Interviewing Tyne Daly, David Hyde Pierce

I have watched Tyne Daly and David Hyde Pierce on television for years, so it was interesting to interview each of them the other night. She is starring in a musical comedy being staged for the first time, “It Shoulda Been You” and Pierce is directing.  The show is having its initial run at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Daly plays a pushy mother upset over her daughter’s marriage to a man she has just met and Daly’s character attempts to hijack the wedding. In the process family secrets are spilled, hurts are exposed, lives are questioned, and a few very hummable tunes are debuted.  At least in the first act. I’ve seen it twice, but didn’t have time to stay past intermission either time.

What is most interesting to me is my conversation with Daly about how she finds herself in a character…not finding the character in her…and Pierce describing how he learned from great directors like James Burrows of “Fraser” and how he brought what he absorbed being under their direction to “It Shoulda Been You,” which is his first time out as a director.

The interviews will air in just two weeks on the next ON THE SCENE and I’ll remind you about the scheduled times when we get closer.

Andrew Lloyd Webber And Why It’s The Music Of The Night

I was just watching Andrew Lloyd Webber on Piers Morgan and he was asked why Broadway is doing well right now. His response was interesting even though he didn’t answer the question. Webber (“Cats,” “Evita,” “The Phantom of the Opera”) said he thinks people go to Broadway because they crave the live experience and seeing other people respond to what’s happening. He likened it to going to a restaurant and enjoying the food and people watching.

That is the answer a theatre professional always gives to that question.  The “live theatre is indispensable,  lifts us from the depths of despair, gives people a shared moment in time and so they will always come” answer.

No, they won’t. 

Broadway is expensive, a long trip for most of the people buying those tickets, and they want to be entertained.  Their showing up is not a given. It’s only worth it to them if they like the show.

If Broadway has edgy, compelling, entertaining shows that people actually want to see, then it’s no problem selling tickets. It’s the best thing for all of New York City and the best thing that can happen to American theatre. “Book of Mormon” is the perfect example. It’s appealing to men and women, who seem to find it hysterically funny in equal measure, yet  it doesn’t care that it offends some people.

When Broadway has fresh material that takes risks but gives people a story that they can get into and puts entertainment first…well, that’s the definition of a hit.  A show that doesn’t, that’s what you call a flop.  Or if it’s off-Broadway, an experiment.

If I wanted a history lesson I’d take a class. If I wanted to resolve angst over the moral wrongs of the ages I’d  meditate with the monks.

When I want to be entertained, moved, swept away into another place and time and marvel at the talents of my fellow human beings,  I go to the theatre.

New Starts: Christine Ebersole, Bojana Coklyat

I wanted this episode to debut Easter weekend and to include the interviews with Christine Ebersole and painter, Bojana Coklyat.

It’s all about second chances, new beginnings.

For Christine Ebersole, the fresh start came 13 years ago when she packed up and left Hollywood, disgruntled with not getting decent parts. She moved with her family to New Jersey. And within a few months she was getting stage work. In a couple years, she was the lead in the Broadway revival of “42nd Street” and won her first Tony Award.

Bojana Coklyat is an incredible story. She taught herself to paint again after nearly going blind from diabetes. Then her kidneys failed, and last fall she had a double organ transplant (kidney and pancreas). She’s an emotional journey these days and shares it all in this ON THE SCENE interview.

So tune in April 23rd and 24th at any of these times: 8:30 AM, 11AM, 2PM.