What’s Up, Alison Fraser? The Divine Sister Star Sermonizes on Film Villains, Lawn Virgins and Stripping in Gypsy

Two-time Tony nominee Alison Fraser is sharing the stage with her old friend Charles Busch in his latest madcap off-Broadway comedy, The Divine Sister. In the nun-centric show Fraser takes on the role of Sister Walburga, a shifty German nun sent to monitor a Pittsburgh convent who brings her own conspiracy-based agenda. “There’s more of a show backstage than there is onstage,” Fraser jokes of sharing a dressing room at the tiny SoHo Playhouse with Busch and Julie Halston. Broadway.com caught up with Fraser (who scored Tony nods for 1988’s Romance, Romance and 1993’s The Secret Garden) as she rested between performances while fighting a cold. “I’ve been drinking nothing but orange juice,” she told us. “I think I drowned it…along with many of my brain cells!”

You're hilarious as a villainous German nun. Why does your comic sensibility blend so well with Charles Busch’s?
Charles has a deep-seated intelligence—under the laughter, everything has to have an urgency and need, and that’s what suits me. With my character, her needs are so obvious: She’s a religious zealot and fanatic, and she really thinks she’s doing the right thing. Every villain does.

Were you inspired by any film villains?
The one that really informed me was Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. I thought if I could bring one iota of him into this, I would be a happy person. There was also Klaus Maria Brandauer from the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, Gregory Peck in The Boys From Brazil and Max Schreck in Nosferatu. I also love the cool, sexy villains like Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons in the Die Hard franchise. There’s also a little bit of Dr. Strangelove because Peter Sellers was so just maniacally crazy.

Your character’s story line spoofs The Da Vinci Code. Were you a fan of Dan Brown?
I just reread The Da Vinci Code and again kudos to Charles to folding that story into this piece. I didn’t even realize how brilliant it all was until afterwards. I watched Angels and Demons last night too. I’m not like Charles, who watches old movies all the time. I wish I did, but I wind up watching The Office instead. One of the great things about this wonderful play is that you don’t have to know all the references to really get it.

Were you raised Catholic?
I was, so a lot of that came back to me. My sister is a superb artist and for years she’s been making these decorated lawn virgins. I have three of them and I was inspired by The Divine Sister to finish a fourth one. I’ve been working on it for years so it’s odd that now I’m involved with this intensely Catholic piece.

Do you know if any nuns have come to see the show?
Not that I’m aware of. I wish Dolores Hart would come, because she’s my favorite nun! She was the star of Where the Boys Are and then became a nun and I’ve been obsessed with her for years.

Onstage you’re covered from head to toe in a nun’s habit, but in the acclaimed 2008 Gypsy revival you had to show plenty of skin as stripper Tessie Tura.
That was a brilliant costume! For the entire rehearsal process I thought, “I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’m terrible.” Once I saw the costume, I was like, “Oh, now I know exactly who she’s supposed to be!”

That must have been a great production to be a part of, with Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti all winning Tonys.
It was amazing just to watch Patti and Laura every night. God, it made me want to be Sicilian! Every day I curse the fact that I don’t have Italian blood. I live my life wanting to be Italian. You should see my apartment—it’s like you’re walking into Tuscany!

Your first Tony nomination came for Romance, Romance , in which you sang the infectious “I’ll Always Remember That Song.” Are there any songs from your career you’ll always remember?
A great musical that’s not done as often as it should is Chris McGovern’s Lizzie Borden. It was a brilliant piece that was a perfect fit for me, and it just kills me that I didn’t get to do it in New York. The song “Hot” is spectacular, and “The House on the Hill” is gorgeous. I also love the score of Gunmetal Blues by Marion Adler and Craig Bohmler. It was a thrill to do that as the great [late actor] Patrick Quinn’s last musical [in 2006 at the George Street Playhouse]. I’ve never had a perfect performance except for the last night of that show. Patrick and I went offstage and just grabbed each others arms and started crying because we knew we’d done a perfect show. Within three months he was gone. I’ll always treasure the fact that we got to share that.