Interview: Actress Roslyn Cohn Shares High Points In Her Theatrical Career Thus Far

Actress Roslyn Cohn is remarkably versatile. She is nominated for a BWW Award this year for The Sound of Murder at Theatre 40. In our converrsation she tells our readers about her work and who and what she admires in the acting profession.

Tell us about your BWW nomination for The Sound of Murder at Theatre 40. What kind of character did you play?

RC: I was excited to get a nomination for this show as we didn't get the amount of reviews we should have in my opinion. It was a very good production with clever and clean direction by Adrian Cohen. I played, Eileen Forbes, a British "spinster" who in the end goes through a big character twist and reveals a psychosis. One of the most fun roles I've had a chance to play. I hated to say goodbye to her.

You have been nominated for at least 5 Awards. I remember Separate Tables and Lost in Yonkers. You were wonderful in both. Talk about those roles and the challenges of playing both characters.

RC: Thanks Don! It was actually 6 nominations, the 1st being for my anti-Scientology cabaret, "diffiCult to leave" which can be seen on Youtube. It was written by myself, Jake Anthony and Joshua Finkel. I did that show one time, had it professionally filmed so it could be seen on Youtube in order to bring awareness about that Cult after having been inside 23 years. When I did it, no other artist had done a show about being inside, Going Clear had been published but Leah Remini had just left and wasn't yet speaking out, so it was kind of a biggie.

As for Separate Tables and Lost in Yonkers, both roles were a gift and very different. Cybil in Separate Tables began my relationship with Theatre 40. I love working there because when on stage, the set values are so good that I feel like I'm playing Off-Broadway. Cybil is a very lonely role who spoke few words. It was all internal work and I loved playing 2 particular scenes - 1 with Diana Angelina and 1 with David Hunt-Stafford. In those 2 scenes Cybil got to go through her journey and eventually break through. I still well up when I recall that journey for her.

Bella was at Group Rep where I had been a company member. That role is one of those where you know you're born to play it. It was completely exhausting playing her as she carries the show with voluminous amounts of words and deep emotion. But it was so gratifying getting to work with all the other actors and play in a theatre that feels like old time Summer Stock in a way, which I loved. Our audiences really took the journey with us and some even said they preferred the production to the Broadway one, I know hard to believe, but it was because it was so intimate rather than playing in a big theatre. The audience felt like they were peering into the living room of these people. I especially loved working off Loraine Shields as Momma.

Do you have a favorite role to date? Why this choice?

RC: Oh boy! I've been so blessed to play so many exceptional roles. In NYC I got to do I Never Saw Another Butterfly at The Mazur Theatre. It was about the Terezin Concentration Camp and ripped your heart apart. After the show we'd have talk backs with Holocaust survivors and it was exceptional in experience. I was the only adult in a company with about 10 kids (some had done Broadway as had I or 2 young twenty-somethings. Not that they're not adults, but I was probably 18 years older

Another blessed production was 26 Pebbles at Theatre 40 about how Newtown heals after Sandyhook. Most of us played 4 characters, never leaving the stage but with costume tweaks as each scene passed with no intermission. It's so sad we had small audiences because they were afraid of the story, regardless of how many times we would tell people, "It's not what you think. This is life affirming and beautiful." Thankfully we got lovely reviews, earned some awards, we all were Broadway World nominated...but still, I just wish we had full houses as the play is gorgeous and important. In NYC I did musicals when non-union and loved playing Bloody Mary in South Pacific. Being a lean gal, I was cast against type, but it was so rewarding as we played in the round and audiences were so moved. I loved it and her!! I loved playing Eileen Forbes in The Sound of Murder - such a fun character arc, of course Bella in Lost in Yonkers as she's such a beautiful human being and I'm currently playing a very intense role as Florence Harding in Fifteen Men in a Smoke Filled Room. She was a highly intelligent woman and a great First Lady. A very tough role and draining but so worth the journey.

