Andrea Martin's FINAL DAYS, EVERYTHING MUST GO at the McCallum Theatre on February 24; A Chat with the Comic Icon

Legendary Emmy and Tony Award winning comedienne Andrea Martin brings her hilarious new one-woman show Final Days…Everything Must Go! to the McCallum Theatre for one night only, February 24 at 8:00 pm. From "SCTV" on television to Young Frankenstein on Broadway to My Big Fat Greek Wedding on screen, Andrea Martin brings a bounty of characters and decades of award-winning performances to this high-octane program. Final Days…Everything Must Go! is billed as a "tag sale comedy and musical extravaganza, where everything is up for grabs in which Andrea opens the book on her life in song, story and a bit of Greek dancing". The show also features the talents of the always wonderful Seth Rudetsky.?

I had the opportunity to chat with this brilliant comic icon this morning. Here are some highlights from that interview.

DG: I'm sure you hear this all the time … but I am a big fan!

AM: Awww … I never hear it enough, so thank you.

DG: My favorite thing listed on your bio is that you began your career as a singing chicken on Captain Kangaroo.  (Andrea laughs) How did that all come about? How did you get started?

AM:  I came to New York right after I graduated from college, and I guess I had a lot of nerve because I went right to the office of William Morris and walked right up to an agent – her name was Myrna Jacoby – and I said I needed representation. And she must have seen something in my energy or comic ability because she aid "you know, Captain Kangaroo needs some players" and they introduced me to Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan was his name, and the next thing I knew I was cast as a chicken on his show. In those early days I was fearless – I guess everybody's fearless when they're young and starting out – but I don't think now if you walked into a talent agent you could get past the receptionist.

DG: You were in what some would call the legendary cast of GODSPELL with, among others, Martin Short and Gilda Radner. Have you seen the current revival?

AM: I have seen the current revival, yes. I really enjoyed it. You know, I love that music. The kids were so talented – like REALLY talented – I think back in '71 when we did GODSPELL, I don't think the demand was for hiring polished performers, really, it was more comedy personalities. Ofcoarse, Marty Short was in it and he could sing. We could sing, but not like these kids. They could all be doing American Idol or X Factor. I think the stakes are just higher now and I think they cast it with very accomplished kids.

DG: You have become a role model for so many aspiring actors and comediennes. Who were, or are, your role models?

AM:  When people ask me that question I usually give the stock answer … you know, Lucille Ball. You know, the truth is, the things that really inspired me were the variety shows – chimps in tutus – I think they just really tickle my funny bone. I think more than anything, those shows were a home for people who maybe didn't fit in ad they were very free to be as goofy and silly and funny and when I watched those variety shows it gave me an instant sense of belonging and I thought if those people can be making faces then maybe there's a place for me. That's really how I got my start.

DG: People know so much about your amazing career from SCTV to Broadway to Film. Tell me something that might surprise people about you.

AM:  Let me see. That might surprise people. I'm shy, which probably people would never think of. I like to knit. I've made my sons thousands of sweaters – of coarse now they live in California so they never wear them, Let's see. I like animals dressed in costumes. I just went to the San Diego zoo and I literally stood in front of the meerkats for thirty minutes – I just couldn't get enough of them.

DG: What were the challenges in creating and originating your role in such an iconic and beloved film adaptation as "Young Frankenstein" where fans have such a reverence for the original film and characters?

AM: Well, I think the challenge was in my head. But then once I started working on the material it was just so funny that I really just made into my own.  I reaaly didn't try to get into Cloris Leachman's skin. I watched Rebecca – the movie --  I based a lot of my character on Mrs. Danvers and all those stock, creepy housekeepers. Way back in my mind was Cloris Leachman but I only watched the movie once, after the rehearsal process was well underway, just to see if I was missing something that was really iconic. But once I got into it, it was just fun and it didn't seem so ominous anymore.

DG: Tell me about FINAL DAYS … EVERYTHING MUST GO! Where did you come up with the title?

AM:  I think it was a very gray day in New York when I thought "how many more years have I got left". It was probably a very introspective moment that turned into something very irreverent which is what saves me all the time. I might be looking at something realistically and it might bum me out and I just thought, "Okay, this is how old I am – now how can I make it funny". That was kind of the impetus.

DG: What can audiences expect to see? What is your elevator pitch for the show?

AM: I would say it's a comedy garage sale. Everything's up for grabs. I'm selling memories. Fifty years of memories. It's a trip down memory lane. It's the best of Andrea Martin. But honestly, I wrote this as an intimate evening where we could all just laugh. That's what the show is really about.. It's a comedy garage sale. It's a potpourri of comedy.

DG: How did you team up with Seth Rudetsky?

AM: Seth and I met in MY FAVORITE YEAR. He was the rehearsal pianist. And he did my first one person show, NUDE, NUDE, TOTALLY NUDE. I was auditioning  pianists, and I had forgotten that he was the rehearsal pianist because he was only there three times for MY FAVORITE YEAR. He came in to audition and honest to God, he literally knew every character I had ever done and every line every character did and, I'm telling you, that's all I needed. And I hired him on the spot. I am very, very lucky to have him. I probably should give him more to do in the show … but it's the Andrea Martin show, so (blank) him.  (SHE laughs).

DG: I won't print that.  (SHE laughs again) Okay, one last question. When you go, how would you like to be remembered on your tombstone inscription?

AM: How would I like to be remembered on my tombstone. I'd like to be remembered with  just one word – YES!

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For the record … Andrea has received more Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations as a Featured Actress in a Musical than any other actress for her performances in Young Frankenstein; Oklahoma!; Candide; and My Favorite Year, for which she won both awards as well as the Theatre World Award. She was last seen on Broadway opposite Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon in Exit the King, for which she received Drama Desk Award and Outer Critic Circle Award nominations, and also starred in the revival of The Fiddler on the Roof. 

Andrea's off-Broadway theater credits include her one-woman show Nude, Nude, Totally Nude, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination; On the Town for City Center Encores!; The Exonerated; The Vagina Monologues and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Seth Rudetsky is the beloved Broadway host, seven days a week, on Sirius Satellite Radio. As a pianist, Seth has played for more than a dozen Broadway shows including Ragtime; Les Miserables; and Phantom of the Opera. He was the Artistic Producer/Music Director for the Actors Fun Fall Concerts including Dreamgirls with Audra MacDonald and Hair with Jennifer Hudson. In 2007, he made his Broadway acting debut in The Ritz for The Roundabout Theater.

Andrea Martins Final Days…Everything Must Go! is presented by The McCallum Theatre and The Bottom Line. Tickets are priced at $85, $65, $55 and $35 and are available by calling the McCallum Theatre Box Office at (760) 340-2787 or online at www.mccallumtheatre.com. 

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