SOUND OFF Special Interview: Ana Gasteyer At Feinstein's

THE THREEPENNY OPERA to WICKED to ROCKY HORROR to PASSION onstage - and, before that, believe it or not: THE REAL LIVE BRADY BUNCH TOUR - in addition to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE to MEAN GIRLS on screens large and small: the multi-talented Ana Gasteyer continues to surprise us with every new venture - and aren't we lucky! Ms. Gasteyer's exceedingly elegant new cabaret show at Feinstein's, appropriately titled ELEGANT SONGS FROM A HANDSOME WOMAN - this coming Monday at 8:30 PM, and also on Monday, June 27 - will give her a chance to show off her considerable singing skills. In this all-encompassing interview we discuss the inspiration and ideas involved in her new cabaret piece and exactly what we can expect on Monday night, plus all about her upcoming multi-episode arc on HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and co-starring in a brand new ABC series coming this Fall, SUBURGATORY. Additionally, we parse her stage work with everyone from Joe Mantello to Mary Zimmerman and her experiences working on live TV for six years on NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - plus, first news about her role in Tyler Perry's WE THE PEOPLES and her recollections on the fantastic REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL - as well as working with Raul Esparza, Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Larry David - and much, much more!

Tickets and more information about ELEGANT SONGS FROM A HANDSOME WOMAN on Monday at Feinstein's is available here.

Elegant Women; Handsome Songs

PC: Nellie McKay did this column and described for me a performance of THE THREEPENNY OPERA where the show was performed without amplification because of a sound system failure - I was there and you blew the roof off of Studio 54. You're such a throwback. A real dame.

AG: (Laughs). It's purely accidental! I blame it all on my snobbish mother who hates belting and made me actually study classically in high school - it's the only reason I know how to breathe properly.

PC: Did she get to see you sing Weill on Broadway?

AG: Yes, my parents did. I am sure they did - but, to be honest, I don't even remember! The whole THREEPENNY experience was a huge black-out, but I am sure they did. They also saw me in Chicago when I did WICKED - they live in New Mexico and it was easier for them to get back and forth to see it than New York, that's for sure.

PC: How do you look back on that experience? I appreciated the edginess and daringness of the translation and direction.

AG: Oh, my God! THREEPENNY OPERA? You're like one of the five people who didn't hate it! (Laughs.)

PC: It was divisive.

AG: People were so divided about it. For me, to be perfectly honest about it - I mean, the part I liked best was the old-school aspect of it; the fact that those Weill arrangements were exactly as they had been originally written. For me, that was really exciting - you know, Kurt Weill is one of those things that you should get to know.

PC: Definitely.

AG: I am also kind of lazy, so it was a great way to get to know the music in a really intimate way. (Pause.) But, definitely, that production pissed people off - which was interesting; especially because people are very protective of that show.

PC: Why do you think that is? It's quite brilliant in its way.

AG: Well, I think it's partially because everyone did it in college - because it's like forty-five cents to produce! (Laughs.)

PC: Old-school, but timeless.

AG: Yeah, but, it's also very academic. It's actually more of a more academic piece than it is a performance piece, arguably, so...

PC: Wallace Shawn brought it some grit and glitter - and flair.

AG: Yeah.

PC: And the one from the Public in the 1970s was good.

AG: Yeah, I know - and they never use it!

PC: The Mark Blitzstein isn't my favorite, really, but everyone does that one, it seems - then and now.

AG: Yeah, you are right that it really was completely rewritten for the Roundabout. It was intense; it was intense to be a part of it. But, I feel so lucky to have been a part of it - because, again, the music is just so extraordinary. (Pause.) And, to play that part!

PC: It fit your voice so well.

AG: I often wish I could go back and do that part again - if only just because it's such a brilliant role.

PC: Or Jenny! You were so young doing that part. You have plenty of time.

AG: (Laughs.) Yeah, I know - story of my life; I've been playing fifty-five since I was about twenty!

