Actress Ellen Greene shares some-but certainly not all-characteristics with her most famous role, the chatty Audrey in the stage and film versions of the musical hit Little Shop of Horrors. Like the squeaky-voiced flower-shop clerk in that show, Greene is bubbly and warm and never at a loss for words. But unlike Audrey, lack of sophistication and low self-image are not traits that come to mind when one speaks to the smart, self-assured, and utterly beguiling Greene. Back Stage West recently chatted with Greene by phone during rehearsals for The First Picture Show (opening Aug. 12 at the Mark Taper Forum), about which the actress is ecstatic.
She explained: "It's a very avant-garde piece-a play with music, which the creators sometimes refer to as a 'play-sical.' It's a lot of things. It's definitely funny. It's also a dance. David Gordon [who directs, choreographs, and co-wrote the book and lyrics with Ain Gordon] is fascinated by inanimate objects and movement. This show never stops moving. It's very integrated. When you can't speak anymore, you start to sing. But you also speak in the middle of it. It really is something new."
The play is set in the early days of the American film industry and explores the dynamic role that women played in pioneering this art form, which has largely been glossed over in the history books. Beginning in modern times in a retirement home for aging film artists, the fictional story focuses on 99-year-old Anne First, among the last silent movie directors, and on her great-great-niece, a documentary filmmaker who decides to tell Anne's story. In flashback sequences, Greene plays Anne from the ages of 15-38, up to the creation of her last film, as well as her niece Jane. Estelle Parsons plays the elderly Anne.
Greene, who is from New York and has resided in Los Angeles for about 16 months, became involved with The First Picture Show last November in a workshop. The show, a co-production with San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, has incorporated major changes at each phase of development, even after a full-scale production in San Francisco. Said Greene, "I don't want to forecast what will happen, but Gordon [Davidson, Taper producer] says he has high hopes. I do, too."
Greene has been acting since the age of 19. "I was trained as an opera singer while I was working as a dental assistant for my father. When I was very young, I did some club work-although my parents didn't approve. Then I took a leave of absence after my first year of college, because I got my first acting job. I've done more plays than musicals, but people associate me with musicals because they know Audrey so well."
Among her long and distinguished roster of credits are David Rabe's In the Boom Boom Room, Threepenny Opera (Tony nomination), and Moliˆre's The Misanthrope-all at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, where she got her start; the brilliant title role in the first productions of Bob Randall's shattering drama David's Mother in Cleveland and on the West Coast, and such diverse films as Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, One Fine Day, Stepping Out, and Next Stop, Greenwich Village.
Beginning in 1982, when she initially created the role of Audrey in Little Shop, her involvement with the show spanned five years, including the original workshop at New York's WPA, the Off-Broadway and London productions, the Los Angeles run at the Westwood Playhouse, and the 1986 film version. She remembers the show's journey to the screen as a frustrating affair, as various directors became associated and disassociated with the project.
She elaborated, "I had the part, I didn't have the part, I had the part. And then when Frank Oz became involved as director, things began to jell. I think Frank did a beautiful job with the film version. There's a wonderful balance between silliness and heart. But because the film was played a little straighter, many of my Audrey-isms from the stage version weren't there. She became more of a heroine. Also, when they tested the film, the audiences didn't like Audrey dying, so we were called back to reshoot the ending."
Last year, Greene was in London to perform in Cameron Mackintosh's mammoth concert revue Hey, Mr. Producer, alongside such stellar musical talents as Julie Andrews and Bernadette Peters. According to Greene, "About three weeks prior to the event, Cameron asked me what I would be wearing. I said, 'Oh, I think I'll just wear a nice black dress or something. He said, 'You have the Audrey dress, don't you?'"
Greene didn't, but was able to track down the stunt double of the leopard costume she wore in the film in a scene with Steve Martin. "What we did in essence was to make me look like the film Audrey," said Greene.
The film get-up brought nostalgic-and prophetic-musings to the actress. "Howard [Ashman, the late book writer and lyricist for Little Shop] always wanted a Tony," she said. "So this London concert got me to thinking, What if we revived Little Shop on Broadway, but with more of the feeling of the film? Cameron and I have talked about this. Then I got involved with The First Picture Show and have been busy with it ever since."
The thought of Greene recreating her unforgettable performance as the self-effacing namesake to a carnivorous plant (Audrey II) is almost irresistible. Meanwhile, we have Greene's new characterization at the Taper to look forward to. From facing a man-eating house plant to battling chauvinistic film moguls somehow seems like a natural segue.