By Andrew Gans
13 Oct 2006
Q: You seem to go back and forth between doing musicals and non-musicals pretty easily. Do you have a preference or do you like the diversity?
Rubin-Vega: I like the diversity. I love to sing. I always thought musical theatre was some bastard offshoot of legitimate theatre. I don't know where I got that idea from. I remember Rent, to me, was an exception to the rule, and that's why it was interesting to me. It was edgy, and God knows, I had to be edgy at the time. [Laughs.] But I think [musical theatre] has the capacity for being a wonderful way to tell a story.
I love telling stories — I love what I do. I'm really lucky to do what I do, and I've always loved acting, and I've always loved singing. . . . The play that I just did — Everythings Turning Into Beautiful — was a straight play with music. We played hitless musical wonders, a songwriting team that hadn't had a hit in a while, and there was some singing, but there was a lot of talking and emotional rollercoastering, and I find that that can be way more challenging than singing . . . because the work to technically speak out . . . while your heart is breaking, while you're emotionally going through all this stuff . . . [is] really challenging.
Q: How are you finding the demands of combining working and motherhood?
Rubin-Vega: At this point I'm exhausted. There's nothing I love to do more in my spare time than sleep! I think sleep and drinking water are the most important things. . . . You have to kind of divide your focus, which is challenging to me. That's why they make babies really cute. They build babies really cute and innocent and lovable, so you don't forget them and do everything that you think is important. Nothing was more important than my work or my career . . . It's all [still] very important, but there's a human being that is more important than all of it, and happily so, but not without negotiating how I split my time. I haven't been to a movie in forever, and, frankly, I'd rather just sleep.
Q: You're also doing a new play.
Rubin-Vega: When they asked me to do Fantine, I [asked], "Will you please let me out to do Jack Goes Boating at the Public in January?" It's a four-hander produced by the LAByrinth Theatre Company, of which I've been a member 12 years, so it's coming around full circle from the early days when nothing was going on, and I was a member of this fantastic, galvanized lab. It's the first time that I'm actually going to do one of the Lab's shows, and Phil Hoffman is in it, and John Ortiz, who was in Anna in the Tropics with me, is in it, as is Beth Cole, who's a member of the Lab. And it's written by a Lab member, and it's a fantastic play. We had been working on developing this piece for a couple years now, so when Les Miz came about, I was already committed to doing this in January. . . . Going back to that whole feeling that as an actor you're like, "I'm never going to work after this. What am I going to do?" The work of getting another job is harder than the actual work itself, so it feels very satisfying to know that they really wanted me badly enough [as Fantine] to let me go and come back.
Rubin-Vega: Tentatively, rehearsals will begin at the end of January, and we might go up in mid-March to May, perhaps with a bit of an extension. Let's say 7 to 12 weeks at the most, after which I will come back [to Les Misérables].
[Beginning Oct. 24, with an official opening Nov. 9, Les Misérables will play the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street. For tickets, call (212) 239-6200.]
DIVA TIDBITS
Congratulations to Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, who will be one of eight theatre artists inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame Jan. 29, 2007, at the Gershwin Theatre. The other inductees include actors George Hearn and Elizabeth Wilson; playwright Brian Friel; and designers Willa Kim and Eugene Lee. Playwrights Wendy Wasserstein and August Wilson will be inducted posthumously.
Speaking of LuPone, I had a wonderful time last week at Joe's Pub watching Leslie Kritzer — of Funny Girl and Trailer Park fame — re-create the former Evita star's 1979 concerts at the now-defunct Manhattan nightclub Les Mouches. It's a testament to the talent of both actresses that each is able to perform such a wide variety of material so thrillingly. I had worried a bit that the evening — entitled Leslie Kritzer Is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches — would poke fun at one of the women I admire so greatly, but it turned out to be a true testament to LuPone's megatalent and her off-the-wall humor. Kritzer was especially funny re-creating LuPone's patter — remember LuPone had just hit it big in Evita and was flying high with a record-breaking engagement of midnight Saturday shows at this intimate club. Highlights of Kritzer's performance included a powerful version of "Tambourine Man" and the campy "Heaven Is a Disco," and she captured LuPone most in an exhilarating version of "Rainbow High." Directed by Ben Rimalower, encore presentations of Leslie Kritzer Is. . . — featuring LuPone's original musical director David Lewis on piano — are scheduled for Dec. 8 and 9 at 11:30 PM at Joe's Pub; call (212) 239-6200 for reservations or visit www.telecharge.com.
Stephanie D'Abruzzo, who received a Tony nomination for her work in Avenue Q, will star in an upcoming musical episode of the NBC series "Scrubs," which is currently being filmed. Debra Fordham, a supervising producer for the television series, told me earlier this week, "I specifically wrote this part for [D'Abruzzo] after seeing her in I Love You Because this spring, so to actually have her here in person playing it is just amazing to me. She's been here for a week-and–a-half now and she's just fabulous — personally and professionally. I couldn't be more thrilled." Fordham previously revealed that Avenue Q's Tony-winning composers, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, penned several songs for the musical episode. "The general plot," said Fordham, "is that a woman comes into Sacred Heart, our hospital, complaining that she constantly hears music, yet all her tests come back normal. Is she just crazy? Or is something else going on?"
Tony Award winner Elaine Stritch, who returned to the Café Carlyle Sept. 12 with At Home at the Carlyle . . . Again, has extended her stay at the intimate nightspot. Originally scheduled to play the posh venue through Nov. 4, Stritch will now perform an additional week, ending her run Nov. 11. Stritch's new act — featuring such tunes as "The Life of the Party," "To Keep My Love Alive," "You Took Advantage of Me," "Comes Once in a Lifetime," "The Italian Lesson" and "Song on the Sand" — was compiled with her longtime musical director Rob Bowman. She is offering performances Tuesday-Saturday evenings at 8:45 PM; there is a $125 music charge and dinner required for all shows. The Café Carlyle is located within the Carlyle Hotel at Madison Avenue and 76th Street. For reservations call (212) 744-1600; visit www.thecarlyle.com for more information.
Composer Mary Rodgers will be honored during Music-Theatre Group's annual gala Oct. 23 at the Manhattan Penthouse. The evening will feature songs from the revue Hey Love: The Songs of Mary Rodgers. Those scheduled to perform include Tony Award winners Donna Murphy and Faith Prince as well as Jim Walton and Mark Waldrop. Musical director Patrick Brady will be featured at the piano. The Manhattan Penthouse is located at 80 Fifth Avenue. For ticket information call Mark Runion at (212) 366-5260, ext. 22 or e-mail mark@musictheatregroup.org.
And, finally, tickets are still available for the Actors' Fund of America's benefit concert of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Oct. 16 at the August Wilson Theatre. Whorehouse follows the Actors' Fund's acclaimed concert mountings of Dreamgirls, Chess, Funny Girl and Hair and will feature a cast led by Tony nominees Emily Skinner as Mona Stangley and Terrence Mann as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd. The star-studded company — under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee — will also boast Harry Groener as the Governor, Andrea McArdle as Doatsy Mae, Felicia Finley as Angel, Mary Faber as Shy, Richard Kind as Senator Wingwoah, Jennifer Hudson as Jewel, "American Idol" finalist Constantine Maroulis as an Aggie soloist, Bob Martin as Melvin P. Thorpe and the cast of [title of show] as The Melvin P. Thorpe Singers as well as Daniel Richard, Peter Gregus, Matt Scott and Tony Award winner Christian Hoff. Show time is 7:30 PM. For ticket information call (212) 221-7300, ext. 133 or visit www.actorsfund.org.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
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