DIVA TALK: Chatting with White Christmas ' Kerry O'Malley Plus Fraser and Testa's Together Again
By Andrew Gans
Kerry O'Malley and Stephen Bogardus in White Christmas.
News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
KERRY O'MALLEY Into the Woods ), Burt Bacharach and Hal David (the thrilling City Center Encores! production of Promises, Promises ) or Paul Scott Goodman (Off-Broadway's Bright Lights, Big City ), singer-actress Kerry O'Malley blends her rich, clear alto with an emotional fragility that is often riveting. She is currently lending her powerful tones to the work of Irving Berlin in the limited Broadway engagement of the holiday-themed Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Marquis Theatre. White Christmas , which marks O'Malley's second Berlin outing on Broadway — she previously stood by for Reba McEntire in the Tony-winning revival of Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun — is based on the classic 1954 movie of the same name. The musical, which is now playing the Marquis through Jan. 4, 2009, casts O'Malley as Betty Haynes, the role originated on screen by the late Rosemary Clooney, opposite the Bob Wallace of Stephen Bogardus. Director Walter Bobbie's cast also boasts Jeffry Denman (Phil Davis), Meredith Patterson (Judy Haynes), Charles Dean (General Henry Waverly) and Susan Mansur (Martha Watson). I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the multi-talented O'Malley, who can also be seen on the acclaimed Showtime series "Brotherhood"; that interview follows.
Question: How did you originally get involved with White Christmas ?O'Malley: I auditioned for it back in 2004, the first year [it was presented]. . . . Anastasia Barzee got it, but the second year I re-auditioned and got [the role] — they went to three companies the second year. The first year was San Francisco, the second year was San Francisco, L.A. and Boston. Anastasia did it a second year in L.A. Kate Baldwin went to San Francisco, and I went to Boston. Then the third year, I was in St. Paul, and Kate was in Detroit. Then the fourth year, I was back in Boston and Kate was in Toronto. Now, this year I'm on Broadway, Kate's not doing it, and Jill Paice is doing Detroit, and Kristen Beth Williams is doing St. Paul.
Question: Did you know the film before you got into the show? O'Malley: I had seen it a long time ago, but it was not part of my holiday tradition as it is for many, many people. I reviewed it before auditioning for the show… I meet a lot of women after the show, women and gay men, who will then proceed to do "Sisters" for me! [Laughs.] On the sidewalk in Boston I had quite a few presentations of girls doing "Sisters" with all the original choreography from the movie. I was not one of those people who did, [but] I have friends who are twins, so they did "Sisters" in an act. I know it's really iconic for so many people, but it wasn't part of my tradition, but I do love the film.
Question: Which songs do you get to sing in the show? O'Malley: "Sisters" is one of them. There are a few songs in the show that are not in the movie. One is "Love and the Weather," which is a great little duet that I do with — it's sort of two solos but we sing it together — Stephen Bogardus. There's a trio that's sort of like an Andrews Sisters trio that I sing with Meredith Patterson and Susan Mansur called "Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun." I sing a little reprise of "Count Your Blessings." My big song is "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me," which is the big torch song that Rosemary Clooney sings in the New York club [in the film]. That's sort of Betty's big signature number in the show.
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Kerry O'Malley and Stephen Bogardus in White Christmas photo by Richard Feldman
Question: And they're all Berlin songs, right?
O'Malley: Yes. I think one of the great things that they've done is they've managed to use these Berlin trunk songs in a really fresh and wonderful way that makes them seem as if they were written for the show. Some of the songs that they use are merely performance songs. Bob Wallace and Phil Davis are famous entertainers, so they do "Let Yourself Go" on "The Ed Sullivan Show." That's not a book song, but then they found these other songs like "Love and the Weather" and "Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun" that they've made into book songs and that feel like they were written for that scene. It's really amazing how they did that.
Question: What's it like singing Berlin on Broadway?O'Malley: I have to say, I am such a huge Irving Berlin fan. I've been lucky enough to also do Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway. He's a true favorite of mine. I understudied Reba McEntire in Annie Get Your Gun , and I got to do a full week of performances as Annie when she was doing her pilot for her television show. I remember singing "Lost in His Arms" and thinking, "Boy, it just doesn't get better than this!" But that was before I got to do "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me." [Laughs.] His songs are so beautifully melodic with wonderfully witty lyrics. They feel easy to sing. They feel so well suited to the human voice. Nowadays, with the influence of rock 'n' roll and the kind of recordings that people are able to do, it's getting harder and harder and harder to sing eight shows a week on Broadway.
