Interview: Christine Ebersole on Crafting a Narrative for her Return to the Café Carlyle and Finally Working with Patti LuPone in WAR PAINT

Christine Ebersole will make a triumphant return to the Café Carlyle on October 11, kicking off what will be her sixth engagement at the legendary Upper East Side venue. Believe it or not, though, the two-time Tony Award winner (42ND STREET, GREY GARDENS) still finds cabaret to be the most intimidating performance capacity for an artist, but simultaneously the most rewarding.

Prior to her run of shows, BroadwayWorld had a chance to chat with Ebersole about what it's like to perform in a space so richly seeped in history, as well as how she is able to craft a narrative for each of her concerts that is resonant of the current space in which she finds herself. Additionally, Ebersole divulged her hopes for the future of WAR PAINT, the new musical which she starred in this summer from the creative team behind GREY GARDENS, and what it was like to finally work alongside Patti LuPone, after having known her for 40 years.

This interview has been edited for content and length.

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CM: In broad terms, what can audiences expect from your return engagement at the Café Carlyle?

CE: It's called AFTER THE BALL, and it's kind of a time of self-reflection when the children have left. That's where the narrative is at now, because I was there five years ago.

CM: How do you go about crafting that narrative of these solo shows?

CE: That's a really good question. I think how it happens is, you have this blank canvas and you have an idea, just from a feeling of this sort of transition period that I'm going through with my husband of having the children leave home after 18 years or more. They've been a part of our lives, and they still are but not living at home. It's sparked from that feeling of that transition and this time of self-reflection. This particular process, I got together with [Musical Director] Larry Yurman; this is the first time we're doing a club act together. I've known Larry for, oh my gosh, 25 years. We did GREY GARDENS together and he musical directed WAR PAINT, which was out in Chicago this summer, and we did an album together. This is the first time that we're working together [in this format], and I wanted to have his influence, his musicality.

The last act that I did was not at the Carlyle but was at 54 Below. It was called BIG NOISE FROM WINNETKA. It was very rock and roll... a garage-band kind of flavor. For this show, I wanted to sort of do a 180, and so I wanted to use a cello and a guitar, to come at it from a more classical source. Larry is the person for that; his musicianship is really off the charts. That was the beginning, and then whatever feelings were coming out of it, the songs would sort of just emerge. It's crazy how you'll be looking at an artist and you'll be listening to them on YouTube, and then something will lead you to something else and it's like this circuitous route to find your way to the perfect song that fits that moment of the narrative. Of course, Larry had brought some music to the table with arrangements that he had written previously---not connected to the show---in the sense that he worked on these independently years before and brought it to the table, and then they were able to be put into the narrative because they were right. After all the songs are assembled, I write the story around it.

CM: You have, of course, performed at the Carlyle before. How does it compare to some of the other venues you have performed in?

CE: It just has this sort of very old-world kind of feel to it. There's a sense of stability, a continuity in a way. I think it's really unique in terms of just how cabaret was really celebrated during the--- I mean, obviously Bobby Short was there for so many years. It's iconic, and so anybody who has the privilege of being on that stage gets the sense and the feel of what the club is about. It just has a lot of history.

CM: We need to discuss WAR PAINT which, as you said, you just wrapped in Chicago. Could you describe the experience a bit?

CE: Well, it was great working with Patti LuPone, of course. The creative team was the team from GREY GARDENS, so I have a history with all of that. There's a lot of familiarity and ease, so that was definitely a plus. It was great being in Chicago, my hometown. The Goodman Theatre, it's just such a great, great place to be creative and there's a lot of support from, not only the theatre, but the community at large. It makes you feel like you can really stretch your wings and go outside the box. It's a great story, and it was a great experience.

CM: You can't say whether it's going to transfer to New York, but do you hope that it has some sort of continued life?

CE: Of course, and I would expect nothing less.

CM: Can you talk a little more about working on and collaborating on a new piece with Patti LuPone?

CE: Oh, it was great, because I've known Patti for 40 years. It was really fun to finally be in the same room as her. She's such an inspiration, and just, what an amazing set of pipes. I was marveling at that, just like, "What? How do you do that eight times a week?" She's such a professional and it was a great experience.

CM: Many people believe that the theatre is the best medium for women as far as diverse roles and roles for all kinds of women, women of all ages, more so than in film and television. Do you find that to be true?

CE: I think that it can be found anywhere where there is a creative endeavor. Women on TV are kind of off the charts. They rule television, don't they? Somebody once said, the older you get, the further east you should move, because stage is really the one place where you can age gracefully.

CM: When you do anything for a long time, some weariness becomes inevitable. How have you maintained your enthusiasm for performance?

CE: I think that is always generated from the audience. That's what makes it new every night, because the audience is sort of like the invited player, really. They're participants, and it's a collective energy that's different every night. There are certain things that, hopefully, you can count on night after night, but even still, the personality of an audience changes. I think the energy is definitely derived from that.

CM: You are a person who does tons of theatre, as well as television and film and you obviously do concerts. Is there a vast difference between each type of performance?

CE: Yes, there is. I think the most challenging is certainly cabaret, because you are not putting on wigs, you're not putting on costumes and playing a character, and you're not able to rely on that. It's just you and the audience and your story. That is the most challenging, for me, and yet I think it's the most fulfilling. It has the most autonomy. But, yeah, you can't hide behind anything in cabaret.

CM: You have done so many wonderful roles, some of which are now iconic. Is there any role from your past you wish you could revisit?

CE: Nope! I just always try to always see what's in front of me, not what's behind me.

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Christine Ebersole returns to Café Carlyle from October 11-22 with AFTER THE BALL.

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