Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Movie/Film/Motion Picture, Music, Other, Television, Theatre, tagged "Adaumbelle's Quest", "Mamma's Family", "Maude", "Safe Harbor", "The Golden Girls", "The Women", "Wicked", Free Stuff Friday, Rue McClanahan on June 4, 2010| 5 Comments »
This contest is now over and today’s winner is Brian! Congratulations Brian…stay tuned for next week’s contest and who knows, you might just win…
It’s “Free Stuff Friday” again at “Adaumbelle’s Quest” and in honor of Rue McClanahan one reader, at random, will have a chance to win a copy of Rue’s autobiography, “My First Five Husbands…and the Ones Who Got Away.”
The winner will be announced at 5pm!
Here is your question: What is your fondest Rue McClanahan memory?
Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Other, Television, Theatre, tagged "Mamma's Family", "Maude", "Safe Harbor", "The Golden Girls", "The Women", Rue McClanahan on June 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Icon, Emmy and OBIE Award Winner, as well as fellow “Adaumbelle’s Quest” participant Rue McClanahan passed away at 1am this morning at the age of 76 after suffering a stroke.
Thank you for making us laugh Rue and most of all for taking the time to participate in my blog, “Adaumbelle’s Quest.” It meant the world to me!
A special Thank You goes out to Del Shores & Jason Dottley who put together “A Sordid Comedy Affair” where I got to see Rue and meet Michael J. La Rue who later sat down with Rue to answer the questions in the link above and send them on to me. I am forever grateful!
Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Movie/Film/Motion Picture, Television, Theatre, tagged " Another World", "Inherit The Wind", "Jimmy Shine", "Mamma's Family", "Maude", "My First Five Husbands and the Ones That Got Away", "Safe Harbor", "Sordid Lives", "Sordid Lives: The Series", "The Golden Girls", "The Golden Palace", "The Vagina Monologues", "The Women", "Who's Happy Now?", "Wicked", Del Shores, Rue McClanahan on January 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Obie and Emmy Award winning actress as well as fellow “Adaumbelle’s Quest” participant Rue McClanahan suffered a mild stroke. She is recovering and working hard to get back to doing what she does best–Entertaining her fans! (Thank you Del Shores for the update).
Dear Rue,
Get well soon! Thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery! Can’t wait to hear all your “Sordid” stories…
Love,
Adam 🙂
(This is a picture of Rue & I from when she starred on Broadway in 2001 in Roundabout Theatre’s production of “The Women”).
Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Television, Theatre, tagged "Celebrity", "Dottie Gets Spanked", "Gypsy", "Hairspray", "Joe Gould's Secret", "Julie Halston's Lifetime of Comedy", "Miss Margarida's Way", "Monologues for Show-Offs", "Sex and the City", "Small Time Crooks", "The Butter & The Egg", "The Class", "The Divine Sister", "The Electric Company", "The Juror", "The Man Who Came To Dinner", "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told", "The Vagina Monologues", "The Women", "Twentieth Century", "White Chocolate", "Whores of Lost Atlantis", Addams Family Values", “Die Mommie Die”, “Psycho Beach Party”, “Shanghai Moon”, “The Lady in Question”, “The Tale of The Allergist’s Wife” (Tony Award Nomination), “The Third Story”, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom”, Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Theatre for the New City on January 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Be sure to catch the legendary Charles Busch and Julie Halston (both fellow “Adaumbelle’s Quest” participants) together, live on stage, in Charles’ new play “The Divine Sister” at Theatre for the New City from February 7-March 7 only! If you’ve never seen a Charles Busch play or had the fortunate experience of seeing Julie & Charles together, then this is your chance. It’s a real old fashioned campy Charles Busch play, so you’re in for a real treat…but first enjoy the questions that did not make the original interview:
CHARLES BUSCH BONUS QUESTIONS:
1. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? Derek Hough from Dancing With The Stars. Can something be arranged?
2. “Mary” or “Rhoda”? Definitely Mary, with a lot of Lucy thrown in.
JULIE HALSTON BONUS QUESTIONS:
1. What is the best advice you’ve given someone, but not taken for yourself? Don’t sweat the small stuff and guess what most of it is small stuff.
2. “Mary” or “Rhoda”? I used to be Rhoda but now i think I’m more Mary!!
