Interview: Mary Louise Wilson Boards THE 20TH CENTURY

Mary Louise Wilson, who is playing a Bible-thumping crackpot in ON THE 20th CENTURY, is having a blast yukking it up with her cast-mates. Director Scott Ellis's revival of the 1978 musical starring John Cullum and Madeline Kahn is a high-octane romp, exquisitely costumed by William Ivey Long. The story centers on theatrical producer Oscar Jaffee (Peter Gallagher) and his former love and leading lady, Lily Garland (Kristin Chenoweth) who has amped her career by going to Hollywood.

"Nostalgia is the key," Wilson said. "What makes this show appeal to so many is the wonderful music and dancing." With book and lyrics by the fabled team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a meticulously designed set created by David Rockwell and period-perfect costumes, the production is practically flawless.

Learning that Garland is on the same train, Jaffee aims to woo her to star in his next splashy production (after four flops). There will be tap dancing.

Letitia Peabody Primrose (Wilson) is a straight-laced goofball--with a supposedly flush checkbook. The fizzy screwball comedy is set in 1932 onboard the luxury train that runs from Chicago to New York, in 16 hours. The 1934 film "Twentieth Century" was based on the plays of Charles Bruce Millholland, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. It starred John Barrymore and Carole Lombard.

In this iteration, the Tony-award-winning Wilson is a comically prissy proselytizer who's been plastering walls and backs of passengers with "repent" stickers. But she's a soft touch and Jaffee smells salvation since she's eager to subsidize his next-as yet unwritten--production. What he doesn't realize is that she's broken out of a mental institution. Oops.

"It's fun," said Wilson. "There's nothing heavy, nothing politically correct. It's a funny, romantic play. I just want people to stop sinning," she said of her character's goal. "I'm having such delight throwing money around. When the audience realizes she's a nut, they react," Wilson said. She welcomes the comedic aspects of her role. "In my life I have always been a clown, but I never got to play one. I've done a lot of comedy but not so much physically," she said.

"We're all on equal footing-there's a lot of joking around," Wilson said. She considers her current cast-mates top notch. "The men and women are not cookie-cutter chorus performers. Everyone has magnificent voices and sing and dance so well," she said. "There's not a bad apple in the bunch except for me. The stage director is just devine. The costumes, the wigs, everything just came together."

Wilson was drawn to this revival because she's a big fan of screwball comedies and credits many for their timeless appeal. "Some of my favorites are THE LADY EVE, THE AWFUL TRUTH, and TO BE OR NOT TO BE with Jack Benny," she said. She's equally fond of BLAZING SADDLES and THE PRODUCERS.

Of Chenoweth's fireball performance she added: "She's in the tradition of Carole Lombard and Madeline Kahn. Not many people know how funny she is. We're like one big family and Kristin's such a generous spirit-it trickles down. We all have a good time backstage, and onstage there's so much great timing."

ON THE 20th CENTURY has an elaborate set, including the gorgeously appointed train that is like another character, she said. But stage business doesn't always go as planned.

"Very early on in the run, the big train wouldn't move. It had a computer glitch, things happen." In one whimsical scene Wilson rides on the front of the train, atop the cowcatcher. And she (or someone who looks like her) does cartwheels. Yes, cartwheels. Another moment involves an audience member in the first row. "One time it was a woman who was asleep and I didn't know what to do. I think someone poked her and she said, 'Thank you.' "

Wilson has been in the business for 60 years and her first love has always been live theater. "I really am a stage person but having said that, television is easier-it's not as long a commitment, unless you're on a series." Wilson has worked hard to improve her singing. "I had a baritone voice and learned how to get an upper register."

She's also striven to improve her dancing bits. "Warren"-- choreographer Warren Carlyle-- "tried to help me with the dancing, but I'm hopeless, I can't dance. But I work hard at doing the cartwheels," she joked.

Wilson, who wrote an autobiography, "My First Hundred Years: A Memoir," thinks audiences are touched by the revival, as evidenced by standing ovations.

"It's a golden time for musicals."

On The 20th Century, part of Roundabout Theatre Company, is playing at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.