A-LISTS theatre Self Worth,
an Old Friendship
or Ulterior Motives? ALL EXPLORED WITH ACTRESS
MARILU HENNER
A generation knows Marilu Henner
for her long-running performances on television in Taxi. Readers know her too as an accomplished author of numerous books on health and diet. As an actress of the theatre, Marilu Henner has quite a few notable roles on her resume as well. She has a history with The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife that began long before this current staging set for October 1 through October 17 at The La Mirada Theatre. During a rehearsal break, Henner spoke with The
Rage Monthly about the past, present and future of her career while discussing this current incarnation of The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife. “It was in 2002 I started working on it…at the end of April. I was in the show on Broadway all summer until September 15. So, I did it for five months on Broadway. It was really funny because I replaced Michelle Lee who was the original in it. They called me and I read it and thought, ‘Oh my gosh! I love this play. I love this character.’ This is so funny because there is a lot of the character of Lee Green in me and this is going to be so outrageous and so much fun to do. It’s so much fun for me as it’s almost like Groundhog Day for me in a way. I get a whole nother experience with the character and get to bring different things to it.” The chemistry between the other lead actress Caro-
line Aaron, who portrays Marjorie Taub…the allergist’s wife, is also a winning one and another reunion of sorts for Marilu Henner. She explains. “Oh my gosh. We met playing sisters on Broadway in Social Security directed by Mike Nichols. So, we worked together in 1987 and we’ve been best friends for 23 years now. We were very excited to be able to work together again. We just love these parts so we’re having a blast!”
in Charles Busch’s realistic comedy,
The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife by bill biss
Marilu Henner is truly an accomplished stage actress.
Asking her about her theatre experience before her television success, she replies, “Oh my gosh. I’ve done six Broadway shows. I started in theatre. Well…my family owned a dancing school in Chicago. Even as little kids, whenever productions in Chicago wanted children, they’d call the studio and say, ‘Send 12 kids for The King and I or whatever’…’I’d always be ‘ Pick me. Pick me!’ I did a lot of community theatre in Chicago originally. Then, somebody that I knew from community theatre who was quite a bit older than I was, called me one day when I was a senior in high school. He said, ‘I’ve written a show. It may never get off the ground…we’re going to perform it in a converted trolley barn. I wrote it about people who I went to school with and it’s called Grease.’ So, I was in the original production of Grease at the Kingston Mines The- atre in Chicago. When the National Company of Grease came to New York, I hopped a plane, left school and that was it. I became a professional actress.”
Marilu goes on to describe the play for those who are not familiar with the plot. “Marjorie…the part Caroline is playing, is going through a deep depression. What pulls her out of it is the reappearance of an old friend of hers…an old childhood friend, Lee. She is this kind of mysterious, provocative stranger who comes into her life again and sort of wreaks havoc in a way. Everything sort of changes for Marjorie but she definitely pulls her out of her shell.” “I feel like my character is like The Cat in the Hat. She
comes in and she’s got this energy. She just knows exactly what to say to people and she totally ingratiates herself. It’s crazy what happens.”
THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE La Mirada Theatre October 1 – October 17
Lamiradatheatre.com 562.944.9801
18
RAGE monthly | OCTOBER 2010
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