickly if they don't do as, for an example, both Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson did. They worked, worked, worked to improve their performances, and both turned into Academy Award nominated actors, and became comforable working with actors with the training and DNA of people such as (for Tony) Laurence Olivier, Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck and (for Rock) James Stewart, John Wayne and Charles Boyer.

Do you care to mention anything about the Festival this year or the TCM cruises?

Love the film festivals (#5 last April and they get better every year) and love the cruises (#4 coming up in October) and very much look forward to them. II wasn't all that keen on the idea of either, initially. It all sounded like a mob scene and a lot of work. Now when people say "Oh, they must be terribly tiring to do," in all honesty I have to say, "No -- no -- they're very invigorating. No way can you gettired when for four days people keep coming up to you saying, "I've never had so much fun. And I couldn't live without TCM coming into my home every day. It comforts me, entertains me, and teaches me. Don't ever let it go away." When people say things like that about the place where you spend the major part of your life, it can't be anything but exciting -- and inspiring,"

Is there anything that you do not do on the program that you would like to do? Adding any new/different segments in the near future?

New things are always happening. Changes have to be made for things to keep evolving. But what I'd most  like to do is to keep doing basically what we've been doing since TCM went on the air April 14, 1994, digging more and more into various film libraries and showing films which haven't yet been cleared to show on TCM. Also to continue getting younger people to enjoy the beauty of films in black-and-white, and for everyone to enjoy classic films not just on TCM but on big movie screens whenever they are. You haven't seen a movie, be it Casablanca, Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Maltese Bippy until you've seen it on a big, giant movie screen with a big audience.

This man is a walking encyclopedia of film: the one and only Robert Osborne, who will be live onstage in S.T.A.G.E. Goes to the MOVIES, which, without a doubt, will be a great, great show... with appearances by Mitzi Gaynor, Lainie Kazan, Donna McKechnie, Helen Reddy, Jason Gould, Richard Chamberlain, Betty Buckley, Debby Boone, Patrick Cassidy, and Robert Osborne's close friend from the days of Desilu in the 50s, the inimitable Carole Cook, who brings the house down every year with her ferocious comic turn... among many many other super talented performers. The best seats are going fast, so go to their website and order your tix online NOW! Remember you are contributing to APLA Los Angeles with every dollar you spend. And remember the date: Saturday May 10 at the Saban Theatre, only 10 days away.
http://apla.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=STAGE_Home

Interview with Playwright Emilie Beck

Playwright Emilie Beck wrote Sovereign Body, the critically acclaimed drama now receiving its world premiere at The Road Theatre Company. In our conversation she talks about the play and about the cast and creative team of Sovereign Body.

Tell me about Sovereign Body without giving away too much detail.

The play was inspired by my aunt, who's had Early Onset Parkinson's for over 30 years now. She's always maintained her sense of humor, and she made an offhand joke decades ago to the effect of having an affair with Mr. Parkinson. I'd wanted to write about her experience for years, and that joke stuck with me as I was delving into research. I read a lot of writings by people with Parkinson's, and to a person, they all spoke about the feeling of being invaded. I took that as my entry point: a personification of the disease as invader.

How were you motivated to write it?

It is so hard to watch someone you care about suffer. It's a helpless feeling, and it brings up a lot of anger, and there's nowhere to direct that anger. You can't harangue a disease. So I did the only thing I could do. I wrote about it.

Compare it to other plays or stories you've written. Is is very different? If so, why?

I seem to have a theme that I'm drawn to over and over again, which is: How we are changed by our bodies? Or how do our bodies define our personalities? Or how is outside perception of who we are dependent on how we are represented by our bodies? But my plays deal with this in very different styles. SOVEREIGN BODY straddles a very fine line between Realism and Surrealism, and demands a light touch in that balance. My play AND LET THE SKIES FALL falls more into a style of Expressionism, manifesting in gestural and choral work. NUMBER OF PEOPLE is more Absurdist: a one-person play in which the main character, suffering from Alzheimer's, keeps asking the audience who we are. My newest play, HABEAS CORPUS, is much more straightforward, but still takes us on poetic journeys.

