Tony Awards post-coverage: the Lipton gift lounge

Last week I hit you with a slew of short conversations with various nominees and attendees-to-be of the Tony Awards; that was my pre-show coverage. Well, on the day of the Tonys, I spent some time backstage at the official Lipton gift lounge, which featured sponsors like Vera Bradley, Anoname Jeans, and Altoids; while there, I got to speak with such luminaries as icon Liza Minelli, who played the Palace earlier this season; 33 Variations actresses Jane Fonda and Samantha Mathis; presenter Edie Falco, star of the show Nurse Jackie on Showtime; 9 to 5 actress Allison Janney; showbiz royalty Carrie Fisher, whose show Wishful Drinking transfers to Broadway this fall; and Broadway queen Bebe Neuwirth, who is currently involved with the development of an Addams Family musical. Enjoy the conversations!

Liza Minelli
You’ve done so much in your career. What’s one thing you’d still like to do? Just everything better. Do it again and do it better. That’s my motto!

Do you ever give yourself a break? And say “I was awesome!”? No. [laughter] I really don’t! That’s for other people to do! If I say “That was awesome” I’m resting on my laurels, and the laurels don’t last. And you don’t keep working. [laughs]

Do you feel any guilt over taking all this free swag? NO! [laughter] Are you kidding?

You were here last year as a presenter. Now you’re here as a nominee; how does it feel? It feels great! But I’m nervous. I’m not feeling shaky, I’m just… what it takes, you know? To be on point.

What are some highlights about doing your show? Well, just being on the center of the Palace stage and knowing that Sophie Tucker did that—everybody who you ever wanted to be like and who influenced you. Fanny Brice, my mother, everybody. And you can pull it right out of the ground. You can pull it; it goes right up your body.

Are you looking forward to relaxing tonight? Any afterparty plans? Well, no. Actually, I’m looking forward to having a hamburger.

How has the joy of performing changed for you over the years? It’s gotten better. Because it gets more natural. And you become more of yourself.

Jane Fonda
What’s something you’d like to do, considering you’ve already accomplished so much? Oh, I’d like to do another play on Broadway.

Which one would you pick? New plays. One that doesn’t exist yet.

How does it feel to come back to Broadway after— Forty-six years? I haven’t been here for forty-six years! It feels fantastic. It feels like coming home.

What’s the greatest thing about stage performing? Live audience feedback.

What was it like working with Colin [Hanks]? He’s fabulous. He’s his own person and very, very talented.

Do you have any pre-show jitters right now? No, I’m just excited!

Comes with the age of having done it a lot…? Yeah.

Who do you look up to? My father, Henry Fonda. [I miss] that he’s not here right now to see my return to Broadway after forty-six years, because he loved the last one.

What do you enjoy in your free time? I read. I’m writing a book, so I’m mostly doing research.

What’s your book about? Aging.

Samantha Mathis
Hi, it’s nice to meet you! You’re all such beautiful ladies! Look at you, it’s amazing.

You’re a Broadway veteran. What movie do you think should be made into a show? Well, I know that there’s going to be a workshop of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown starting next week, and I think that’s fantastic. To turn it into a musical… yeah, that would be pretty extraordinary, so I’m gonna say that.

If you could pick anything to make into a musical, what would it be? [long pause] I don’t know. I’m not saturated enough to come up with an answer! [laughs]
What about Neil Patrick Harris being the host? He doesn’t have to do anything except be himself. I’m so excited to see what he does with it. And I do have to say—I have to mention that I was his first onscreen kiss back on Doogie Howser when he was fourteen and I was eighteen. He was adorable! He was little Doogie Howser, and now he’s all grown up into this handsome triple-threat actor!

How do you feel about being here, you know, at the Tonys? Well, it’s just a wonderful end to what has been an incredible experience for me, being on Broadway in a play with Jane Fonda… you know, it’s a dream. And this is my second time in New York, being on Broadway, and for me it just doesn’t get any better than this, so to be a part of the tradition and the history and to see this community of actors that I’ve been a part of for the last six months… it’s just been a wonderful way to end the experience, because we just closed two weeks ago.

