Tony and Emmy-awarding winning actress Blythe Danner is known for many things. Perhaps you know her from her role as Robert DeNiro's wife in the Meet The Parents trilogy. You may also know her from her back-to-back Emmy-award winning role as Izzy Huffstodt in Showtime's Huff. Broadway fans know that she first appeared on the Great White Way in 1969, winning the "Best Supporting Actress in a Play" Tony for her role in Butterflies Are Free. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 2001 revival of Follies.
You may not know that Blythe Danner loves, and sings, jazz. Over Labor Day weekend, she will appear on stage at Seiji Ozawa Hall, during the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival for a taping of Judy Carmichael's NPR show "Jazz Inspired".
Ms. Danner recently spoke with Broadwayworld.com
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Randy Rice: Thank you for talking with me and doing this interview with Broadwayworld.com. I live in Providence, RI and know that very early in your career you acted at Trinity Rep during the 1966-1967 season.
Blythe Danner: Well, I love Providence. I was just there a few years ago at the film festival with Side By Each, which Richard Allen made.
RR: What are you strongest memories of your time at Trinity?
BD: I was originally at the now-defunct Theater Company of Boston. [Artistic Director] David Wheeler had a wonderful group of actors there who were also at the beginning of their career: Bob Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight. He was terrific to us. My second season [of acting] I went to Trinity Square to perform. One of the things I remember most is that Trinity had just started bringing in High School students to the theater. Do they still do that?
RR: They do. I think that last season they passed one million students attending a matinee performance through their Project Discovery program.
BD: My goodness. Good for them. That is impressive. How wonderful that Trinity has been able to keep that program going. I remember the students being bused in every morning. As an actor, I was used to being up late, so it was pretty difficult to be on stage in the morning.
One of the funniest things I remember was when I was playing Irina in Three Sisters and I had to say "Today is my 17th birthday" and the students snickered. In actuality I was all of 22, but they weren't going to let me get away with that. (Laughs)
Oh, and I remember when we were playing Midsummer's Night Dream and I had to fall asleep in the forest. (Laughs harder) When I 'woke', I had M&Ms stuck all over me, because the student had thrown them on the stage. The students were feisty. I remember it being fun and them keeping all of us on our toes. I remember it vividly, forty or more years later. I'll bet the students have calmed down a bit; we, [the actors], were there at [the program's] inception.
I love the fact that Trinity [still welcomes students into the theater]. I wish that more theaters did. An awful lot of good comes from it. With arts programs being cut back so, I am surprised that they have been able to keep [the program] going.
RR: Just a couple of years after you were on the Trinity stage you were on Broadway with Butterflies Are Free, where you won your Tony. I know that you worked a lot in between; but looking at it now I am wondering if it seemed as quick to you, as reading your bio makes it seems.
BD: Oh, yes. It was extraordinary to me. I never thought I would go so swiftly. I graduated college in 1965; the Broadway show started in 1969. Certainly my work in both repertories was tremendous experience. I wish there were more repertories. I am so happy that Trinity is so much alive, as so many repertories have dwindled over the years.