PC: Martha Stewart - you were, what, thirty doing sixty?

AG: (Deadpan.) I know. Story of my life. Yeah. Totally. (Laughs.) My first Equity job, actually, was THE REAL LIVE BRADY BUNCH tour. I played Alice and I was all of twenty-four.

PC: No way!

AG: Yeah, I'm sure you are too young to remember it, but they, basically, staged an exact replica of THE BRADY BUNCH - like, exact recitations of THE BRADY BUNCH episodes. It was this huge, huge hit. It was very ironic and very funny.

PC: That sounds hilarious. Moving to today: was THE GOOD WIFE a great experience? You seemed to have palpable rapport with the other great theatrical actors on the show.

AG: You know, TV always exists on its own plane - it's so fun to bring your thing to the role. Plus, I really love the show. I think Julianna [Marguiles] and Christine [Baranski] are amazing actors. It was really, really fun.

PC: You, Anika Noni Rose - plus, your THREEPENNY co-star Alan Cumming!

AG: I know! I know! It's so incredible. They are really open to all kinds of people and it's so fun to be on the set and they let you do your thing. And, it's two minutes from my house, so it couldn't be easier than to work on a show here in New York.

PC: It's so great that show and SMASH and other new shows are filming in New York in the wake of the soap cancellations and the end of LAW & ORDER.

AG: I know! I love it and I love New York.

PC: Is there an eventual album planned for your Feinstein's show - or something else entirely?

AG: Well, not yet - but, yeah, wouldn't it be wonderful! Of course, it would be fantastic. It's actually something we planned a long time ago, and, then, I just got so busy. I did this pilot that got picked by ABC to air in the fall.

PC: SUBURGATORY?

AG: SUBURGATORY. Yeah. It's going to air before MODERN FAMILY. It's really fun to do and I like the show. And, then, I did CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM last year - I filmed a couple episodes for them.

PC: Was it an invigorating experience for you to do CURB? Also: did you have any scenes with Cheyenne Jackson?

AG: Actually, I didn't - but, I'm sure he enjoyed to improvise like I did. I adored it. It was freeing, too. I mean, I come from the Groundlings, but I haven't done it in a long time. It was incredibly, incredibly fun. To be honest, it's a little bit of a dream job - they know exactly what they are doing, coming in.

PC: Susie Essman?

AG: Yeah, I got to do a bunch of scenes with her, actually.

PC: That's a dream meeting - or, maybe, a nightmare!

AG: Yeah, it was really fun! I got to play Larry's girlfriend, too - it was all really, really fun.

PC: You're prominently featured in all the HBO previews now, since it starts in July.

AG: Yeah, I'm particularly fortunate because it's sort of a snazzy list of people this season - you know: Ricky Gervais and Michael J. Fox. So, I'm excited I can be a part of that. I also think that the people from New York can bring their thing to the show, too. That's so great to see, you know?

PC: Definitely. Moving back to theatre: Tell me about doing the Chicago sit-down production of WICKED - that was the Broadway show to the letter, pretty much.

AG: Yes, I was in the Chicago sit-down in Chicago - the first ever Chicago sit-down production of a Broadway show. It was the third production of the show, after the first tour.

PC: What was the process like?

AG: We had a real rehearsal period - and, we had some Chicago-based actors and we had New York actors and it was a lovely, fantasy, dream experience.

PC: What was it like to work with Joe Mantello?

AG: Joe is incredibly hands-on. I know it's years and years later, but I remember how strongly he cared about how his vision and his direction was being presented around the world. He directed everything - and he also did the same on the tour and everything everywhere else.

PC: His ASSASSINS was unbelievable.

AG: He's so highly intelligent - and, I feel he is such a great dramaturge. I feel he really understands story and can present it incredibly cleanly. And, he understands it cleanly - and, that's what makes his shows so very beautiful: they stay very clean on the emotional terrain of the show. The turns aren't so hideously sudden as they often can be in a musical - you actually have the opportunity to build the social life and everything [for the character].

