ALISON FRASER
Alison Fraser, who recently brought much warmth and humor to the role of stripper Tessie Tura in the Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy, is that rare theatrical creature who moves easily between musical comedy and drama. Although her Broadway outings have mostly been in musicals — including Tony-nominated turns in Romance/Romance and The Secret Garden — her work at regional theatres around the country has included many dramatic turns. Luckily, audiences now have the pleasure of catching both the actress and the singer in the George Street Playhouse's production of Arthur Laurents' Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are, which is playing a limited engagement at the New Jersey venue through Nov. 1. The world premiere, which also features Tony Award winner Shirley Knight, casts Fraser as a nightclub singer coping with the loss of her husband and allows the gifted artist the chance to wrap her voice around a few standards. Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Fraser about her newest role, her return to the classroom and her plans for the future; that interview follows.

Question: How did this role in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are come about?
Alison Fraser: You know, it was amazing. I was on the Cape, and I was busy feeling sorry for myself, thinking, "Ah well, that was it. That was my career. I'll never get another job again." [Laughs.] And, [George Street Playhouse artistic director] David Saint called me and said that a role had become available in Arthur Laurents' new piece and would I like to have at it? I'm like, "Oh, my God!" Sometimes, ever so wonderfully, there is spring. All of a sudden I had this beautiful artistic opportunity ahead of me working with basically my favorite people in show business. I love the George Street Playhouse. I definitely regard it as my artistic home, and I'm crazy about David Saint. And, of course, Arthur is a huge influence on me in my life and in my career.

Question: I know you worked with Laurents in Gypsy. Had you worked with him before that?
Fraser: No, Gypsy was the first time. We had known each other before that, though, because he is very good friends with David Saint. He had come to see me, I believe, in Gunmetal Blues, the last show I did at the George Street Playhouse a few years ago. He came to see me, and we started having dinner together and one day he said, "Would you like to be my Tessie Tura?" You don't really think twice about that. You go, "Well this is a show that's out there somewhere in the ether," little realizing that this is Arthur Laurents, and he gets things done! So lo and behold I got the call for the show, and we were blessed enough to turn it into a Broadway run, and I got to work with Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, Laura Benanti.

	Alison Fraser in Gypsy
	photo by Joan Marcus

Question: Looking back on the Gypsy experience, does anything stand out in your mind?
Fraser: Well, Patti's a goddess. Her work ethic is absolutely superb. She absolutely raised the bar for everybody in that company. Watching the two of them, Arthur and Patti, work together was a great joy. You just saw these amazing minds melding and coming up with fabulous fireworks in the theatre. And watching Laura and Boyd… everybody was good. I'm working with Jim Bracchitta again, and Jim was in [Gypsy], too. And, I think the first time we were in the Broadway theatre looking around and hearing for how many kids it was their first Broadway experience. Oddly enough, it was Bill Raymond's first Broadway experience, too, and of course he's been a stalwart on the Off-Broadway scene for years with Mabou Mines, and he's big on TV and movies, but it was his Broadway debut. So it was thrilling to see how many indelible memories Arthur gave to me with this wonderful crew of singer/dancer/actors.

This show I'm much more in demand as far as my time is concerned. I have very little downtime. And the downtime that I have is spent changing, because I have fabulous clothes! . . . It's also a very deep subject. It's about loss and life after loss and what you need to maintain a meaningful existence when the most important thing in your life has been taken away from you, and admitting to yourself that you do need human contact and you need help getting through devastating emotional loss. Both Arthur and I, of course, went through that. And Shirley, too, Shirley Knight — goddess! I can't believe I'm actually working with her. She's been like my favorite actress since — I think Kennedy's Children was the second Broadway show I ever saw in New York. When David [Saint] told me who I was working with I was like, "You're kidding! You are kidding!" She always has been one of my favorites, probably my favorite. She's just so smart and so lovely. She's really the Patti of this piece. She really raises the bar, and it's thrilling to be a witness to that clockwork mind. It's amazing. It's like, "Wow, that woman is really thinking about what she's doing."

Question: How have rehearsals been going so far?
Fraser: It's a joy. You wouldn't think it would be a joy to get on a train and go out to New Jersey, not that New Jersey isn't a lovely state! [Laughs.] But I so look forward to work everyday. What is more blessed than that? I love my job, and already I'm experiencing pangs of regret that it's going to be over. It's like having this fabulous love affair. It can't last, and it's like, "Damn!" This is the horrible part of the ephemeral nature of theatre. Every show closes, except Phantom of the Opera and, I guess, The Mousetrap? But most theatre does [close] and already I'm going, "Oh, my God, I'm going to be so sad when this isn't a part of my everyday experience." I really love it. I just think it's a beautiful play, perfectly cast. Leslie Lyles and John Carter, man. Oh, my God, he's just great. It's also so wonderful sitting and watching, say, John Carter, who is an older gentleman, and Shirley, who has been around awhile, and, of course, Arthur, who is 92… You sit around and you think, "Wow, this is where I want to be when I am their age. I want to be productive and excited to have new experiences and to bring my experience to the table but to be completely open to new experiences." I'm sitting at this table listening to Arthur and Shirley talking . . . and then John, who famously worked with Edward Albee. I feel so privileged to be listening to them. I want to learn as much as I can from them. I want their essence to rub off on me somehow. Each one of the three of them — they are very wise and people with huge hearts.