Tell our readers about your upcoming projects. Anything particularly fascinating?

RC: We're closing Fifteen Men in a Smoke Filled Room December 15th at Theatre 40 and it's worth seeing. 90 minutes with no intermission about the Harding Administration which has been the most corrupt Administration in history...until, you know....today. I'd love to get back to musicals. It's so sad what happened in our fight with AEA. I was very involved in the Pro99 movement as I know what it's like to do Showcase in NYC and how many opportunities have been robbed from us. I could have had the shot to do musicals at so many of these 99 seat theatres but now so many are only non-union. It's tragic. I may need to start doing some open mic nights just to be able to sing out there again.

I actually am pretty new to the LA theatre world. I moved to LA to do more TV/Film and my highest priority was to spend time with my folks up in Marin after 20 years in NYC. Thankfully I made that move as I lost both my folks to lung cancer. I would visit them every 3 weeks, then every week once my Dad was diagnosed and every other week once he passed. Then my Mom went through it. I made a choice not to do much theatre as I wanted to be with them for those years from 2001-2012 and so glad I did. After my mom passed away in 2012 is when I discovered the Intimate Theatre scene for real and threw myself in. It's been so rewarding and I'm so thankful to all the companies who've hired me. They've all been such gifts. And Thank You, Don, for your amazing support of my work!

You are so good at slipping into a character's skin and being that person, especially crazy or unusual people. How do you face each role? Do you have a game plan or do you start and build from the ground up?

RC: Oh boy, that's a great question but hard to answer. I'm a hyper sensitive girl. I had a neurological disease my whole life but was never diagnosed until my mom was in hospice. That disease, Essential Tremor, is what pushed me into Scientology for 23 years as I thought it was all psychosomatic. It's not. I've been ridiculed a lot in life for it so I guess I understand playing unusual people. It's hard for me to label them crazy as I don't feel they are. They're characters in deep pain - which I understand - and are just trying to cope. I understand that. I honestly don't know what happens when I play these roles. I have had tons of training from Meisner, Austin Pendleton to Milton Katselas. I use a little bit of everything and a lot of imagination. Tons of imagination. I pray before I go on to let me just be that person, go moment to moment and truthful - and then I go on the ride.

What part would you really like to play?

RC: Wow!! You know what? I'm dying to do a Comedy again!!!! I miss making people laugh. At one point I was hired to do a non-union tour in NYC of Lend Me a Tenor to play Maria and I've love to do that!!! I couldn't do the tour as I got hired by National Actors Theatre on Broadway which is how I got my Equity card. God Bless Tony Randall, John Tillinger and Georgianne Walken for that!!! I don't travel on tour because I have my huge dogs and want to do more TV and Film but I sure as hell would LOVE to do a production of Come From Away. Absolutely LOVE that show! I actually need to read up on more current plays to find those comedies.

Who are among your favorite actors today?. Why these choices?

RC: Yikes! So hard!!! Well, the 3 that influenced me in my life from the time I was a little girl have been Barbra Streisand, Ben Vereen and Bernadette Peters. My goal as a kid was to be the female Ben Vereen but knee injuries took that away - thank God I can act. I love Emma Thompson on film as she's so versatile. Oh man, I know I'm missing some greats. Adore Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. I love the Brits and how they work!!! Oh, Dang, I know I'm going to feel badly I didn't give someone else props for the inspiration they've been to me. Yikes!!! Nicole Kidman blows me away in how she challenges herself. Now I'm blanking!!! Kate Blanchett and Emily Blunt are fabulous!!! All these artists are unique, true and seamless. That's what I admire.

Anything you wish to add?

RC: GO SUPPORT LIVE THEATRE!!!! And try not to be too judgmental. We're all doing the best we can out there and as Judi Dench would say, "See you on the ice!"

For more info on rosyln cohn, visit:

www.roslyncohn.com

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