Despite her neophyte status on the Main Stem, Griffin still knows one thing is very important when preparing for a Broadway gig — your Playbill Who's Who bio. "I'm really, really proud of the Playbill bio that I wrote!" she told NY1's "On Stage" earlier this week.
Griffin starts out her Playbill bio with an ode to another lady of the stage whose bio went down in history: Barbra Streisand. For the 1962 I Can Get It For You Wholesale Playbill, a then unknown Streisand wrote she was "Born in Madagascar, raised in Rangoon," later changing her birthplace for Funny Girl to Aruba. (For the record, as any good Streisandite knows, she was born and raised in the less-than-exotic Brooklyn).
Griffin goes on to list her first stage experience, playing "seven gay men simultaneously" in a past production of Boys in the Band. More specific than say, Will Swenson, who lists in his bio for Hair that he "has been in a bunch of shows" and "prefers breathing to suffocating" (don't we all, Will?)
Other Griffin-created Broadway credits include: Jeremy Piven's Sushi Taster no. 4 in Speed-the-Plow, Jean Valjean's funny flame-haired henchwoman in Les Miz, a Dead Whore in an unidentified LaBute play, and a fired stuntwomen in Spider-Man.
She goes on to brag about her appearance on "Law & Order: SVU" noting: "no, really, this isn't a Playbill joke, I'm like a real New York actor." As opposed to La Cage's Christopher Sieber who regularly ends his bio with "Mr. Sieber has not appeared in Law & Order."
As any Griffin fan knows, she's got more than her fair share of celebrity enemies...which she also lists in her Playbill bio (including, but certainly not limited to Oprah Winfrey, Ryan Seacrest, Bill O'Reilly, any and all Palins and Angela Lansbury (hey now! she's got 5 Tonys!). Speaking of Angela, her Playbill bio for A Little Night Music lists her incredible string of awards including her multiple Golden Globes, Tonys, Drama Desks and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Griffin also lists her awards: two Emmys...and a GAYVN Award (aka gay porn).
Griffin makes a few thank yous, in particular, one to her fiance, the apparently very popular Kelsey Grammer (odd, there was no mention of her in his La Cage Playbill bio). John Stamos also thanked someone close to him in his bio for Bye Bye Birdie: his mama (aww).
She ends her bio with a bible passage. Not unusual for some actors. Spider-Man ensemble player Dana Marie Ingraham ends her bio with Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the plans I have for you"). Griffin chose a less uplifting verse: Malachi 2:3 ("Behold I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces").
God bless!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Backstage with Kathy and my friend Heather (center)"]