Posted in Comedy, Entertainment, Movie/Film/Motion Picture, Television, Theatre, tagged " Another World", "Inherit The Wind", "Jimmy Shine", "Mamma's Family", "Maude", "My First Five Husbands and the Ones That Got Away", "Safe Harbor", "Sordid Lives: The Series", "The Golden Girls", "The Golden Palace", "The Vagina Monologues", "The Women", "Who's Happy Now?", "Wicked" on September 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Updated: Rue McClanahan passed today, June 3, 2010 at the age of 76 after suffering a stroke. The interview below is from 2009 and a special Thank You to Michael J. La Rue who sat down with Rue to answer these questions and send them on to me. I am forever grateful!
Rue McClanahan is an icon. An OBIE and Emmy Award winning actress, not a decade has passed by without Rue being in the spotlight since making her stage debut in 1957 at the Erie Playhouse in “Inherit The Wind.” She studied with theatre legend Uta Hagen and made her Broadway debut in 1969 in “Jimmy Shine” starring Dustin Hoffman and in 1970 won the OBIE Award for her role in “Who’s Happy Now?” Rue joined the soap opera “Another World” from 1970-1971. It was her guest starring role in 1972 on “All In The Family,” created by Norman Lear, that lead Lear to cast Rue in “Maude” (alongside Bea Arthur), where she stayed until the show ended in 1978. In the 80s, Rue was on the hit show “Mamma’s Family” starring Vicki Lawrence (and Betty White for a time) and then came “The Golden Girls” from 1985-1992, reuniting Rue with Bea Arthur and Betty White along with Estelle Getty. After the “The Golden Girls,” Rue continued on as “Blanche Devereaux” in “The Golden Palace.” The late ’90s & new millennium has brought Rue back to the stage, starring in such hits as “The Vagina Monologues,” Roundabout Theatre’s revival of “The Women” and the Broadway production of “Wicked.” She also released her autobiography, “My First Five Husbands and The Ones Who Got Away” and came back to series TV in “Sordid Lives: The Series.” You can catch Rue September 19 at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, TX as part of “A Sordid Comedy Affair” tour with creator Del Shores along with cast members Leslie Jordan, Jason Dottley, and Caroline Rhea. Like the characters Rue has played, she is strong, funny, and always making fans smile. So watch out, ’cause Rue is still rising!
1. Who inspired you to become a performer? My Mother, Rheua-Nell McClanahan.
2. When did you realize you wanted to become a performer? I realized I wanted to be a performer when I was five and cast as the Mother Cat in my Kindergarten’s performance of “Three Little Kittens.” I realized I actually could do it as a profession when I was 12; I figured out that the people I saw in movies were not from Hollywood, they were actually from other towns, even small ones, just like me.
3. Who is the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to? Harrison Ford.
4. Is there ever a time you thought about quitting? Heavens no!
5. What is the best advice a teacher ever gave you? Barney Brown, a man who directed me at The Pasadena Playhouse – and directors are often teachers, at least the good ones –  he told me: “You’ll never become great until you’re willing to go out on a limb, much further than you feel comfortable, so far out it is dangerous, and then you learn to pull it back and refine it.”
6. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? It would be me actually, but only because there is a particular dream I want to experience again. In it, I was floating in the air, conducting a symphony that I had created; and I knew I was in a dream and wouldn’t be able to bring the wonderful music from my subconscious out with me. I would love to have that dream again!
7. Favorite kind of shoes? Anything that is really comfortable.
8. Favorite holiday? Christmas.
9. Favorite color? Blue
10. Favorite kind of sundae (ice cream flavor & topping)? A classic: vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.
BONUS QUESTIONS:
11. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that no one knows about? I can write backwards, upside down, and even upside down AND backwards.
12. What is the weirdest thing you’ve read about yourself and where did you read it? There was an article filled with lies about the “Golden Girls” actors in the “National Enquirer.” Someone gave it to me on the way to the airport and I read that I had narcolepsy; that condition where you just fall asleep out of the blue. It also said that Betty White ate six cheeseburgers a day! Whoever leaked to the press got it wrong. I have the ability to take naps anywhere, and often did, even behind the couch on the set of “Golden Girls,” but I do not suffer from narcolepsy. And Betty White did not eat six cheeseburgers every day, she ate one.