How do you like being in New York? Loving every second of it. I’m loving every second of it.

Edie Falco
You have a lot of talent— Well, thank you!

What showtune do you sing when you’re in the shower? Oh, gosh. Um… West Side Story and Hair are both among these season’s shows, and they’re shows I grew up with, so I’ve seen the many movies and plays and they’re way up there in the shower showtune category.

We’re thrilled about Nurse Jackie. What will people like and dislike about the character? You know, I’m always the last person to know about these things, and that’s the way it should be. I’m do my job, and it’s great if people like it, but if they don’t like it that’s cool too. That’s what makes the horse race, as they say.

How do you feel about being in New York at this time of year? Well, New York at this time of year is very exciting. The winter’s finally over; you can take your coats of; people are walking around outside, and then in about a month and a half it becomes unbearably hot and I’m gone. I’m off to the beach! So this is the perfect time.

Give a recommendation of a show or two from this season. Exit the King was spectacular… reasons to be pretty was spectacular; Hair I saw and cried myself silly. There’s so much this season.

Have you seen James Gandolfini in Gods of Carnage? Of course I have. He’s fantastic! I’m his biggest fan.

What do you think is a scarier character: his character in the play or in The Sopranos? There’s nothing scary about James Gandolfini—his character or his person!

You think The Sopranos could be made into a musical? [laughs raucously] I’m so, so staying out of that.

Allison Janney
Could you tell why 9 to 5 was the best movie-to-musical remake this season? Well, it wasn’t nominated for Best Musical. [laughs]

Right, but in your opinion! Well, in my opinion, because Dolly Parton wrote the music and it’s spectacular music and the choreography is stunning; Joe Mantello has put together a spectacular production, and Stephanie Block and Megan Hilty and I are fabulous together, and I think it’s one of the best shows on Broadway.

How are you enjoying being in the incredibly tight-knit Broadway community at this moment? I love it, because I haven’t been here in a long time. I’d been doing West Wing out on the other coast, and so I’m so happy to be back on the boards, as they say.

And New York in general? I love New York. I lived here for a long time before moving out to LA, so I’m happy to be back and am happy to be coming to the Tony Awards. And I hope we win something, because we deserve it!

What’s the best thing Lily Tomlin’s said about your performance? Uh… I don’t know what she’s said! She loves the show. She saw the opening in LA and in New York, and she loves me and I love her, and just that she enjoyed it so much and came to see it again was praise enough.

What are you into right now—favorite book, favorite TV show…? I have no time to do anything right now. I walk my dog in Central Park. That’s all I can do! I love it. I love my dog, and I love New York.

Carrie Fisher
Do you think Star Wars could be made into a musical? Star Wars the musical? I think nothing could be more vomitous! I just can’t… isn’t it enough? Don’t we have enough Star W—I liked Star Wars the porno film in Zack and Miri. [laughter] That seems great to me. But a musical!?

Would you do a cameo in a porno? In a porno? Absolutely. I’m getting back to my metal bikini weight and I’m going to do a porno then. Which will take a while, but…

You’re such a great writer. What are you working on lately? I have a new book I’m working on. I’m in my anecdotage so I’m going with more memoir stuff. And I’m doing this show [Wishful Drinking] that I’m coming in with that’s transferring in the fall.

Oh, so it’s coming to Broadway? It is. It’s coming in late September, previewing earlier, at Studio 54.

Could you tell me what Broadway showtunes you sing when you’re alone in the shower? I’m never alone in the shower.

[laughter] What showtunes do you sing when you’re in the shower with company? Ah, let’s see. I like to sing "Hello Young Lovers"; that’s a really good—and "Somewhere Good". “Somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something goooo…” I never close the word.