PC: Had you seen Idina Menzel in the show originally?

AG: Yeah, I saw her in it - of course. It's so funny: I had originally auditioned for WICKED my very last season of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.

PC: Really? What happened?

AG: Well, they actually called me back to sing for Elphaba for Stephen Schwartz and all these people, but I didn't go. There were like three people - Idina and two other people. It was so daunting.

PC: Wow. So, this was right before the pre-Broadway?

AG: Well, this was for the very last workshop - which usually means it's a pretty set situation from there. The truth of the matter was that I was pregnant with my daughter, Frances, and I was flying to LA for something big in my career at the time - I can't remember what - but, I just felt like, "I can't do this."

PC: So, you enjoyed the experience?

AG: Yes. And, the truth also is: I am glad I did Elphaba when I did. I mean, I had done improv and Mary Zimmerman shows and all this school-of-life kind of stuff. Then, I had a fantastic time in LA when I did the Groundlings and, then, I got SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. So, to do WICKED right after that, I feel like I came where I was meant to be in a sort of circuitous route. I am really glad I did it, but, I didn't know how to train for it vocally, really.

PC: What do you mean?

AG: Well, I mean: once the part had been set and Idina had sung the role and everything had been cleaned up in the show and they had done their previews and went out of town - it's all easier to know what you are getting into, you know?

PC: Do you look at potential material more as an actor, then, as opposed to a singer?

AG: Definitely as an actor - there's no doubt about it. I mean, I'm not technical enough - I have become more technical because of WICKED; that's what WICKED did. One of the reasons I did THREEPENNY OPERA was because it lives in such a mid-range and outside of the belt - even though I did belt a lot in that show.

PC: Indeed.

AG: You know, I also feel like you can spend all this time being technical, technical, technical - I mean, in music school they teach you how to read German but not to speak German; which never particularly made sense to me. So, yeah, I am an actor first.

PC: What about approaching your cabaret show as an actor?

AG: I generally just want to find songs that I feel are entertaining and uplifting and ones that tell a good story, whatever that story is - much more than any technical stuff. It has to be engaging to me.

PC: What can we expect from your Feinstein's show?

AG: Well, the thing of it is: I really wanted this show to be - the whole philosophy behind it - was for everyone to have a really good time. I mean, my last cabaret I felt like I had much more to prove - I mean, I hadn't done WICKED; I hadn't done THREEPENNY OPERA; I felt like I was trying to figure out who I was vocally much, much more.

PC: What about finding your voice for this show?

AG: Well, for this show it's not about the range so much as it is about the songs. To me, the other thing is - after going back to SNL and doing the Betty White show and also doing CURB this year - and, getting back into the half-hour world with SUBURGATORY - has definitely boosted my confidence more. I mean, when I left SNL I felt I had to be taken seriously and, in order to be taken seriously, it was like: I had to do things like THE THREEPNNY OPERA. PASSION being the most unfunny - but, also, the most beautiful and just phenomenally interesting vocally and challenging.

PC: What do you think of Sondheim's music for the show?

AG: Well, actors who sing or actors who perform songs say this all the time: when you want to sing a lyric that engages, there is no better writer. He writes one hundred percent. His lyric matches his meter to reflect the conversational style of the character and the emotional terrain of the character.

PC: So dense.

AG: It's insane how gifted he is. And, people think of his shows as such highly musical music - it isn't easy to learn; the meter changes all the time and rhythm is sort of funky and it takes some doing to do it.

PC: To say the least!

AG: (Laughs.) Once you learn it, though - like in the case of Fosca - it directly scans to how the character speaks. It is really exciting. I think that is probably the most exciting music I have ever sung - and, in some ways, the most beautiful. It was just so much to play every night. I just loved it.

PC: What was your favorite moment every night - "I Read"?

