ANA GASTEYER: I’M HIP!
by chris carpenter
Don’t expect her to appear as a topless Martha Stewart, as she occasionally did during six seasons on Saturday Night Live, but Ana Gasteyer is promising a sure-to-be memorable mix of comedy and music when she performs at Orange County Pride on Saturday, August 9. This free event will take place from noon to 10 p.m. in downtown Santa Ana.
“I’m a singer so I’m coming with my Good Time Band, but I’m a
good time girl so we will keep it light,” Gasteyer said during a pre- Pride interview with The Rage Monthly. “I try to draw people to me like the North Star; I’ll be dressed in glitter and am packing all my false eyelashes.” She is fondly remembered for a number of hilarious characters
she played on SNL from 1996-2002, which also included Celine Dion, music teacher Bobbie Mohan-Culp (with Will Ferrell as her fellow teacher/husband) and the co-host, with Molly Shannon, of the fictional NPR food show Delicious Dish. In one holiday-themed epi- sode of the latter, Gasteyer, Shannon and guest host Alec Baldwin unforgettably discussed “Schweddy Balls,” somehow managing to keep straight faces throughout the hilarious exchange. I asked Gasteyer if she will ever live that sketch down. “No, I never
will, which is delightful,” she replied. “It’s great that it’s so out there (on You Tube and other websites) and people can still watch it. It’s the Christmas gift that keeps on giving!” The comedian developed her skills during the early 1990s as a member of The Groundlings improv group in Los Angeles. Perhaps less known to West Coasters, though, is that Gasteyer is also an ac- complished singer. She originated the role of the crusading, green- skinned witch, Elphaba, in the Chicago production of Wicked and later reprised her performance on Broadway. “It’s just been amazing,” Gasteyer says of her career accomplish-
ments to date. “To sing in Wicked and to be on SNL are just mountain- top events. I’m really, really proud of my work on both of them, and so grateful to have had those opportunities.” Appropriately, this year’s O.C. Pride theme is “Pride is YOU.” I
inquired as to how Gasteyer’s upcoming appearance came about. “I honestly don’t know. My agent called and Pride is always one of my favorite events,” she recalled. “The crowd is always so joyful and ebullient and, as a girl diva, I love my gay audiences (laughs). I think there is a lot to celebrate and acknowledge in the gay community, especially in terms of the growing recognition of marriage equality.” Gasteyer performed at Indianapolis Pride last year but is excited
that O.C. Pride will mark her first chance to sing outdoors at a Pride event. “What’s it like?” she asked. “Do people actually stay in front
of the stage, or are they walking around and I have to beg for their attention? Because I will!” I assured her she will have an admiring audience assembled before her. The chanteuse is also excited about her new CD, I’m Hip, which will
be released in September. “It’s really a throwback to the Big Band sound and style of the 1930s. I’m hoping it’s the kind of CD people will put on and have a martini while they listen to it.” I asked Gasteyer to share some of her musical and comedic influ-
ences. “I was very influenced by jazz singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Ear- tha Kitt and Dinah Washington. Also Nat King Cole and that Shirley Bassey sound. I love the idea or image of a woman singing in front of a band.” And comedy? “Lily Tomlin is such a legend, and Gilda Radner of course. I’m also influenced by Bob Newhart and his quieter ap- proach to comedy and Tim Conway’s.” Since her run on SNL end-
ed, Gasteyer has continued to make ‘em laugh through such TV series as Suburgatory and Girls as well as movies including Mean Girls, last year’s LGBT-themed Ge- ography Club and my personal favorite of hers, Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005). She was audibly delighted when I mentioned my appreciation of her turn as Mae, the drug dealer’s lingerie-loving girlfriend, in the latter. “Oh, thank you! It was incredible and a dream job to play that campy style of melodrama. It’s rare to have that many opportunities in one part or character. It was great, great fun, even though I spent the last three weeks covered in fake blood, which was totally sticky and gross.” It will surely be a Pride season treat to have the multi-talented
Gasteyer join us in Santa Ana (courtesy of La Mirada Theatre) all the way from her current home in Brooklyn, New York. “I’m really looking forward to singing for everybody and keeping
the party moving,” she said in closing. “I’m also schlepping a bunch of straight boys along to play behind me, so that should be enter- taining for everybody!”
AUGUST 2014 |AUGUST 2014 | RAGE monthly RAGE monthly 41
“I think there is a lot to celebrate and acknowledge in the gay community, especially in terms of the growing recognition of marriage equality.”
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