	Alison Fraser in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are
	photo by T. Charles Erickson

Question: Tell me a little bit more about Sara, the character you're playing.
Fraser: Sara is a singer. She's quite a successful cabaret singer. She had a wonderful marriage to an extraordinary man, and he died of cancer. Of course, it's very similar to my life. I was married to a marvelous man [composer Rusty Magee], who died of cancer. She is just coming out of that shell period where, like a turtle, you've retreated to your shell. She's poking her head out of that shell and going, "How am I going to live the rest of my life?" She really has to come to terms with not only herself but also her family and a new love or maybe I should call it a "new like." Jim Bracchitta plays my love interest, and of course that's lots of fun because he's been a friend for years and years and years. I think that some people might be shocked by some of the wisdom that is imparted in this play. People do move on. People do have sexual urges despite having had an incredible marriage. Oddly enough, the bereaved can be censured for those natural urges. It was quite shocking to me, after Rusty died, when I started dating again. I was looked askance on. It was like, "Oh, really? Walk a mile in my shoes! After three years of cancer, you definitely need a few good days."

Question: How difficult is it reliving your experience through the character?
Fraser: Every once in awhile it really hits me because Arthur's way with words is so pointed, so focused. And, Arthur knows my story. My story is similar to Arthur's. The great loves of our lives had the same cancer doctor. They were in the same neurology unit at Sloan-Kettering. We can swap war stories. I think, for the most part, I can be objective. Also, it's so intensely Arthur's story, of course filtered through these lovely fictional characters. I have to say I think that the Rusty experience only deepens it. I don't think it makes it harder.

	Alison Fraser and Shirley Knight in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are
	photo by T. Charles Erickson

Question: You mentioned before about performing at George Street. What makes that theatre so special for you?
Fraser: Well, I think it starts at the head, and that's David Saint. He's an extraordinary man, a wonderfully intelligent artistic director who's willing to take a chance. A lot of times at regional theatres you'll see a lot of crowd-pleasers — like that really cute show, Forever Plaid, which is done all the time. David Saint is doing, I believe, five new plays this year. That's not only a tribute to David, it's a tribute to David's finely honed audience that they not only appreciate David's exquisite taste, but they crave it and support it. They have a wonderful subscription house. When you have a bunch of dedicated theatregoers really looking forward to new plays, that's exciting theatre. That's not to say it's not fun to do [revivals] — I had a ball doing Lend Me a Tenor and Lips Together, Teeth Apart and Gunmetal Blues out here, but to be able to be part of the creation of a new piece of American theatre — you're a little piece of that history forever, and it's thrilling. And I also have to say something about the staff at George Street. It's like an extended family. Everybody loves each other and everybody does the best job they possibly can to support their family. The costumes here are so great I always wind up buying them. It's like, "I can't leave these here! I have to buy them." . . . We're people here. We're not just pegs that have to be put into a specific hole. . . . It's unbelievable how every cog in the machine works and is beautifully greased. Every individual adds to the great machine that is the George Street Playhouse.

Question: You had mentioned before that your character is a singer. Do you get to sing in the play?
Fraser: I do. I get to sing a couple of songs. It's wonderful, a couple of standards. I always love to sing. It's kind of fun to actually have a good voice again. [Laughs.] I did Tessie so long I really thought I was never gonna be able to sing again. Her voice was such a damaged tone. It took me awhile to come back from that, it really did, but I'm back and I'm really enjoying the singing. I actually just got asked to do a gig at Feinstein's, but I'm not sure I can. On the one hand you get to work with Arthur Laurents, on the other hand you get to work with Charles Busch. The two of them are masters in their field. I'm doing Charles Busch's new play, which is sort of like one of his wonderful older plays like Psycho Beach Party or Lady in Question, one of his genre plays. This is called The Divine Sister, and it takes place in a convent, and I am a not-so-nice nun. That's going to be a lot of fun. That will be directed by the very talented Carl Andress, who is also busy reworking the book, with Charles, of [Busch and Magee's] The Green Heart, which is just about due for a second chance, I think. We went into the studio and we did the music as Rusty planned it, not as it was ultimately produced and cut drastically. So I have that music. It's very exciting. John McDaniel is the music director.

Question: When are you looking to do that?
Fraser: I don't think that there's a definite date. He's just getting the creatives together right now, but John [McDaniel] is on board, which is thrilling. He was, oddly enough, the very first music director we had. And, there'll be re-orchestrations, and I believe it's going to be cut down to a more manageable amount of people. It's just such a good show that really didn't have the production it should have had. It needs another shot, so we can all make a lot of money! [Laughs.]

