Clea Lewis
When Clea Lewis left Hollywood to headline the off-Broadway production of Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight in 1999, the comic actress best known as the Ellen DeGeneres's petite pal Audrey on the sitcom Ellen, didn't realize she was beginning a substantial new chapter in her life. Less than a year after Things closed, Lewis married the show's playwright, Peter Ackerman. Then she started hitting the New York boards on a regular basis. Subsequently, the little lady--who had seemingly guest-starred on everything from Doogie Howser to Sponge Bob--was often the casting highlight in such off-Broadway productions as Fuddy Meers, Last Easter, An Experiment with an Airpump and Woody Allen's Writer's Block. Now Lewis is making her Broadway debut at the Biltmore Theatre--playing a social climbing, obsessive-compulsive clean fiend named Jane in the Manhattan Theatre Club's revival of Alan Ayckbourn's 1974 British comedy of manners, Absurd Person Singular. The Ohio native, who first stepped onstage at the age of eight as the Scarecrow in a Cleveland production of The Wizard of Oz, sat down with us to discuss how her life has changed since becoming a New Yorker. And how there's more to the girl with the humming bird voice than simply "quirky."
Growing up in Cleveland, were you like a child star?
Not exactly. [Laughs.] I mean, I studied acting since I was little. I did community theater, took little lessons at the Cleveland Playhouse, did plays at school, things like that. Like I played the little red-haired girl in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, because I was a little red haired girl. And then in high school I played Poopsie in The Pajama Game. Which is kind of funny, 'cause now my husband [Peter Ackerman] is updating the book for the new Broadway production. But I'm not much of a singer, so the musicals sort of phased themselves out and I just started doing straight plays.
Is making your Broadway debut what you expected?
Well, it's pretty thrilling. It's funny because I've worked a lot, obviously, in television and even in the theater. But I still retain a little of that childhood fantasy of what Broadway is. So like the first day, setting up my make up in the dressing room and getting a little tour of the theater was really, really exciting.
Had you ever acted in any other plays by Alan Ayckbourn?
No, I hadn't. But I think he's very brilliant.
Has he come over from England to see it yet?
He's coming. They won't tell us when. They don't want to make us too nervous. [Laughs.]
Now maybe I'm an idiot, but could you explain the meaning of the title to me?
No. [Laughs.] I feel like an idiot, too! I mean, Absurd Person Singular--it evokes some sort of mood or idea, but I'm not sure exactly what he's getting at.
So there wasn't any discussion in rehearsal about the title?
No. Maybe there should've been. [Laughs.]
Slippers aside, you've got three terrific retro '70s looks in the show. Do you have a favorite?
The pink ruffled gown?
Your character in the play, Jane, is a clean freak. Is that true of you in real life?
So playing Jane was an easy transition?
Sounds like a show on the WB.
You've actually done a lot of plays in New York in the past few years. Why stay here and not go back to Hollywood?
I didn't realize you were a mother!
Wow! Congratulations. How do you manage it all?
Do you have many young parent friends in the theater?
Well, it takes a village.
You think?
Has your oldest son seen you onstage yet?
The next show biz generation.
And then the puppy turned out to be Laura Dern.
Did filming Ellen DeGeneres' coming out feel historic?
Are you still in touch with Ellen? Or any of the other cast members?
Finally, in all you work as an actress, what's the one word most used to describe you?
Is that "the one"?
But isn't part of the passion for acting about exploring the range?
OK, so what's the one word you would like to hear to describe you?
Is that affirmative?
See Clea Lewis in Absurd Person Singular at the Biltmore Theatre, 261 West 47th Street. Click for tickets and more information.
Well, wearing slippers onstage is always enjoyable. [Laughs.] But I'd say my favorite part at the moment is the cast. It's a fabulous cast. Each person is really spectacular. I mean, just watching Deborah Rush--to me--is like an acting class in and of itself. I stare at her and I'm thinking, "How is she doing this?" Such a layered, interesting performance. Plus, everyone is really nice and it just makes life easier when everyone in the cast gets along.
I do love the dress in the third act.
Yeah, because it's a vintage piece. And it's outrageous! I mean, it's off the rack--some lady actually bought that at Saks 35 years ago! what? It reminds me of things my mom wore in the '70s, so I get an extra kick out of that one.
