Interview: Harriet Harris On Bringing ELEANOR To Life At Barrington Stage Company

In Eleanor, Barrington Stage Company Associate Artist and playwright Mark St. Germain brings to life Eleanor Roosevelt, the most influential First Lady the world has ever seen.

From her "Ugly Duckling" upbringing to her unorthodox marriage to Franklin, Eleanor puts her controversial life, loves and passions on the stage.

Tony Award-winning actress Harriet Harris returns to the role after a virtual reading with BSC last fall.

You were raised in the Fort Worth area of Texas, studied at Julliard, went on to become star of stage and screen, splitting your time between NY and LA, yet we see you quite often in the Berkshires?

My sweetheart lives here and I have been coming to visit him. We've been spending time working on a small house in the rare moments we could both get here to do so. Years ago, I had the chance to came up to do SWEENY TODD, I knew the area because Matt, had done lots of work here as well. Over the years we have both worked with both Berkshire Theatre Group and Barrington Stage Company. I just love the area. The local audiences are so supportive of the arts and very lively. When there is an opportunity to be here it such a pleasure. It is a beautiful place. I love the area and coming here to visit when I am not working, and working here when the opportunity presents itself.

This Summer you appeared in both THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at BTG and now ELEANOR at BSC. I understand there was very little time between the two production schedules.

Yes, we were in technical rehearsals for ELEANOR when Earnest closed and went into previews later that same week. It was a tight squeeze, but I am very grateful to both theatres and that they didn't make me choose.

We asked about the challenge posed by ELEANOR being a one-person show where Harris is responsible for all the dialogue single handedly and credited her for having done so without the aid of someone feeding her lines as has been seen elsewhere recently.

I will say that I don't think it's a natural thing to retain 90 minutes worth of text. Also, I started on this thing before Covid. We knew we were going to do it in some way, taped or live. Henry Stram, the director, is an old dear friend of mine from Julliard. He and Mark St. Germain, the writer, and I had been talking and preparing for last fall's streaming of the reading of ELEANOR for a long time. I really started learning it in January of this year when it was certain we would be doing something so, It has been sinking in for a long time. It is really a team effort though, and I have the most wonderful Stage Manager, Renee Lutz, she's absolutely terrific. Even though she is way up there in the booth, I feel very much like she is a dance partner every night. So, I certainly don't feel as alone as I might

It has been said that you have mastered Comedy, Drama, Musicals, even Opera. Is there a particular genre you prefer, or feel most comfortable with?

Harriet laughed heartily and said "Oh well, that is pretty farfetched. I was delighted to get to audit that world. I think I tend to fall in love with whatever I'm doing. I didn't start out doing all sorts of different things so much. I was trained to do classical theatre and that's what I thought my career would be, but it has definitely branched out. It has all been very rewarding and one thing feeds another. Like getting to do Earnest and then getting to do ELEANOR. It was a lovely thing to get to jump back on stage in something that was so extraverted. That was a great way to get over any hurdle of what's it going to feel like to be back on stage. In Oscar Wilde you really just have to make that leap. I'm very happy that I got to do that first. ELEANOR is more introspective, and it might have been a little bit harder to share with an audience if I hadn't already done something that was much more front footed. As it turns out, ELEANOR has to be very front footed as well. That's pretty much how she lived her life. She just took chances and rose to the occasion.

In an interview with Playbill, referencing some of your best-known roles like Bebe on FRASIER, Felicia on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, Mrs. Meers in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE you said, "I've played a lot of mad, bad, and dangerous to know types". Is that still a valid statement, and do you have a favorite?

I've played Eleanor in different incarnations now and I feel she does tend to have a lot more gravitas and maybe she makes up for some of my on-stage sins. It's not really fair to have a favorite, but the one's where I have set goals and I, the director, the writer and company all feel you have achieved what you set out to do are the roles that really stick out for me.

Harris first played Eleanor Roosevelt in a Paul Rudnick play off-Broadway that was running during 9-11. Although the show had to be suspended, it carried on. In the last two years, Harris played her in HBO's Hollywood, PBS's Atlantic Crossing, and BSC's ELEANOR. She feels she has been fortunate throughout her career that there has always been work for her. The current production of ELEANOR at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield has already been extended through August 7. At that point the theatre has another production coming in and Harriet has another commitment. She expressed gratitude to both Berkshire Theatre Group and Barrington Stage Company for working so diligently so that live theatre could return and noted how much the audiences seemed to appreciate not having to rely on streaming. While she is unsure as to the future of ELEANOR at this time, she did say "I hope she gets the chance to come out and play again someplace else. It has been one of the happiest experiences I have had in the theatre.

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Eleanor runs now through August 7. For tickets visit https://BarringtonStageCo.org/Eleanor.

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