Posted in Comedy, Entertainment, Movie/Film/Motion Picture, Television, Theatre, tagged "Celebrity", "Dottie Gets Spanked", "Gypsy", "Hairspray", "Joe Gould's Secret", "Julie Halston's Lifetime of Comedy", "Miss Margarida's Way", "Monologues for Show-Offs", "Sex and the City", "Small Time Crooks", "The Butter & The Egg", "The Class", "The Electric Company", "The Juror", "The Man Who Came To Dinner", "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told", "The Vagina Monologues", "The Women", "Twentieth Century", "White Chocolate", Addams Family Values", “Shanghai Moon”, “The Lady in Question”, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” on August 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Julie Halston does it all…from theatre to television to movies to books. Television audiences will know Julie from her roles on HBO’s “Sex and The City” as “Bitsy Von Muffling” and CBS’ “The Class”, playing “Tina Carmello”. This fall Julie can be seen in the new PBS show “The Electric Company” as “Antigone Carruthers”. Julie started her career as a founding member of Charles Busch’s legendary theatre company, Theatre-In-Limbo, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in Charles Busch’s “Red Scare on Sunset”. They have gone on to star  in many of his productions such as “The Lady In Question”, “You  Should Be So Lucky”, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom”, & “Shanghai Moon”. Other Off-Broadway credits include: “White Chocolate” (Drama League & Drama Desk nomination), her one woman show “Julie Halston’s Lifetime of Comedy” (Outer Critics Nomination), “The Vagina Monologues”, “The Butter & The Egg”, and “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told”. On Broadway, Julie has been seen in “Hairspray”, “Gypsy”, “Twentieth Century” (Outer Critics Nomination), “The Women”, & “The Man Who Came To Dinner”.  On top of that, Julie has been awarded four MAC awards for her stand-up comedy and played a triple extension run at Birdland in NYC.  Julie has been in such hits films as “Joe Gould’s Secret”, “Small Time Crooks”, “The Juror”, “Addams Family Values”, “Celebrity”, and “Dottie Gets Spanked.”  In January of 2008, Julie co-authored a book of original monologues Monologues for Show-Offs published by Heinemann Press. From August 19-29 be sure to catch Julie at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY starring in “Miss Margarida’s Way” and for everything Julie Halston check out: http://www.juliehalston.com.
1. Who inspired you to become a performer? Honestly I had no idea what I was doing until I met Charles Busch and Lewis Black.
2. When did you realize you wanted to become a performer? I was about 9 years old when i decided I wanted to be a performer –it was either that or a nun –either way I wanted some drama!
3. Who is the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to? I ‘d love to work with Tony Kushner and Mike Nichols.
4. What has been your best and worst experience in a show? The Best experience is: anything with Charles Busch. The worst: a 20 minute comedy set at a leather bar in the Village on Halloween night!
5. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that no one knows about? Strange Talent I have –I am bizarrely obsessed with knowing the names of celebs children.
6. Describe your worst shopping experience? As for shopping I don’t do it–I HATE shopping -I hae a fabbo stylist named Vangeli Kaseluris and he saves my life everyday!
7. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? I dream about my husband-honestly.
8. Favorite play/musical? My Fav play is A Streetcar Named Desire and my fav musical is GYPSY.
9. Favorite TV show? My Fav Tv show is anything that is playing on TCM
10. Favorite website? My fav website is anything that involves Grey Gardens or the Beatles. Am I too retro or what??
Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Theatre, tagged "Celebrity", "Dottie Gets Spanked", "Gypsy" "Twentieth Century", "Hairspray", "Joe Gould's Secret", "Julie Halston's Lifetime of Comedy", "Miss Margarida's Way", "Monologues for Show-Offs", "Sex and the City", "Small Time Crooks", "The Butter & The Egg", "The Class", "The Electric Company", "The Juror", "The Man Who Came To Dinner", "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told", "The Vagina Monologues", "The Women", "White Chocolate", "Whores of Lost Atlantis", Addams Family Values", “Die Mommie Die”, “Psycho Beach Party”, “Shanghai Moon”, “The Lady in Question”, “The Tale of The Allergist’s Wife” (Tony Award Nomination), “The Third Story”, “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” on August 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Be sure to catch fellow “Adaumbelle’s Quest” participant Charles Busch & Julie Halston this Saturday, August 15 in a benefit staged reading of the Lux Radio Hour Presentation of “All About Eve” for the Fire Island Pines Art Project.
For more information visit: http://fipap.org/event.php?event=96
Adaumbelle's Quest 