Why do you like The Sound of Music? It’s… uplifting and inane. I don’t know. I love tons of musicals. I was brought up in a showbiz singing family; one of the rules was never sing at the table.

How do you feel about being in New York at this time with the Broadway community all around you? It’s great! I worked in my mother’s show when I was fifteen years old, so that’s quite a few years ago, as a chorus girl. And my mom’s playing here right now at the Carlisle, so there you have it!

What movie do you think should be made into a musical? Wild Strawberries.
Why? Because it would just be freaky. Wages of Fear. You know, I think doing the Lion King and the Shrek and the Star Wars is like… so obvious. I think we have to go dark and very serious. Battle of Algiers!

Bebe Neuwirth
I know you were recently planning a wedding. How does that stand? We’ve been married five weeks, and we are a very happily married couple. [laughs]

That’s wonderful! How was the ceremony? A good friend of mine is a Zen Buddhist priest, and he handled part of the ceremony and the other part was handled by a New York judge. So it was a Buddhist-civil ceremony.

What’s the best part of marriage five weeks in? Um, jus—[a man slinks over and leans in]

[laughter] That’s your honeydew, right? That’s my husband! It’s hysterical. Um, the best part is just waking up every day and continuing to be grateful for finding each other. It’s just very happy and wonderful. We cherish each other.

How did you find each other? [laughs] “Take notes, now!” I see all these pretty women going: [thrusts out imaginary recorder] “How did you find him?!?” Um, we met through very odd circumstances. His stepmother was my acting teacher twenty-five years ago, and we’re still friends, and she introduced us to each other even though he lived in Northern California and just happened to be on the East Coast. So she introduced us!

Who are you most excited to see tonight? Well, I’ve been to the Tony Awards a lot, and I love them. I think it’s a great celebration of theatre all over the country, even though specifically it’s about Broadway. I really think it’s a great thing about American theatre. So, for me, tonight it’s really about bringing my husband into this.

This is his first time? This is his first time at the Tonys, and it’ll be fun to bring him into this beautiful party for the theatre.

So you and Broadway right now… I’m not on Broadway right now, but… [grins] something’s in the works.

The Addams Family musical! We’re going to do another workshop, in two weeks we’re going to do a workshop, and then we play in Chicago for the fall and winter, and we hope to come to Broadway next year.

Are the characters going to adhere more closely to the TV show or the movies? To the cartoons. The television show and both the movies were based on the cartoons; they were in the New Yorker, and they were by a wonderful cartoonist named—

[in unison with her] Charles Addams. Right. And our show is based on those cartoons.

How did you get involved? They asked me. And I said, “Yeah!” [laughter]

You know, I’m surprised you haven’t been on 30 Rock yet. Oh, that’s a great show, isn’t it? I would love to be on that show. You put in a good word for me for that! [laughs]

Is there a movie that you would like to see made into a Broadway show? I can’t think of one. I did an off-Broadway piece a few years ago called Here Lies Jenny using all Kurt Weill music, and I would love to make it into a film, but that’s not what you asked. [laughter] But I said it anyway, just to put it out there!

What are your afterparty plans for this year’s Tonys? I think we’re gonna go to the party, you know, the official party, and then I think my husband and I will go home, put our feet up, and if we are lucky… [laughter] we just might have some "ice cream" tonight. [more laughter]

What’s your favorite thing, theatrical or otherwise, about New York? Well, there are so many answers to that question, but I just happened to be having a conversation with somebody the other day about all the hidden little jewels of architecture and history that you don’t necessarily know or see. In this very building, in fact! There’s a room in Radio City Music Hall called the Roxy Room, which is a fantastic room that… I can’t remember what it was used for. A dining room? Someone’s residence or something? Something a lot of people don’t know about, but it’s an architectural gem. There are places all over the city… so there. The hidden architectural gems that I hope never see the wrecking ball.

This concludes our Tony Awards coverage!