BWW INTERVIEWS: Sunny Thompson Aka MARILYN: FOREVER BLONDE

Hi Sunny, and welcome to BWW:UK and to London! You're playing your show all over the UK, which sounds like a big tour for us Brits, but it must seem really easy for you Americans...

Yes! We're in Winchester, and Whitley Bay, and wverything's so convenient. We've been to Brighton, and that's just an hour on the train.

How long has this show been running?

This one I've been doing three years. I spent fourteen months researching it, and I spent so much time and effort researching it with my director. We were intensely involved in it. My husband, the playwright, suggested we did it over in Hollywood, where they knew here, and then if it was good, we could tour, and if we didn't, we could go home. It was terribly nervewracking. Lots of people who knew her came to see the play - other girls from Some Like It Hot, the fan club, her directors - and they told me stories about her, and it was wonderful, a great experience, and a terrific tool to complete my research. And very validating! And to get good reviews, of course, that's always a good thing. Then three years later, we're here.

That must have been a lot of pressure on you!

Yeah. It was terribly nervewracking. The fans are people who know every little thing she ever did. They are truly fanatical. They'd come with a notebook and pen to write down criticisms, and I wanted them to do that.

How did you become involved with the play?

My husband had written a play long before he knew me. He'd seen a one-person show on Broadway about Groucho Marx, and he went in thinking it'd be happy, comedic and funny, and it was sad. He was a tormented man. But he was inspired by that, wanting to write something like that. Of course he'd always had an infatuation with Marilyn, as every man of that era does and continues to do. So he compiled her quotes, and organised them by subject, and assembled her songs that she sang in her movies. Then he couldn't find anybody to do the part. I came along many years later, and he was producing a segment of all my favourite blondes for my own stage show - we weren't married yet. One of the blondes of course was Marilyn, and when I put on the wig, he said, "Oh my gosh, you look like her, I'd never noticed. I have a play I want you to read." So I read the play and thought there was no way I could do the part.

We later got married, and the play kept resurfacing. "Just read the thing! Come on!" He begged me to do it, and I agreed, and one thing led to another. We had our director, we went into a rehearsal studio, and started working on it. I'd never done anything just one person. I'd done comedy, singing, dancing, a lot of plays, a lot of theatre, a lot of revues - all those things, but one-woman shows, being funny and by myself... It was a great challenge for me, and I wasn't sure I was up to it. We kept looking at it, and once I'd done some research and prepared myself for the role, I met with my make-up artist. He worked with me for a week, and it took eight hours to do the make-up the first time. He passed that on to me. Marilyn was always so fastidious about her image, so that was really important to me. If I hadn't been able to do the make-up, I wouldn't have done it.

Was it difficult working so closely with your husband's material?

He's a gracious playwright, letting Stephanie and me go into our little room and work on it. We documented the changes and sent them to him, and then he made his changes. He was really gracious about it all, though.

Were there any arguments?

Sometimes he was like, "I really LIKE that part!" And we'd have to give and take a little. It's compromise.

Have you changed anything for UK audiences?

We haven't. It's played well so far; it's played the same. I don't know if the sense of humour is different; I enjoy the comedy part of Marilyn so much because she was so good at it, and she was so funny - I mean, we use all of her words in the play. They're all her words. She was very witty. There's a lot of fun to be had.

It really is such a joy to do because you get to wear all the fabulous costumes and be Marilyn, but it's also really challenging. You play comedy, drama, and the whole rollercoaster ride.

Do you find it emotionally draining to play what's essentially a tragedy?

I keep wishing it would end differently. Every time I read a book about her, and I wish it would have a happy ending.

Will you be Marilyn for the foreseeable future?

We have plans for the next year. Then we will bring it to a symphony the year after that with the Tucson Philharmonic in 2011. That's an exciting project; it's an interesting twist. Let's see how that transpires.

Marilyn: Forever Blonde plays the Leicester Square Theatre from Tuesday October 20 to Wednesday November 18.