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DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Guys and Dolls' Ellen Greene Plus Pedi and D'Abruzzo Chats
By Andrew Gans
24 Jul 2009
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Ellen Greene in rehearsal for Guys and Dolls in Concert.
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| photo by Ed Krieger | News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
ELLEN GREENE
I have to admit that when I first heard Ellen Greene would play the long-suffering Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl — July 31-Aug. 2 — I thought it the most genius casting of the year. Greene, who originated the role of Audrey in the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors and subsequently re-created her simultaneously humorous and touching performance on screen, possesses every ounce of charm, vulnerability, comic timing and vocal prowess that one needs to play the role in the classic Frank Loesser musical. Add to that her brilliance as an actress, and it's the perfect fit of the season.
The casting was the idea of director Richard Jay-Alexander, who last season also helmed the critically hailed Les Misérables in Concert at the famed California venue. "Richard called me up at two o'clock in the morning," Greene told me earlier this week, "and said, 'Would you be interested in playing Adelaide in Guys and Dolls?' It's the quickest I ever accepted [a part], and I just said, 'Yes!'"
"To be honest," Greene continues, "I did this show in high school. There were two Skys. My brother played one Sky, and I was the part of Agatha. I never got lead roles in high school!"
That unfathomable bit of trivia has thankfully been rectified, and Greene now leads a starry cast that also boasts film actress Jessica Biel (Sarah Brown), stage and screen star Scott Bakula (Nathan Detroit), Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Sky Masterson), theatre veteran Ken Page (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), Emmy Award winner Beau Bridges (Arvide Abernathy) and Broadway favorite Ruth Williamson (General Matilda Cartwright) as well as Herschel Sparber (Big Jule), Jason Graae (Benny Southstreet), Bill Lewis (Harry the Horse), Danny Stiles (Rusty Charlie), Amir Talai (Angie the Ox/Joey Biltmore), Jody Ashworth (Lt. Brannigan), Cindy Benson (Agatha) and Grace Wall (Martha) with Sandahl Bergman, Valarie Pettiford, Jane Lanier, Kathryn Wright, Jillana Laufer and Tracy Powell as The Hot Box Girls.
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Scott Bakula (l.) and Ken Page in Guys and Dolls rehearsal
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| photo by Ed Krieger |
Greene, whose last musical-theatre outing was The First Picture Show in 2001, said the first day of Guys and Dolls rehearsal — a read through and sing through of the entire show and score — was, for her, an emotional one. "I was sitting there crying all during our first read-through. Richard has been there in very pivotal times of my life. He knows me so well, and he knows my career. So to have him sitting there was so surreal and so wonderful."
The stage and screen star, most recently seen in the boundary-breaking TV series "Pushing Daisies," also has nothing but praise for the entire Guys and Dolls cast: "Jessie [Biel] is disarmingly innocent as Sarah . . . She's earnest as the first-act Sarah and really, really wants to change [Sky's] life. And then in 'If I Were a Bell,' she became this free spirit belting. She is delightful! I mean, it's wonderful working with her. She's really sweet, really lovely. Scott Bakula, wow! We did 'Sue Me,' the first song together. It was great! He's warm and dear. … And, Brian Stokes Mitchell — he opens his mouth, and I get weak. His voice is so beautiful. And Ken Page, we've wanted to work together for years. Beau Bridges is so touching. When he sang to Jessica, it was so endearing. And the Hot Box Girls, one after another, a legend. Valarie Pettiford — I worked with her in Weird Romance. She is an actress in her own right and a singer and a dancer. And Sandahl, I saw her onstage in Pippin with the legs that go up to the ceiling. Jane Lanier, Katherine Wright — well, they're all fabulous."
Greene is equally excited to be working with A Chorus Line Tony winner Donna McKechnie, who is choreographing the production, and musical director Kevin Stites. "Donna had given me . . . the blocking to 'Take Back Your Mink.' [During the read through], I'd do a gesture and they'd laugh, and I'd go, 'Donna!' I keep singing, and I'd do another gesture, and they'd laugh, and I'd go, 'Donna!' It was like four times, so I went over to Donna and said, 'Did you see how fabulous your choreography is?' And, that's just her blocking! It's not overdone — it's right to the point. And James Kinney, the associate choreographer, has been so wonderful." About Stites Greene says, "Kevin is such a wonderful conductor. I found myself watching him when I should have been watching the actors for a moment here and there. He really is a wonderful, wonderful conductor with such great phrasing."
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(l.-r.) Richard Jay-Alexander, Kevin Stites and Donna McKechnie
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But her most lavish praise is for director Jay-Alexander. "The vision that he has for the show is spectacular," Greene says. "To work with him feels like working with a Ziegfeld. He goes into a spiel and you think, 'I'm a believer! I believe you! I'll follow you, sir!' He's a master showman. When he describes how to sing a song — he was talking to Jessica Biel — I was in awe. He's quite brilliant. A lot of those things — I don't even think about how you do it, it's all by instincts, but he was describing with these words, and I went, 'Wow!' And showing! The soprano voice that came out of his mouth was shocking, so it was a wonderful first day."
Greene's latest director returns the compliment. "Ellen Greene should never not be on a stage somewhere," Jay-Alexander says. "She is so special and so unique, and I am really flattered that she agreed to be in Guys and Dolls at the Hollywood Bowl. That said, she is surrounded by an amazing cast, with formidable acting partners. At the end of a feverishly paced first day of music rehearsal, using every room available to us, we did a full 'read/sing-through,' and my jaw dropped at least a dozen times. There were also plenty of laughs and tears to go around the room. Having Ellen play Miss Adelaide is sort of a no-brainer. Ellen makes me laugh every day and loves the process but, in this situation, it all has to happen very quickly. She's thorough and diligent and really cares. And, oh yeah, can that girl deliver a line! She and Scott Bakula are already creating sparks on stage and since 'chemistry' is in the delicious script and score, I think we've got it here! Fingers crossed!"
The aforementioned first day of rehearsal also gave Greene the chance to perform "Adelaide's Lament" for her co-stars. "It was exciting," she says, "because I really started seeing my character… [When I'm creating a role] it's like I have no face. I become somebody else. We're now working with the wigs and the costumes and the makeup design — I'm starting to see her become someone unto herself. When I start with a role, I have no clue about the character. I'm letting myself loose, and sometimes a really wonderful thing comes out if I can get free enough and out of my own way, somebody emerges, with the help of everybody involved, of course."
And, how does Greene view Adelaide, the perennial bride-to-be?
"My spin is I'm making her hopefully dear and very accessible," explains Greene. "I don't want to make her ballsy. All she cares about is getting married. She's wanted to get married since the minute she met this man. She loves this man. Funnily in the script, they say, 'How long have you been engaged?' She says, '14 years.' 'How long have you known her?' '14 years!' So they must have gotten engaged the minute they met, which I find very funny. They've been married, in letters, for 12 years. So she's been fibbing to both her mother and Nathan for 12 years, making up this whole counter-story.
"The Adelaide I think I've created revolves all around Nathan. She leads with her heart. She wears her heart on her sleeve. Nathan's her world, and her world is Nathan. I wouldn't say she's the smartest peg, but she's really gentle." Continued...
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