Question: The belting range is so much higher nowadays, the keys are crazy. O'Malley: It's insane. It used to be that if you could belt a C, that was really a great money note. Now people are belting Fs and Gs, and it's insanity. [Laughs.] It's certainly thrilling if it's done well, but these songs are — it's the great American popular songbook. That is where my taste lies, so I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this.
Question: How would you describe Betty?O'Malley: A little buttoned-up, a little more conservative than her sister — not politically, but just a little more reserved. Someone who has been put through the ringer and is protecting her heart, but very decent and kind and generous and looking to meet the right guy.
Question: Do you have a favorite moment in the show for her?O'Malley: Certainly, the torch song in the second act. One of the brilliant ways that Walter Bobbie and David Ives have expanded the show is that they took a song that, in the movie, was a solo, her song at the club, and [now] in the middle of it, Bob sings a song as a sort of internal monologue while watching Betty sing. He sings "How Deep Is the Ocean?" It is scenically, musically and acting-wise, one of the most beautiful moments in the show. I get to listen to Stephen Bogardus sing that song every night, and he is so good! His voice is so good, and I get to dance with three beautiful dancers and sing this amazing song with a 24-piece orchestra. It's heaven! And, I also wear one of the most gorgeous dresses ever made for the stage. [Laughs.] Carrie Robbins has outdone herself. It's such a glamorous, elegant, beautiful show. This dress that I wear is sort of similar to the Madame X dress that John Singer Sargent painted. I don't know if you know that painting at the Met, but it's a gorgeous, gorgeous dress. On a set that's just divine — everything about that moment in the show just seems like perfection to me. The way it looks, the way it sounds, the way it's staged — the lights come up, and I just have to stand there in a great black dress and sing. It's fantastic.
Kerry O'Malley with Stephen Bogardus, Jeffrey Denman and Meredith Patterson photo by Joan Marcus
Question: You mentioned Walter Bobbie earlier. What's it like working with him as a director?
O'Malley: He's great. He knows exactly what he wants. Because he was a performer, he knows how to talk to actors. Well, at least he knows how to talk to me. I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like, certainly in the way he deals with me, he knows when to say something and when not to say something. I really am quite fond of him.
Question: Since you have done the show in other cities, what was the audience reaction like in Boston and St. Paul? O'Malley: They go crazy for it! It's really one of the most exciting, happy and joyful experiences that I have ever had on a stage. The audiences eat it up. The orchestra starts, and like I said, it's 24 pieces. You don't hear that on Broadway anymore. For God's sake, they just did Sunday in the Park with George with five pieces! So here you have this big band playing these amazing songs and these tap dancers that are incredible doing this delicious choreography by Randy Skinner. You feel the audience's joy coming at you like waves. It is so infectious and fun. It's a beautiful, heartwarming story, and I feel like the audience has a real hunger for it, that they are so ready for a story like this. They are so ready to have an experience like this. It snows at the end. It's snowing onstage, and at a certain point it snows on the audience. The lights come up a little bit on the audience, and we can see them. When we see the faces turning up to look at the snow falling on them and little children reaching up to touch it, it is heavenly. It's a beautiful, beautiful show. I wouldn't be doing it for four years of my life if I didn't love it this much. It's an extraordinary piece of theatre. It's right for our time. We're at war, the economy's in the toilet — it's a story about really decent, honest people doing an extremely generous thing for someone they love — and you've got a couple of nice little love stories thrown in there. I think it's the right show for this time.
Question: I know you also do a lot of TV work. How does performing for the camera differ for you from doing theatre work? O'Malley: With the actual mechanics of it, nothing is different. You use the same emotional instruments. What's different I think about acting on film is that you're not in charge of your performance. Your performance is decided upon by an editor, so if the camera doesn't see it, it didn't happen. Whereas onstage, the actor is in charge of the performance. The way to get an audience to look at you is to move. It's that simple. But if you move and the camera wasn't on you, then no one saw it. The scale is different, and I'm sure that the scale of performances in this show will change ever so slightly because we're at the Marquis now instead of at the Wang [in Boston]. The Wang Center was 3,500 seats, so you don't have to be pitching a performance to the back wall if you're in a close-up. That's one of the differences between these performances and how they differ from the movie. Of course, in a movie you get to do close-ups, and the keys are chosen for intimate settings, but when you're performing live over an orchestra, over an orchestra pit, trying to reach 1,500 people, the scale of it is slightly different, but I don't think any of the emotional underpin has changed. Continued...