Question: Where is the Charles Busch play being done?
Fraser: I think it's going to be at Theatre For a New City. It's gonna be loads of fun. It's Julie Halston — oh, my God, she's so funny. Dare I be on a stage with this woman? [Laughs.] I'll be wearing the cloak of invisibility. I can't take my eyes off of her, how can the audience? To watch Julie and Charles work together is like watching one of the great comedy teams. . . . To watch two superb comedians perform material written specifically by one of them for the two of them is just amazing. I feel very lucky this year to work with, first of all, Arthur and Shirley and David on this very intense, very personal, very emotional piece, and then later on in the year with Charles and Julie and Carl on what will definitely be loads and loads of fun not only for the audience but also for us. And also, I will be graduating from Fordham University! But I'm going to continue on. I'm having a big graduation party, and we're going to have Jell-o shots, and I hope somebody gives me a convertible. [Laughs.] Or at least a trip to Europe.

Question: What do you want to continue on with after graduation?
Fraser: Right now my major is English Lit. I'm really enjoying that. I'm liking the new realism — a lot of Sinclair Lewis and William Dean Howells, but I just fell madly in love with Jonathan Swift, so who knows? I don't know what turns my education will take.

Question: You need another Broadway show to keep up with the reading!
Fraser: So true! They gotta bring Gypsy back again. Or there must be another Broadway show where I can just pop in for a song and leave! [Laughs.]

Question: Sounds like you're busy.
Fraser: I am busy, and my son's real happy. He's off at school. Things are good. I can't believe I'm working with Arthur and then Charles.

Question: Any chance Come Back, Come Back might come to New York?
Fraser: I think with Arthur there's always a chance. He's one of the great treasures of the American theatre. And, you've got Shirley Knight here giving a performance that — she's devastating. She's Shirley Knight for God's sake! [Laughs.] It's ridiculous. That's not to denigrate the others in the cast, because everyone is wonderful. Leslie Lyles is just wonderful, and John Carter, my train mate, and Jim Bracchitta, who gets to be my love interest. [Laughs.] My love interest, I love that. He was really mean to me in Gypsy, so he's making up for it now. Bracchitta wasn't mean to Alison — Pastey was mean to Tessie!

[For tickets call (732) 246-7717 or visit www.GSPonline.org. George Street Playhouse is located at 9 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ.]

DIVA TIDBITS
Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, who co-starred in the short-lived Rooms: a rock romance, will perform at a party celebrating the upcoming release of the musical's CD. The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Van Hill Entertainment and Time Life Records will present the pre-release and listening party Oct. 14 at Sweet Caroline's in Manhattan. The evening will begin at 8:30 PM. The recording is produced by Grammy nominee Robert Sher; producing associate is Brandon Wardell. A release date has not been announced. Sweet Caroline's is located at 322 West 45th Street. Tickets for the pre-release party are $15 plus a one-drink minimum; visit www.nymf.org/Show-1240.html.

	Jane Krakowski
	photo by Joan Marcus

DRG Records will record Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski's solo cabaret debut at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. Krakowski is currently playing the Manhattan nightspot through Oct. 17. DRG will record both Oct. 17 performances live. "Two shows will be recorded and the album, once edited, will consist of the entire show," DRG President Hugh Fordin told me earlier this week. Fordin will produce the disc; Cynthia Daniels is the engineer. Krakowski's new show, entitled Jane Krakowski Has Sold Out… Tickets Available, features songs popularized by the female performers who have inspired her, including Anita O'Day, Ann-Margret and Eartha Kitt. Michael Kosarin is Krakowski's musical director. A December CD release is scheduled on the DRG label.

The John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, NY, will present two star-studded concerts in November. Broadway Leading Ladies — Nov. 6 at 8 PM — will feature the talents of Liz Callaway, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Rachelle Rak and Chelsea Morgan Stock. The singing actresses, according to press notes, will "recreate some of their most memorable career highlights, display their great versatility and share amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes." Broadway Songbook — Nov. 7 at 8 PM — will include Lisa Howard, Lauren Kennedy, Norm Lewis, Elizabeth Loyacano and Howard McGillin. Musical director/accompanist for the evenings will be Fred Barton. Stephen DeAngelis produces. For tickets call (631) 261-2900. The Engeman is located at 250 Main Street, Northport NY.

Voices in Unity, the 75 member choir of Unity of New York, will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a concert at Peter Norton Symphony Space Nov. 16. The 7:30 PM concert will boast several special guests, including Tony winners Chuck Cooper and Donna McKechnie, Rosena Hall, the Spiritual vocal ensemble and spoken word artist Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin. The evening will offer selections ranging from gospel to Broadway and pop to jazz. Music director Britt Hall will choose the repertoire. Peter Norton Symphony Space is located in Manhattan at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. For tickets, which begin at $20, call (212) 864-5400 or visit www.symphonyspace.org.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.