I am fairly compulsive in that category. Not as much as my character. But I don't like a lot of clutter and mess; it makes me feel disorganized.
Yeah, I just cranked it up a few notches. I think everyone can relate to an O.C.D. at some level.
[Laughs.] Yeah, The O. C. D.
Well, I was desperate to move back to New York after my years in L.A. I was just really craving the feeling you get doing a play: working hard, taking a lot out of you--in a good way. I find that it's taxing but really fulfilling. You're using all of yourself. So I moved back here pretty much for the express purpose of getting back into the theater. And one of my first plays that I did here is where I happened to meet my husband, who wrote the play [Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight]. And now we have two little boys, so we're sort of New York-based.
Oh, yes! I have a three and a half year old, and a seven month old.
Well, I have an incredible babysitter. And my husband is a writer, so he pitches in a lot. And, you know, when all else fails I just hand [the kids] to somebody at the playground and hope for the best. And they usually turn up at home when they're supposed to. [Laughs.] But it's great. I get to go and do my thing and have an exhilarating day at work, and then I come home and am happy to see my kids!
Not so much in the theater, but in my neighborhood I have just a great crowd of people with kids.
No, truly, it does! I'm very aware of that now. And New York is a great place to have little kids, actually.
I really do! As opposed to the isolation you can get living in the suburbs, here you just put that baby in the bjorn and walk out to the store, go to museums. Kids love paintings. Go to the MOMA and stand in front of the abstract paintings and the kids go crazy. It's great.
No, but he came to the [Biltmore], and he was scared of me when he saw me in my make-up and costume. He wouldn't let me pick him up! You know, it's weird for little kids to see their mom looking so different. But then he gets really into it--walking around on the stage, seeing all the props. Then the other day he says, "Are you gonna put your make-up on now?" And when he does little kid shows for me in his room now, he's like, "OK... turn off your cell phones and pagers."
Yeah. He's getting the hang of it.
Well, they were trying to keep it a secret that she was coming out on the air, because at the time nobody really knew. Of course now everybody knows. But at the time, I think it was still up for debate that we would even tape the coming out show. And so somehow the writers of the episode were trying to kind of hide it. So it was always the Ellen Gets a Puppy episode.
That's right. [Laughs.] Somehow it leaked out that it was coming anyway. But I still found it an incredibly exciting moment and very moving.
It did! I mean on set we had, literally, bomb-sniffing dogs sweeping the stage before the taping, because we were receiving bomb threats and things. I don't know who--cuckoo birds or conservative groups or something. But basically it felt really joyous. And we didn't really know how the audience was going to respond. But I remember the moment when Ellen's character came out to our characters in the scene, and Audrey [Lewis's character] had the line--it was a little bit of a mislead--where I said, "Oh, Ellen, I think that's...," and then I sort of paused and said, "...super!" Then I went over and gave Ellen this big hug and the audience exploded and we just sat there holding onto each other, 'cause we didn't realize the audience was going to react so much, you know? That was very moving, just hanging onto her and feeling the tears just springing to my eyes, not knowing when to say our next line! It was quite thrilling, and I was quite happy to be a part of it.
In touch, yes. But I definitely haven't talked to Ellen for a while. Joely [Fisher] usually calls if she's in town. She saw me in Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, because she was in town doing Cabaret at the time. So we got to see each other on stage, which was great.
Quirky?
Yes. [Laughs.] I mean, you know, you want someone to see more than just the one word. You want them to see serious, melancholy, funny, inventive--all the different things you're capable of. Some people would say, "That's just silly. You should just take what works for you and stick with it."
Well, exactly. And it's like, people who know me well--and I think this is often the way with comic actors--know that I'm very shy and quite private. I think the real me is so different from what's out there onstage. Like at my agents [recently] I was reading a breakdown of a role that I was supposed to go in on. And the breakdown is like, "not particularly pretty..." "introverted," blah, blah... and I was laughing with my husband about it. I was like, "Isn't it funny that I'm just so used to this?" Of course, that's the part I'll go in on. But I thought, wouldn't it be funny to go in on this part and say at the audition, "Well, I know I'm not really right for this part because it says, 'Not particularly pretty,' and I'm so very pretty. But I'll just try it. Have a go at it."
Oh, that's hard! Ummmm... glamorous?
Yes. [Laughs.] Glamorous!