AG: No, it's actually not "I Read" - although I do love that song and I think it's incredibly anxious and engaging. But, I would have to say that it is "I Wish I Could Forget You".

PC: What a shattering song.

AG: I wish that I could sing that in this Feinstein's show - but, it's just so incredibly different from what I've been doing and what the show is all about. That's the song I grappled with back and forth and back and forth in doing, though.

PC: What do you hope the audience can get out of this cabaret show?

AG: Oh, please: everyone drink too much! (Laughs.)

PC: That shouldn't be a problem!

AG: To me, it's an uptown evening in a fancy dress, but we should be having as much fun as possible while doing it! It's like the old fashioned, fun New York - you know, go see a lady in a dress sing with a band. What could be better?

PC: A throwback. What kind of songs will there be, then?

AG: Yeah. I mean, I just kept falling into this style - I have this Andrews Sisters song - "A Proper Cup Of Coffee" - and, obviously, a lot of songs from the Great American Songbook - Irving Berlin and George Gershwin and things like that. But, we have these other songs that fall into these oddball categories - a Harold Rome song from an old, old, old musical. We are also doing a really fun, animated version of "Cheek To Cheek". We are doing this Blossom Dearie song, "I'm Hip", that we've sort of reworked. It's coming from a fun "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate"-sort of songs view. There's an Ella song, too - but, I'm not saying which one! (Laughs.)

PC: What is the vibe of the show?

AG: I really want people to just have a good-time-night. I want them to order a drink they've never had but always wanted to try and tap their feet and have a great time while doing it.

PC: What drew you to this sort of 40s style Big Band show?

AG: I just kind of felt like - you know, I've done shows that were a little earnest; and some have had personal importance because they remind me of my children or my husband or the things that are really, really special to me in my life. But, this show is not dark! (Laughs.)

PC: You're lightening up.

AG: I got so sick and tired of standing in front of a crowd and starting to sing and everyone looks ever-so-slightly askew at you. (Laughs.) You know, they expect AUNT ANNIE'S COMEDY CAVALCADE with wigs and glasses and everything.

PC: That's so funny.

AG: Believe me: I am not above wigs and a funny accent. But, when you do cabaret you want to see someone sing with a band and do what is fun for them and interesting to them. I am at a really happy place in my life. I really love the team of people I am collaborating with, so hopefully we will all have fun working on the show together live.

PC: Who have you been working with on the Feinstein's show?

AG: Well, John Sperney is my band leader - he was in the PASSING STRANGE band and he also did HEDWIG, but we've done recordings for musical comedy stuff that I've done. He's got such a great sense of humor and a great style.

PC: And what about the director?

AG: My creative advisement is Julian Fleisher - he's so downtown and he has such a great sense of humor. You know, I love when I can bump it like a trumpet! (Laughs.)

PC: What about swing singing - Linda Eder told me you have to have it in your bones in order to carry it off. True?

AG: Yeah, I would say that is true - it has to do with some kind of internal rhythm. It's sort of like comedy timing - it's not something you can put on artificially; it just comes naturally. Honestly, it's a little challenging for me. With comedy, I am more free and, historically, with music I feel I have been more rigid. I think that is part of the reason I was so drawn to this - it draws on comedic instinct while singing songs and having a weird time of it.

PC: What was it like going from one of the most audience-friendly shows, WICKED, to the esoteric and sad PASSION?

AG: Well, Gary Griffin is so talented when it comes to Sondheim. It was this little jewel box of a show - every part of it was impeccable. Interestingly enough, we started this conversation with you talking about the sound going out at 54 and one of the things that Gary did that was so incredibly liberating and brilliant was that Rob Berman re-orchestrated it for a tiny quartet and we were not amplified.

PC: That's unheard of these days - almost.

