A Year of Firsts

What a year of firsts! My first video as a spokesperson, my first Spanish language videos, my first feature film, my first short using a French accent, my first staged reading, and now my first full-length play, running three weeks, 11 shows, by one of America's greats, John Guare, "The House of Blue Leaves."

Disappointed in myself for not having seen it when I lived in Manhattan all those years ago. It's a charming, hilarious play, full of business and New Yorkese. Tonight was all about reading and blocking, and the three nuns (I play the Head Nun and my friend Sukanya Sarkar plays the Little Nun) had a lot to do. We will run around as a unit, from space to space on the stage. We will move quickly, we will move the story along with our quick repartee, I get to grab our dangerous young man by the ears, and we will pray and sing "Ave Maria."

Another first: Lisa singing onstage! Quick! Get me a voice coach!

In the March 20, 1986 NYT review, Frank Rich said, "When those wayward nuns appear in Act II, they fly like bats into the iron window bars of the Shaughnessy living room."

CLICK MY TITLE ABOVE TO READ THE FRANK RICH REVIEW OF THIS PLAY FROM ITS 1986 LINCOLN CENTER JERRY SAKS REVIVAL WITH JOHN MAHONEY (Artie), STOCKARD CHANNING (Bunny), SWOOSIE KURTZ (Bananas), JULIE HAGGERTY (Corrinna), CHRISTOPHER WALKEN (Billy), BEN STILLER (Ronnie), and PATRICIA FALKENHAIN (Head Nun).