Who is your favorite playwright? Play?

I love Albee's THE GOAT. I'm a huge fan of his work in general, as well as Maria Irena Fornes, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter. I think Octavio Solis' LYDIA was under appreciated. And I'm a big fan of the devised work that Anne Bogart does with the SITI Company. Shakespeare is pretty great too.

Are there any mentors who have been particularly inspirational to you and your writing?

I had a few English teachers in my early years, who really inspired me. I don't know how connected the kind of writing I'm doing now is to what they taught me, but Yolanda Robbins and Curtis Crotty were major figures for me in 7th, 8th, and 12th grades. In my days as a performer I worked a lot with Mary Zimmerman, and I learned a great deal from her as an auteur. These days I'm very lucky to work with the artistic team at Boston Court. We are in constant conversation about the art of theatre, and they feed and nurture me as an artist. Those folks are Jessica Kubzansky, Michael Michetti, and Aaron Henne, all super smart, all crazy talented, and all incredibly supportive.

How has it been working with the Road? Are you happy with the cast and creative team of Sovereign Body?

Long ago, when I was an actor, I was a member of the Road company. It's always great to be able to come full circle, to come back to an artistic home. Sam Anderson is a terrific human being, and I felt so welcomed by him as Artistic Director. And of course, it's terrific to have Taylor (Gilbert) in this play. I feel connected to her as friend and artist. I've known Scott for years now. He and I have shared many meals as excuses to talk about art and theatre. And I feel very lucky for the cast as a whole. This play demands smart, committed performances from each actor, but also a strong sense of ensemble. Finding where those two dovetail is surprisingly difficult, but that's exactly where this cast shines.

2014 Mini-Interview with Taylor Gilbert

This Friday April 4 The Road Theatre Company will proudly present Sovereign Body by Emilie Beck. Over the next several weeks I will be interviewing the actors from this new production.

First up is Taylor Gilbert, who plays Anna. Taylor founded The Road Theatre Company in 1991 and for the past few years has been Co-Artistic Director. She also serves on the Artistic Board. 

Taylor has worked as a Producer on over 30 Road shows. Her Road directing credits include: the award winning In The Name of the People, Mooncalf, My Last Confession, The Chisholm Trail Went through Here, and Slumber Party. She also co-directed Hitler’s Head and Homefires, both with Ken Sawyer.

Taylor has been seen as an actress on the Road stage in: Balm in Gilead, Why Things Burn, Vig, Pirates, Akela, Merlin, American Romance, White People, A Mislaid Heaven, The Seventh Monarch, The Pagans, Oroboros, Backwards in High Heels, and And Neither Have I Wings to Fly.

Taylor has also acted on the big screen in several roles. Her film appearances include: Spiderman 1 and 2, Hancock, The Island, Twister, Tucker, The Dead Pool, The McMartin Trials, and Torment.

Here’s what she had to say about her character Anna in Sovereign Body :

First off, who is Anna?

Anna is a chef and her artistry in the kitchen means the world to her. It is her passion. " I fed people. Not just satisfied their hunger but fed them emotionally. I knew how to make food that gave people an experience..." says Anna.

What kind of conflict does she face?

Like many of us, she really likes being in control of herself and her life. When she finds she's losing control over certain situations in her life, she finds herself struggling with very serious issues that threaten to destroy her identity. 

How challenging has it been for you as an actress to find what makes her tick?

Anna has been a complex character to explore and embody. Her relationships with her family are quite normal but as she progresses through the play they seem to become somewhat abnormal due to the circumstance she finds herself in. The work has been physically and emotionally quite challenging. Exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time!

How have you used your own personal experiences to help create Anna?

My experience as a mother of teenagers, as well as a professional outside the home, has helped to ground me in the reality of this role. I am delighted to play a character that has been so artistically yet realistically penned by Emilie (Beck) and specifically directed by Scott (Alan Smith).

Anything else you care to add for our readers?

I urge you to join us for a beautiful production that will live with you long after the curtain call.