AG: The acoustics were so amazing in the space that we did it in in Chicago. It was beyond liberating as a performer and as a singer to calibrate your voice nightly to a string of a cello or a violin - it was incredibly liberating and incredibly beautiful. (Pause.) There are amazing sound people, but you lose a timbre of the voice through a speaker; you just do. It didn't matter if there were four people or four thousand in the space - it was beautiful. Chicago was so awesome - going back to your question - the reviews were great, but the sales were not great. (Laughs.) Just like you said. But, the reviews were the best I ever got in my career - nationally, too. It was kind of nice to be out of that New York panic of sales, you know?

PC: Speaking of which: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE is one of the most hectic jobs in entertainment. What was the worst night? Did they cut a skit you loved?

AG: They would always get cut, but it wasn't just me - there's only so much time. For me, the hardest part was the consistent need to generate material - you know, every single Monday morning you have to deliver, no matter what happened on Saturday: no matter how big a hit and how successful it all played out, you go back to one on Monday. I mean, I love writing and I love collaborating - but, there are different kinds of writers.

PC: What is your favorite type of situation most conducive to creating comedy material?

AG: I try to lock into an idea and make it better and better and better. The need to generate material on SNL was really, really intense, though.

PC: Overwhelming?

AG: A little bit. Yeah. You are so nocturnal, too - you're really topsy-turvy while you are in that world. You are never in touch with your friends and all that because all the comedy is all happening at three or four in the morning - all night long; all the time.

PC: Was it an enjoyable experience to go back and work with Tina Fey and Betty White recently? "Muffin Top" is another classic sketch now.

AG: Yeah, are you kidding? It was great. But, this is the reason I did Broadway right afterwards originally: they are completely different in their core value system. It's all about the moment; the here and now - and, pulling it off with two or three rehearsals; live. Broadway is all about this refined, careful work that you are reexamining eight times a week. They both have really big upsides and really annoying downsides, too. (Laughs.)

PC: You can do both so well!

AG: Oh, yeah. I am so glad I get the opportunity to do both kinds of things.

PC: Tell me about working with Raul Esparza on THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW.

AG: He's a total genius. I only overlapped with him very briefly - and, it was at the very beginning of his Broadway ascent. So, it was really interesting to get to know him then. I mean, he was like fresh off the Chicago turnip truck and he was seriously talented. (Pause.) That is amazing when you see that happen - you know, when you see a mega talent walk in the room.

PC: What was the ROCKY HORROR experience like in general - especially, replacing Joan Jett?

AG: Oh, I felt so great about making my Broadway debut. Overjoyed.

PC: And, they tailor-made the role to you with the violin.

AG: Oh, yeah - it was completely positive. Totally.

PC: Alice Ripley and Tom Hewitt have told me that the audience went wild.

AG: Yeah, I think it was very strange - there was no fourth wall in the show. That's what the essence of the movie is, too.

PC: Speaking of film: REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL is one of my favorite recent musicals done for TV or film. "The Stuff" is incredible.

AG: That was one of the most fun jobs I've ever had, I have to say. It was pretty phenomenal. Plus, there were so many female icons during that era - there was just a lot of meat there. The music was just fantastic - and, the comedy was so great because Andy [Fickman] is such a great director.

PC: How did you get involved?

AG: There had been many versions and I was the last to the party, actually. I was so, so happy to be a part of it.

PC: Barbara Stanwyck was your model for the role, yes?

AG: Yeah, yeah, yeah!

PC: What's your favorite Stanwick film? Mine are the Sirk films - THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW and ALL I DESIRE.

AG: I think she may very well be the best Hollywood actress - everything she does transcends style. I love them all. Her choices are subtle. She was doing totally modern acting back in the forties - with poise and elegance and all the style of the period, too.

PC: And realism.

AG: Totally! Totally.

PC: You can do that, too - artifice that feels real.

AG: That's so, so kind of you. I take that as such a compliment. Actually, people used to remind me in the Groundlings because I would be still holding the glass of water backstage, you know? (Laughs.) "You can put it down now, Ana. It's just air!"

PC: That's so funny. What's next for you?

