By Michael Buckley
16 Jan 2005

Merkerson's first Broadway appearance was in 1980's Tintypes, in which she understudied Lynne Thigpen and went on once. "I was so sad when [Thigpen] passed. We worked together a lot. She was such a lovely actress. Nanny is the kind of part that Lynne Thigpen would play." Upcoming for Merkerson is the Off-Broadway play Birdie Blue. "It's a three-character piece by Cheryl West. We're doing it in the spring at the Second Stage, when I'm on hiatus from 'Law & Order.'"

Since 1993, Merkerson has played the detectives' boss, Lt. Van Buren, in Dick Wolf's "Law & Order," now in its 15th season. The actress claims to "have had so many wonderful moments" in the role, and appreciates the job "in many, many, many ways." However, her first appearance on the series was in a first-season episode called "Mushrooms" (2/26/91). She played a mother who works nights and is not home when her 11-month-old is killed by a teen (hired by a drug dealer) who can't read, goes to the wrong address, and shoots through an apartment door.

Burned into my memory, I tell Merkerson, is her reaction when the detectives arrive at her cleaning job to tell her about the killing. She assumes they're coming to see her about her troublesome teenage son, and when it dawns on her that it's the infant, she cries, "No, not the baby!" Her scream echoes in the mind. Says Merkerson, "To this day, it's my all-time favorite 'Law & Order' episode. It was my introduction to the series. I never read a script for an episodic that was so well written [by Robert Palm]. I became a huge fan of the show. When they were looking to replace some of the men [on the drama], it was the coolest thing when I found out that Dick [Wolf] wanted to see me."

Her first TV role was as Reba, the Mail Lady, on "Pee-wee's Playhouse." The show recently came out on DVD. "My niece's son got so excited to see Aunt Epatha." Other series on which she's appeared are two short-lived 1992 entries, "Mann & Machine" and "Here and Now."

Merkerson refuses to reveal what the initial S. stands for in her name. "I say it's for Sweet. So many people have difficulty with Epatha, which is what I prefer to be called." The people who know won't divulge it. That includes my friend, show publicist Audrey Davis, who works for the Lippin Group, which handles the "Law & Order" brand. "Audrey and I are like a mutual-admiration society," states Merkerson.

If Ruben Santiago-Hudson gets his wish and the "Lackawanna Blues" stories continue, we'd see Rachel "Nanny" Crosby again. An enthusiastic S. Epatha Merkerson concludes, "We certainly may!"

***

George C. (for Costello) Wolfe speaks so rapidly that, compared to his speech pattern, "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" would sound like a dirge. It's a testament to the director that so many actors were willing to play cameos in his first film. "I told them, 'I'm going on my virgin encounter. Come on, people.'" The movie was made in March 2004 and edited in the fall. Wolfe is ecstatic that — prior to its Feb. 12 premiere on HBO — "Lackawanna Blues" will be screened at the Sundance Festival on Jan. 26. "Ruben and Epatha and I are flying out."

He was not aware, prior to someone recently telling him, that Ruben Santiago-Hudson's first Broadway show was Jelly's Last Jam. "It was mine, too. And Angels in America was my second." That did very well for HBO, I point out, directed by a fellow named Nichols. "Yeah, something like that. He worked in the park [the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of The Seagull], so it's all very incestuous. Same person came to see my play, Colored Museum nine thousand years ago and said, 'I want you to write a movie for me.' I never ended up doing it, but that's how we [Wolfe and Mike Nichols] became friends."

I mention that Epatha Merkerson paid him a compliment, and he says, "Oh, good. She worked at the [Public] Theater in Fucking A. She's astonishing, a brilliant, brilliant actress, a great artist."

The films of The Colored Museum and Fires in the Mirror (Anna Deavere Smith's one-person play) were directed by Wolfe, "but those are hybrids, filmed stage versions." He found the hours of film directing to be "barbaric. The most important thing was getting good shoes. But it was fun being in a world that I knew nothing about. The theatre, I feel, is a world I know too much about. It was fun to be inside this huge learning curve; it's a different way of collaborating."

Were there difficulties in transferring the work? "I don't think so. The material lends itself in that direction. In addition to being the story of a boy and his surrogate mother — and this house full of amazing, crazy people — the piece is set in the times of great transition. The movie takes place between 1955 and '66. We have the virtue of having that as a background."

