Loose Lips

BRIER’S BUSY PATCH

“I should write a book called ‘How to Survive Starring on Broadway While Also Working on a Soap Opera,’ ” jokes Kathy Brier, who endured 18-hour days for almost a year while starring as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray and playing mystery writer Marcie Walsh on One Life to Live. So it’s understandable that Brier had some second thoughts about returning to the stage while still juggling her daytime gig. But the opportunity to be part of A Broadway Diva Christmas was one she just couldn’t pass up. “Christmas is one my favorite holidays,” she says. “Plus, this gig was only a month and a half, and I figured I could handle that.”

For the big-voiced Brier, being a “Diva” means singing such power ballads as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and the pop/rock classic “Please Come Home for Christmas” in the show. She notes that “I also get to sing Joni Mitchell’s ‘River,’ which I am so honored to do; it’s such a wonderful acting piece. What’s really great is that I get to use my lower register. Because I can belt to the high heaven, I usually get asked to do that. Best of all, I’m getting to use my real voice. Some people who saw me in Hairspray have come up to me and said, ‘I didn’t know you could sing that well.”

Working with fellow divas Maya Days, Ellen Greene, Christine Pedi, and Marla Schaffel is a treat for Brier. “After just two days, I felt like I’d known some of them for years,” she says. “Maya’s and my birthday are only one day apart — which may be one reason I think she’s so great. And Christine is just hilarious. We’re such a unique, eclectic cast, and the producers are smart enough to have us play to our strengths.”

In addition to her acting duties, Brier has been serving as an unofficial mentor to her OLTL co-star Renée Elise Goldsberry, who is making her Broadway debut as Nettie in The Color Purple: “I’ve been giving her some advice about how to handle both jobs — like asking our producers to accommodate her schedule, which they are wonderful about doing. It’s so much fun for me to watch this kind of opportunity happen for someone else, and especially for Renée, who is such a joyful person. The only thing is that she has to leave The Color Purple on December 18 [because she’s pregnant], and since I’m doing the Diva show, I’m not sure if I’m going to get to see her in it.”

ONE NIGHT ONLY

Even during the happy holiday season, it’s good to be reminded of those who have died trying to make the world a better place. So make a note that Elizabeth Swados‘s haunting work Missionaries, about the murders of four American churchwomen in El Salvador in 1980, will be performed at St. John the Divine on December 3.

On December 5, there’s an embarrassment of riches: Andrea Burns, Will Chase, Patti Cohenour, Julia Murney, and Michael Winther star in the New Voices Collective’s Holiday Sampler; the always provocative Edward Albee speaks his mind at the LGBT Center on West 13th Street; The 24-Hour Plays celebrates its 10th anniversary at the Signature Theater’s Peter Norton Space; Jersey Boys star Daniel Reichard steps into the Broadway Spotlight series at Ars Nova; and the Women’s Project holds its first annual O’Henry, O’Blair, O’Benefit featuring Ben Fox and Mireille Enos in a special adaptation of O’Henry stories directed by Blair Brown.

On December 12, Natalie Douglas will present her brand-new show Black, White and Blues as part of The Winter Season at Birdland; that same evening, 3,000 miles away, Philip Baker Hall, Ed O’Neill, David Ogden Stiers, Hector Elizondo and Dakin Matthews will star in a benefit staged reading of Larry Gelbart‘s Floodgate at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Looking further ahead, Tower Records Lincoln Center will conclude the 2005 season of its popular Any Wednesday series on December 14 with a holiday party to be attended by such stars as Tony winners Judy Kaye and Maryann Plunkett; and the Prospect Theater Company will offer a benefit presentation of the musical The Gifts of the Magi on December 19 at the Lucille Lortel.

IMAGINE THE BENEFITS!
Lennon didn’t stick around long enough to commemorate the anniversary of the former Beatle’s death, but The 25th Annual Lennon Tribute will serve that function. This year’s show, to be held on December 9 and 10 at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theatre, will benefit the Builders of the New World, an education and theater program for homeless children. Among the scheduled entertainers are singers Jen Chapin, Cliff Eberhardt, and Anais Mitchell, The Wendy Osserman Dance Company, and actor Joe Raiola, who is celebrating his own silver anniversary of participation in this worthy event.

GETTING ROPED IN
As the stars of Rope, Sam Trammell and Chandler Williams have to compete not only with the myth of killers Leopold and Loeb — on whom their murderous characters are based — but also with Alfred Hitchock‘s classic 1948 film, which stars Farley Granger and John Dall as the baby-faced killers. But the actors stress that Patrick Hamilton‘s play is very different from the flick. “I rented the movie right after I got the part and I couldn’t get through it because, without their sexual relationship, it all seemed so unbelievable,” says Trammell, who plays the cocksure Brandon. “I think it’s so important that they were tied together in this intimate way. When you watch the play, it appears that my character has all the power; but, in realty, there’s less inequity than you think.”

“It’s so much darker,” says Williams, who plays Granillo, the more compliant of the pair. “Hitchcock had to take out a lot about their relationship for Hollywood. Plus, the play is set at Oxford University in England. What Hamilton created was this portrait of a lost generation who hadn’t fought in World War I and who needed excitement in their lives, like committing the perfect crime. The thing I find most interesting about my part is that it’s about what I’m not saying. It’s sort of like Pinter that way. The real difficulty about the play is that you want the audience to hate the sin and love the sinner — although we’ve found it surprisingly easy to love our characters.”

In addition to the chance to play such juicy roles, both actors relish working with director David Warren.”He’s really smart about leaving you alone to figure out your part your own way, though he’ll give you a nudge if you need it,” remarks Trammell (who received a Tony nomination and a Theatre World Award for his work in the 1998 revival of Ah, Wilderness!). “Normally, I don’t have fun when I’m acting; it’s always a real struggle. But, this time, I’m really enjoying myself.”

CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU
Cabaret favorites Barbara Brussell, Anna Bergman, Jeff Harnar, and Maude Maggart helped Andrea Marcovicci celebrate the opening of her 19th season at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room; Joyce DeWitt, Joan Rivers, Wedding Singer producer Margo Lion, and busy-busy-busy set designer David Rockwell all took in The Woman in White. The still great looking Mikhail Baryshnikov, the very friendly Rosie O’Donnell and spouse Kelli Carpenter O’Donnell, and the hunky Jose Llana were all at the same performance of The Color Purple. (So were the show’s talented composer/lyricists: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray).

Another power crowd: Liza Minnelli, Joan Collins, Elaine Stritch, Michele Lee, Tony Danza, Debby Boone, and Neil Sedaka all cheered Michael Feinstein on opening night of his annual engagement at his eponymous club at the Regency. But the most intriguing presence of the evening was Feinstein’s dad, Ed, who did a lovely duet with his famous son.