"Songs"

From 12-16 May 2009 Tyne appeared at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in New York with her cabaret "Songs". She kindly answered cagneyandlacey.com's questions about the event.

You've recently done a week of cabaret at Feinstein's at The Loew’s Regency in New York. How did this come about?

Mr. Feinstein asked me to come and sing in the cabaret about two years ago. This offer appealed to my inner chanteuse. Singing has always made me happy in a physical way. I was terrified but intrigued to try this forum.

What were your criteria in making the selection of songs?

I wanted to sing songs that weren’t overworked. I have what I think of as a treasure trove of uncommon material. The order of presentation would tell a beginning/middle/end story.


Which aspect/s of the performance did you find most enjoyable?

Hearing some material in a way that I wanted an audience to hear it – singing with 5 wonderful musicians in support – engaging the audience – learning new stuff – surprising people.


This was the first time you've done cabaret. What was your greatest fear about it ... and was it realized?

Breaking the fourth wall –the invisible barrier you build as an actor on stage for the audience to see through – in cabaret you present yourself in the room without disguise. And, of course, fear of stinking the joint up.


The reviews were without exception excellent. This does not surprise your fans or your audience, but nonetheless, congratulations! How does that feel?

Better than when they hate it.


Each member of the audience is closely watching you, and only you. What do you see - what do you notice - from the stage during your performance?

Haven’t done it enough yet to be able to see or notice. That may come, although I can’t see a house full of people in the legit theatre, as some of my colleagues can, even after 45 or 50 years.

In your experience, are the expectations and reactions of a New York audience different in any way from those of audiences elsewhere?

The show was fashioned especially for Feinstein’s, especially for Spring, especially for the feel of its being a debut. It will have to be retooled for other venues

Have you any plans to do more cabaret, perform "Songs" again, or appear in any other musical theater, in the foreseeable future?

Yes, yes, yes and yes if there is one.

Anything else you'd like to share with us about the experience?

For me the adventure of trying new forms is a large part of what keeps my work engaging for me and hopefully the audience. Last Summer I was playing in a 2500 year old play in Los Angeles at a splendid outdoor amphitheatre at the Getty Villa. This spring I tried presenting songs from every decade of the last century and a new one from this new century, along with theatre stories. This is proof that there is no business like show business.

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Do I twitter?

In a comment dated 15 June 2009 on Tyne's last blog, "TheBigYin" asked:

Do you intend to update this blog soon Tyne or have you moved on to Twitter?

Tyne answers:

I do not use a computer and I do not twitter. I am preparing a new blog which will be posted shortly.

Tyne

Exclusive: interview with Tyne Daly

September 2008 saw Tyne Daly appearing at the open air theater of the Getty Villa in Malibu as Clytaemnestra in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon.

The LA Times, among other publications, featured a review of the production.

Last month, Tyne gave this exclusive blog interview to the official Cagney & Lacey website.

Interviewer: What's Agamemnon about?

Tyne: Agamemnon is the retelling of the myths involving the house of Atreus, the Trojan War and the nets of fate that the Greeks believed ruled all of human life.

Interviewer: What, in your view, is its relevance to the 21st century?

Tyne: As human being we still wrestle with the concerns of justice, revenge, War as a solution to our violent natures and the role of the gods.

Interviewer: How do you choose your roles, and what attracted you in particular to the role of Clytaemnestra?

Tyne: Clytaemnestra is considered one of classical dramas great villains. I often try to humanize characters who come to modern audiences with prejudgements and negative expectations.

Interviewer: What background research did you do?

Tyne: I read several translations of Agamemnon and the trilogy of which it is the first play. I used the exhibits at the Getty Museum as inspiration and studied what we know of Greek theatre, especially Athens, as tragedy.

Interviewer: Do you see the roles you have played in your career as being related in any way other than being connected by your playing them?

Tyne: Most of them have been women.

Interviewer: How do the director's role and that of the actress interrelate - how much input does the actress have into the finished performance, and does that differ from production to production?

Tyne: The directors watch the actor because an actor cannot and should not watch himself or herself. The director chooses the interpretation that seems to him or her most useful to telling the storey in this version and production.

Interviewer: Is the amount of rehearsal time available ever 'enough' - or ever 'too much'! - from your perspective?

Tyne: I believe, depending on the play, and the players, that a given production can be over or under rehearsed, that said, only about one-half of what an actor needs to know is learned in the rehearsal room. The rest is discovered in front of the audience.

Interviewer: In live theatre, do you try to ensure your performance is as close to the same each day as possible, or alter it slightly on each occasion?

Tyne: No one of us is the same from one day to the next. I try to do my job as I have learned it, each performance, while staying “alive” to the present circumstances.

Interviewer: Does audience response impact in any way on the performance, and if so, how?

Tyne: The audience is the most vital difference in each presentation of the play. In live performance responding to this difference makes the experience what we call theatre.

Interviewer: Does performing the same role live over a period of time ever get boring? If not, what is it that keeps it interesting to you?

Tyne: No. The audience and the shades of variety in my fellow players.

Interviewer: Did you have to adapt your performance in any way to take account of the theatre being open-air?

Tyne: Vocally I must be aware of the space and in movement and to try to reach the last row without exaggeration for the first row.

Interviewer: In what ways does performing live on stage differ, for the actress, from a TV performance?

Tyne: The audience is in the room or outdoor space with me. We communicate in real time. I am not a shadow on the wall or in a box.

Interviewer: Your on-stage daughter Iphigenia is played by your daughter Kathryne Dora Brown. In what ways is the experience different for both of you than it would be performing it with an unrelated actress, whom you might perhaps never have met before?

Tyne: I cannot speak for Kathryne. I have worked with her before and she speaks very well for herself. This story of the “womb avenging “ of Clytaemnestra is greatly enriched by her presence for me. More terrifying, more tragic.

Interviewer: The play is performed three evenings a week. How did you spend the rest of your time in LA?

Tyne: Enjoying my time with family and neglected friends.

Interviewer: What are your future plans?

Tyne: I don’t try to plan into the future very much any more. I have been spending my time singing and will be working for Senator Obama until November.

Interviewer: We are hoping that the play with Sharon in London mentioned on Barney Rosenzweig's blog will be in your schedule in the foreseeable future.

Tyne: Since I don’t hire myself and am at the mercy of producers, I cannot answer.

Interviewer: Is there any particular role you have always hankered to play and not yet performed?

Tyne: No, well maybe “The Madwoman of Chaillot”.

Copyright (c) cagneyandlacey.com 2008.

All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.

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Thank you

I have not yet committed to the 21st Century internet. I still believe in the old-fashioned pen to stationery for correspondence. But I have been persuaded by the creators of our Cagney & Lacey web site to acknowledge the events of the past weekend by addressing the issue here. Thank you all for your amazing and prompt support. It's gratifying to know that the shows we did, lo those many years ago, are wanted by the fans of that generation and the next. Barney, Sharon and I did provide what they call "added value" for the first 22 episode set being released on May 8th, so you will be able to see us as we were then and now.

Regards from the 19th Century.

Tyne

A Brief Note

Hello Everyone,

I remember nothing.
I deny everything.

Love
Tyne Daly