Since Wolfe has turned a one-man play into a fully populated movie, might he do the same with a one-woman show that he directed at the Public (prior to its move to Broadway) — Elaine Stritch: At Liberty? Notes Wolfe, "Elaine's been done! I wasn't even asked [to direct the film version] by whoever those British people were who did it."

While speaking about Stritch, how was his experience with the perfectionist? "The thing about working with Elaine is that she's incredibly, incredibly, incredibly smart. Very frequently, a lot of directors talk down to actors. Elaine's a smart person; I'm a smart person. Therefore, our conversations existed within that realm.

"I'm drawn toward incredibly intense, talented people, and I don't intimidate easily. Intense, talented people have aspects of their personalities that are kind of extreme. Very frequently, I'm sure I probably have a little bit of an extreme personality as well. Ultimately, what you're arguing about, or obsessing about, is the material. You can't let ego or crap get in the way. Then the arguments aren't interesting, they're just silliness. Elaine and I had a very successful and uncomplicated collaboration. It was a great show!"

Of his stage work, is there one that gave him the most satisfaction? Wolfe responds, "Different things satisfy different things. The creation of Noise/Funk was one of the most joyful collaborations I've ever been involved with. Working on Part Two of Angels in America was fulfilling, because it was so hard, so exhausting. I think that the resulting work is thrilling! It was a huge obstacle course, and on the other side of it was this great work of art. It was very, very, very hard for everybody involved.

"Wild Party [the Michael John LaChiusa musical] is fulfilling, because it was against tremendous obstacles from almost every angle imaginable. The work changed and grew, and got better, so I'm proud of that. [There's a rumor that Wild Party might be Wolfe's second movie.] With Jelly, I was in a love affair with everyone in that entire cast. There was so much magic and hope in the creative process. It wasn't easy; it was a very difficult collaboration, because Gregory [Hines] and I clashed so much. But the running of the show was a source of tremendous pride. It was a very magical time for me.

"Caroline, or Change has been amazing in L.A. It's nice to see the show breathe outside of New York. It was very good here, but it's even better out there. At the end of a project, I end up with another piece of myself that didn't exist. Each show gives you a piece of yourself that was missing prior to working on that show. A piece of you dies, too. It's a complicated process."

Is Wolfe's association with the Public Theater finished now that he's stepping down as artistic director? "No, it's going to continue. I end my last full day of working here at the end of January. Eight days later, I come back to direct a play — Neil LaBute's This Is How It Goes. Plus, I'll continue on the board."

Born in Frankfurt, Kentucky, Wolfe observes, "I've always been obsessed with theatre. I don't quite know why. At one point, a documentary was done on me. They went back to Kentucky and cousins of mine said, 'When [as children] everyone would play house, [George] would give people lines to say.' Instead of being a control freak, I created a craft. When I was 12, my mother came to NYU to do some advance-degree work. She brought me along. That's when I saw theatre. Living in Washington Square Park, one of the first things I saw was a mobile production of Joe Papp directing Hamlet, with Cleavon Little. I met the Public Theater then. I saw a production of West Side Story at Lincoln Center, and Hello, Dolly!, with Pearl Bailey. I had all these aspirations, and moving to New York gave me the love for those aspirations."

He attended Pomona College, directed theatre in Los Angeles, and also taught. "I was up for a writing job in Hollywood, and said, 'No, I don't want to do this.' I moved to New York and have been here ever since." Was there anything he had to cut from "Lackawanna Blues"? Wolfe states, "There was one scene, which was a huge, huge, huge regret. It wasn't for time. Lou Gossett's character dies. It was a breathtaking scene; his work was exquisite. But the scene did something to the movie rhythmically that wasn't correct." Might it turn up on the DVD? Says George C. Wolfe, "It may."

***

Michael Buckley also writes for TheaterMania.com, and is the author of the book "Between Takes (Interviews with Hollywood Legends)," to be published in 2005.

From Left: Rosie Perez, S. Epatha Merkerson and Adina Porter in "Lackawanna Blues"
photo by Bob Greene/HBO

View article on single page

Previous Page   1 | 2 Next Page