AG: Well, the CURB thing I am really looking forward to. Then, SUBURGATORY - I think the girl who created it is so talented and the lead on the show is so talented. I think it's really, really good. I feel like it's living in a human place, too - it's not just all wackadoo. It's very heartfelt comedy.

PC: And feature films?

AG: I have this movie RAPTUREPALOOZA coming out - it's really wild. It takes place after The Rapture and Craig Robinson plays the Beast. (Big Laugh.) We just shot that in Vancouver.

PC: And you are in Tyler Perry's WE THE PEOPLES, as well.

AG: Yes, I have a great little part in WE THE PEOPLES - which is hilariously funny, by the way. And, I am doing a little part next week in Adam Sandler's new movie, too, and I am also doing a part in this really funny Paramount teen comedy called FUN FIVE.

PC: And so many people of my generation know you from MEAN GIRLS - which is such an iconic teen film for the 21st century.

AG: I know! It's so great that people love it so much.

PC: What was it like working with Lindsay Lohan?

AG: She is such a talented young actress. I mean, I don't even live in this era - nothing I do is remotely interesting: I hang out with my family and I work. But, professionally? She is incredibly talented.

PC: What have you seen onstage recently that you really responded to?

AG: I really, really, really, really loved GOOD PEOPLE. I've seen it twice.

PC: The director of GOOD PEOPLE, Daniel Sullivan, just did this column.

AG: He's a brilliant, brilliant director. I also think that David Lindsay-Abaire knows how to write for women better than most playwrights out there - I actually did one of his plays, KIMBERLY AKIMBO. He really understands the subtleties and he is totally un-gender-biased with regards to their flaws, too, which I find to be really refreshing. Going back to see it the second time made Frances's performance even more heartbreaking - especially because of the two levels on which she is operating. Becky Baker and Estelle Parsons are so, so fantastic, too. I really loved it.

PC: What roles do you want to tackle soon - Rose in GYPSY?

AG: Of course, Mama Rose and Annie Oakley. I want to wait on Mama Rose, though. (Laughs.)

PC: Mrs. Lovett in SWEENEY TODD?

AG: Mrs. Lovett, definitely.

PC: What about Cora in ANYONE CAN WHISTLE?

AG: I love ANYONE CAN WHISTLE. Oh, my God - yes.

PC: Define collaboration.

AG: I love collaboration. It's basically an idea with decoration to the point where you no longer know where it began. You are constantly adjusting it - one person comes up with an idea and someone improves it; it's like improv. I really am just a better writer with other people. It's so much more pleasurable and engaging to interact and have a good time together - credit doesn't matter to me. George Kaufman said that, too.

PC: The author of THE ROYAL FAMILY, of course.

AG: Yeah, he said that it's just better with other people.

PC: Last question: how did you devise the title for your show - ELEGANT SONGS FROM A HANDSOME WOMAN?

AG: Well, it's because we were going uptown after years of, you know, New Year's at Joe's Pub - and, thanks to my manager, especially, I feel this panic that it has to be fancy. So, the title of it is about finding that elegant version of myself that lives uptown - and being funny while I do it. (Laughs.) I am going to have a lot of makeup on and I have my hair all dyed. It will be a great old time, I promise!

PC: Congratulations on CURB, SUBURGATORY, and, especially these upcoming Feinstein's shows. It's your year!

AG: I hope so! I am so looking forward to it all - the Feinstein's will be so much fun. I want people to have like a Gin Rickey - anything with grenadine and several Maraschino cherries and at least seven kinds of alcohol; then, you will be fine. (Laughs.)

PC: And simple syrup.

AG: (Laughs.) Simple syrup, too - exactly.

PC: The perfect post-Tony night cabaret experience.

AG: Yes, they will all be exhausted and hung over and ready to relax and be entertained.

PC: Thank you so much for this, Ana. This was so wonderful.

AG: Thank you, too, Pat. It was awesome. Bye bye.

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos