BWW Interviews: Tony Winner FAITH PRINCE Returns to OCPAC's Cabaret Stage

Only a handful of stage actresses spring to mind that are as revered and as universally celebrated as Faith Prince. The Tony® Award-winning actress will once again be gracing the stage of The Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theater to close out this year's Broadway talent-heavy Cabaret Series from April 8 thru 11. Besides her winning performance as Ms. Adelaide in the critically-acclaimed revival of Guys and Dolls, she has been balancing a rich career in film (Dave, Picture Perfect) and television (Ugly Betty, Drop Dead Diva, Spin City) with a string of iconic shows on the Great White Way, which include Tony-nominated turns in A Catered Affair, Bells Are Ringing, and Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Most recently she hung up her tentacles playing the final Ursula in Disney's stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid before it closed on Broadway last year. But before she makes her triumphant cabaret return to Orange County, Ms. Prince spoke with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos about her upcoming show, her Tony ceremony woes, and her mission to inspire the next generation of theater actors to live out their dreams.

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BWW: Well, it's such an honor for me, a big fan, to be chatting with you today! And I'm glad you're returning to the Center because, sadly, I missed your show the last time you were here in 2008. Can you tell me a little bit about your set?

FP: Well, actually, this show is going to be a "Best Of" show. I'm taking all of the best things that I thought really worked well from four shows that I've done which I'm also getting ready to record for a new CD!

Great! What types of music will you performing?

Standards. Some Jazz. I'm singing from the Harold Arlen songbook. Some standards like "The Ladies Who Lunch," a Sondheim classic. I'll also be doing some new things like this song by Carol Hall, called "Tattooed Boy In Memphis." Alex Rybeck has a number in there...he's of course my great arranger and pianist. I thought Orange County would be a great place to put together this "Best Of" show right before I recorded the CD. And, of course, it will have lots of my little anecdotes, some about the last time I was there [in Orange County]... so I'm kind of glad you're coming to this one and didn't see it before! [Laughs] Oh, and I'm going to be doing this funny parody at the beginning I'm calling "Take Me Back to the '80s," which is a parody of "Take Me Back to Manhattan." I'm going to be pointing out how things have changed; a comical way to look at life. So there you have it! A little bit of everything!

That sounds fabulous! Now do you find yourself feeling more "at home" on the cabaret stage as opposed to, say, the huge Broadway houses you're so famous for?

Oh, honey, I feel at home pretty much anywhere! [Laughs] You know, it could be just me, a piano and an audience... Hey, it could be your living room! I'm really not picky! [Laughs]

Oh, well, you're more than welcome to sing in my living room anytime! So, this year—and maybe it's just a wonderful coincidence—but the performance line-up of the Center's cabaret season has featured one amazing Broadway Diva after another! First Christine Ebersole, then Christine Andreas, Kelli O'Hara... I'll even throw Alan Cumming in there, too! And now, you will be the season finale. From your point of view, why do you think Broadway actors are so much more gravitated towards doing cabaret?

You know... It's funny. For years people have been trying to get me to do it. It took me a long time to kind of warm up to the idea. But then, once I did, I was like, "what have I been waiting for? This is fabulous!" Now, I don't know what other people's shows are like... I know Christine and Kelli personally, but I've never seen their [cabaret] acts. But, for me, doing cabaret is just a way to express yourself in your way. For some people, that may mean that they just like doing one composer's songbook. Other people like to tell stories and sing in between. For myself, I treat it as sort of a canvas to display different characters that I may have gone into and done in the past. I also interpret other songs, tell stories... But, really, it's just a chance for me to be Faith. Then, within that, you see all these different women sort of emerge. So, I think that's why we do cabaret... it's a chance for us to express ourselves the way we want to...

As opposed to sticking strictly to someone else's script.

Right. They perform in terms of what [they] like to do and show what they bring to the table. That's what I really like about it, because it can be [tailored to] the individual. And once I found that outlet, I went "wow, what have I been waiting for?" It's funny, the first time I did [a cabaret show], I kept telling my people, "okay, tell me what to say!" And then once I got out there, they couldn't shut me up! [Laughs]

I bet the vibe's pretty different up there on a cabaret stage compared to a large venue, right?

It is! I love the intimacy of it. I like that the audience can sort of respond to you. And I love it when, you know... you have like a heckler or somebody screams something back to you—you can respond to that right away. I love that! But as much as I love the intimacy of all that, I also love playing the big houses. And I also love film. I also love television. They're just different sort of ways to put out the same amounts of energy... you're just funneling it differently.

Well, then, do I dare ask? Which medium do you prefer working in? You sound like you pretty much love them all equally.

Yeah. It excites me because each [medium] is just so different. I think, especially in the last ten years, I've just done so many different things: animation, voiceovers, recordings, film, television... I sort of turn to the present, and love the thing I'm doing at the moment. And I love them all. But, really, if you had to put a gun to my head and say, "okay, Faith, you have to come up with just one," I would say, definitely, the stage.

And you've certainly proven how amazing you are on stage. Now, excuse me for a moment and allow me to gush a little bit... Like I said before, I've been such a huge fan of yours for years. The very first Broadway cast album my Dad ever bought me was Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and that's when I first fell in love with you. Then, of course, a few years later, you won the Tony® for playing Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. Now, can you talk a little bit about that experience, being in that revival?

Oh, yes.... I remember that it was like being on a fast train! It's the best way I can explain it. I had done Guys and Dolls two times before in my life as Adelaide. I think [director] Jerry Zaks just turned up the crank. The show was really just very heightened but then very rooted at the same time. I mean, the set was extremely colorful and sort of outrageous. It was what I imagined in my mind what Runyonland was supposed to be. It was not New York City, it was New York City on crack. Or acid, I guess you would say. I've never done crack! [Laughs] But, you know what I mean! It was a blown-out version of it.

I think, particularly, working on [the show] in the city, you're in a fishbowl—where everybody's watching you work, closely analyzing it. I felt that we didn't really have, like, a safe haven to sort of experiment. We had to make hard, fast choices...and they have to be right. I remember them cutting three-fourths of the "Runyonland" opening because the audience was [already] ahead of [the characters]. It wasn't like opening a brand new show where nobody had ever seen it before. Jerry cut most of the "Runyonland" number and basically got [the show's storyline] to the point where we were ahead of the audience. That's what I remember the most. Once he did that, he really made it fly—so, there were no "spaces." If there were pauses, [the first] was a good, maybe, two-thirds into the show—and it was earned.

Can you describe that moment when, at the Tony's, they called your name and you walked up on stage to collect your award?

You know... [pauses] It was thrilling, and I wouldn't take anything away from it. Still to this day, I'm so honored that I was awarded that. But, I have to tell you something about me: I'm not really an Awards sort of [person]. It's the thing I dislike the most about the Broadway machine. It really takes up time away from the work. I don't know... some people like that. But, it's not like winning an Oscar®, because your work is behind you and so you can be "present" for it. For the Tonys, even while you're going through that whole machine—you're still working for the week. It's very exhausting. They put you through a rigorous sort of...marathon, because you're required to do all these things like for the Actors Fund on Monday night... people need you for this, people need you for that... You've got to attend this party and be there for this Awards-related thing... It's basically a condensed, power-packed, exhausting sort of machine that they put you through until you get to that night. So you're thoroughly fried by the time you go the actual Tony Awards. And then usually you have to perform [if your show is nominated]. It adds a lot of pressure.

So, yes, the reason I don't care for it is that it all just takes away from the work, you know? The work is where it's at for me. I've gone through it, like, four times. And, I have to say... [Laughs] I know it's part of the process, but it's just not my thing.

But, through all that, has winning that Tony helped you in terms of getting your next roles?

You know what? Honestly, it's always an on-going process. You stop at every hurdle. I did The King and I, The Dead... then I did straight plays, then I did films... It's sort of a case-by-case basis. If a [production] doesn't really know you or wants to see you do something, then you keep going back in to audition. If it's someone that can [cast] you right over the phone and figure out that you're right for [a role], then great... sometimes that happens. I just think that you kind of go to 'zero' each time—maybe not totally—and that's fine. I don't mind auditioning when it's really sort of [mutually] a question for both myself and the production. I can sit there and go, "Hmmm...Okay, can I do this?" I don't mind putting it out there because then I get to see if it's really a part that sits well on me, too. So, it's not like what people think. If you look at even movie stars... I mean, a lot of the times they also have to battle for certain roles. That's just part of the nature of the beast!

I see. Now, your most recent role on Broadway was Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid. Can you tell me about that experience playing a heavily-made up villain? It looked like quite a demanding role.

Well, you know what? It was really fun! And I took it quite seriously, which, really, I tend do with everything anyway [Laughs]. And I really kind of reconfigured the role, sort of, for myself. I had thEm Lower the key so that it could be in the speaking range of the voice I thought Ursula should have. Now, I'm quite a bit older than Sherie Rene Scott [who played the role originally], but I've always thought of that role as, well—Pat Carroll voiced Ursula in the movie—to be a well-seasoned woman, you know? [Laughs] And I really loved being with the kids in the show. You know, one day you turn around and you're the youngest... the next day, you turn around and you're sort of the "Mamma" of the company. I always kept the doors open in my dressing room and invariably somebody would come in and sort of ask me questions about auditions and what they should do. I found myself, you know, becoming Dr. Faith in that way, because it was a really young cast.

And I loved doing Ursula because I'm the type of person that really hones in on characters and keeps working and working on them. Nothing is ever the same, night to night. I mean, within a tonal balance that the director [Francesca Zambello] has sort of reeled me into, I constantly changed up how I played the character. You see these kids constantly going "Ohmigod, she doesn't say the same thing the same way twice!" That's just the way I work. That's the kind of actress I am, too. But, yeah, it's really fun to see these kids go "Ohmigod, what is she going to do next?" [Laughs]... It makes them react in the present, which is wonderful. And, another thing... It went way too short. I really thought it would go on for another eight months or so. But, you know, because of the economy and the cost of [putting on] the show—it was very expensive and cost a lot more than they had anticipated. And also, [the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre] wasn't Disney's theater. So they put the kibosh on it on Labor Day [in 2009]. I really wish it ran longer because I really loved playing the role. And, yeah, the outfit weighed 60 pounds and that was something that needed to be maintained, but, I don't know... I just used it as a good workout! [Laughs]

It's like your cardio every night!

Exactly! I worked out just as much as I would on a treadmill!

So, let's talk a little bit about your background. While growing up, did you have any idea that being an actor was what you wanted to do for a living?

I don't think that it really hit me until I was in high school. I mean, I knew I was sort of good at it, but I didn't think I would ever go into it until then. I had a chorus teacher that also did the music [arrangements] for all the school musicals at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. They have a great drama program there. That teacher just really saw something in me and later suggested to my parents that I do something with it—and he had never really suggested to one of his students to go into show business before. But he thought it might be a great thing for me. He helped me find a school that was right, and I ended up going to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music [CCM] for musical theater. At that time, there weren't many colleges that had offered musical theater degrees. So, it was sort of like a novelty [before] to go into school for that. It was there where I really just ate, drank, slept musical theater. There I thought, "boy, this is really what I want to be doing!"

What were some of your earlier roles at CCM?

You know, actually, I didn't really do very many in my Freshman and Sophomore years. I was sort of a late bloomer. But then I ended up getting [the title] "Most Talented" in my Senior class! I'm trying to think... I don't remember any outstanding, funny roles, but we did musical reviews and they would always cast me as the sort of humorous, funny girl in them. We also had a Swing Choir called The CCM Singers and, again, I did all the funny parts. But I don't remember doing a lot of standard things that you might know of, but I did do A Little Night Music—but I played Anne, of all things! It was like Lucille Ball doing Lady Macbeth! [Laughs] It was certainly a different interpretation and that was directed by Word Baker who did [the original production of] The Fantasticks off-Broadway. He came in to just direct that one season's musical which happened to be A Little Night Music.

But I didn't really leap off the map for myself until about four years out of college. I got a great voice teacher in New York, Harry Gurwin. And that's why it's so funny to me, because, you know, when I look at American Idol and I see all these young people... I'm thinking, gosh, I was so different at 27 than I was when I was at 17. I was one those people—I was a late bloomer, but I was very much like a sponge—I took everything in, and then it started to collect, and that's when I really started to get it. I just learned that way! It's not immediate. I always tell young people, if you think you have this voice inside you that says "Keep Going" then you have to listen to that voice! Even if you may not be producing it, be producing in the moment, you know? Always use the full tilt of your talent. I really try to encourage young people, because, really, you have to listen to yourself. Sometimes, your inner self knows before even your present self really knows. And that's a tricky thing. You may end up asking "Are these the good voices or the bad voices?"

I'm actually in the middle of writing sort of a handbook for young people that are thinking about going into the business, who might be thinking it's kind of like this foreign land. But, really, it's just like anything else. There will always be a yellow brick road to tell you where to go! You take it and hope it's the right path for you; if not, then it takes you to a fork in the road that may lead you to somewhere else that you may be right for.

Great advice! When is the book scheduled to come out?

We're working on it right now, me and a colleague of mine, Cheryl Stern. She's from Northwestern and I'm from CCM, but we met [while performing] at Wagon Wheel Playhouse [in Warsaw, Indiana] and we've been friends ever since. She's an actress in New York, and a powerful writer. So we're [collaborating] on writing this handbook, sort of from my point of view. It's filled with these anecdotes of my way in to certain situations, but also, I want it to be like an "eye-candy" book where it's something you can just pick up, look at, and throw in your dance bag. Something you can look at and say, "Oh, I needed that today." I'm hoping with this book that by seeing one person's way in, you'll find your own way in.

That should be a valuable tool for all these younger theater students just starting out! So, tell me, in your own youth... Who or what were some of your influences?

Well, oddly enough, this is something I talk about in this particular show! That person is Liza Minnelli! At the time she was in Cabaret and, at the same time, she was also doing Liza with a Z, which was very much her... her act. I was very inspired by her because she was this quirky, sort of funny person. And so, I thought, "Oh! Well, look! If she can do it, maybe I can be that!" Of course, I also liked people like Julie Andrews, and even though I loved her, I knew she wasn't [like] my personality type. But, yeah, you know, I grew up watching a lot of cartoons... I loved Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett... Donny and Marie... I loved all the big variety shows at the time. I think I learned a lot just by watching. I always tell people that if you really want to learn comedy, go back and take a look at all the old cartoons, and even further back to all those silent films with Charlie Chaplin. You know, a lot of my physical comedy came from that and Lucille Ball!

You know, I really do see a lot of her influence in you.

Yeah. It's like absorbing some of their characteristics. It reminds me of my son. There was a time when he started out sort of emulating Eddie Van Halen. And now, he's coming into his own ways. So, to me, it comes from somewhere... and then you find your own ways of doing it, to fit your own specific personality. But, you know, you have to start from somewhere! That's why I think it's great to emulate great people like that and then let yourself veer off to find you.

Now, you've played some very iconic roles over the years. Are there any other roles you'd like to hopefully take on someday?

Oh, yeah! I think I'd like to take on Hello, Dolly! You know, I also feel like there's a Mrs. Lovett [from Sweeney Todd] in my future. I feel like I'm just right around the age where I can play those two iconic women. Oh, and I just did this concert for the Library of Congress [the 1934 Arlen/Gershwin/Harburg musical revue Life Begins at 8:40]. I don't know if you have heard of this character actress named Luella Gear? They just don't have those kinds of women anymore! It was just so much fun to do those kinds of bawdy, out-there, outrageous character songs! Now, I've been working a lot on television and film in the last, I don't know, nine months since I did Ursula...all this drama stuff. I was just thinking [while doing that concert], "Oh, yeah! I still got these ol' girls in me!" It was so much fun to be just sort of be outrageous! And Brad Oscar was in it... Christopher Fitzgerald... the three of us in it were really quite funny... we even did a number called "Ménage A Trois." You know, they were just so much more outrageous even back in the '30s than we are even now. We're going to be recording it [as a studio album] in New York!

Sounds great! Now you mentioned working on television a lot lately. I remember when you showed up on Drop Dead Diva as Brooke Elliott's mother, I thought... oh, perfect! Will you be making an appearance in the show's second season?

Actually, after I play Orange County and then I go to Palm Beach, I'll be flying to Atlanta to film a really great episode of the show!

Awesome! I can't wait to see that! Now before I officially end our interview, I'd like to throw out a few rapid-fire questions your way. Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Okay, first question... which do you prefer more, L.A. or New York?

[Pauses] Ohmigod. That's a really hard question! [Pauses] Can I just say both?

Of course! What's your favorite role you've ever played?

I'd have to say Adelaide. Guys and Dolls.

Who's the person you admire the most?

Gosh, these are really hard questions! You know, actually, Eleanor Roosevelt comes to mind.

What song do you like to belt in the shower or when you're all alone?

[Laughs] Um... "I Will Survive."

What's your one guilty pleasure?

Shopping.

What or who irritates you?

Oh, sooo many things! Well, recently.... cab drivers! [Laughs] Now, I got to tell you... I would say, the thing about me is that I have what I call my "fair card." If something is not innately fair or just, it just... sends me. I really get irritated with that. When someone tries to takes somebody out or do something that's not fair, I am just... I am not the warm and fuzzy Faith Prince that people think of. [Laughs]

Well, on the opposite end of that... what instantly makes you smile?

Cooking. The Food Network. And a really good magazine.

And lastly, If you weren't an actor, what other career do you see yourself doing?

Hmmm... actually, I have three: A psychologist... but for talented people. A masseuse or maybe an acupuncturist. And the third one would be, a professor or teacher of theater at a really good college.

Cool. All great choices! Well, again, thanks for sitting down for this very fun interview. And I am really excited to see your cabaret show here in Costa Mesa!

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Faith Prince performs at the Samueli Theater April 8-11. Showtimes are at 7:30pm Thursday thru Saturday and 7pm on Sunday. Tickets are $72 and are available online at OCPAC.org, at the Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714.556.2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 15 or more, call the Group Services office at 714.755.0236. The TTY number is 714.556.2746.

For more information, visit OCPAC.org. Visit Faith Prince official site at www.faithprince.com.

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