A Princess Grace Awards winner LYNNE CHAMPLIN will perform “Finishing The Hat” on August 11, 2008 at the Laurie Beechman Theater….. with a little help from her friend, STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Broadway After Dark had a chance to catch up with the ever-inventive vocal virtuoso and actress Donna Lynne Champlin just a few weeks before the opening of her show, “Finishing The Hat” and asked her a few questions about the show and how her summer was going:

So, how did you come up with the catchy title for your show “Finishing the Hat” and what does it mean?
Donna Lynne Champlin: Calling the show FINISHING THE HAT came about because the first time I did this show it was part of the BROADWAY SPOTLIGHT series at ARS NOVA- and it was originally called “Songs and Stories”. At that performance, we had put about 15 stories into the hat and only got through half of them. The evening was such a surprising success that by the time I had gotten down into the dressing room the producer of the ARS NOVA was there and the first thing he said was, “You’ve got to come back! You've got to come back to FINISH THE HAT!”

Well, since that's a very famous Sondheim song title we thought that was hilarious- so I emailed Steve Sondheim and asked him for permission to use that as my show title and he gave us his blessing. Ironically, I never sing FINISHING THE HAT in the show. So it was a happy accident and the result of a funny moment after the first show.

Tell us about the show/performance – what songs will you be doing, running time, do you and piano player Tom Kitt interact?
Someone described it to me as "Kathy Griffin with show tunes" which seemed kinda fun. I'm not nearly as 'blue' as Griffin but our story telling styles are very similar. The concept is that I have a bunch of stories on index cards and with every story I've incorporated a song. Every show there's a new story, and each show is different because I go out into the audience and let them pick the cards. We've had some people who've come to every single Finishing The Hat we've done in NYC- about 8 or 9 now.

Yes, Tom Kitt will be assisting with the story telling, if certain stories get picked. Regardless, he is absolutely indispensable at the piano since the cues I throw at him are dicey at best. I need someone really smart and quick at the keyboard and he's brilliant. It's like that with everyone associated with this 90 minute production. The sound, the lights- it's impossible to tech the show because we never know what the show is going to be so everyone is flying by the seat of their pants. It's one of the reasons it's so much fun.

What will you be doing next?
Well, I'm closing my run in a production of MAME this weekend at the Pittsburgh CLO theater where I'm playing "Agnes Gooch." And, since I've been really blessed to have worked non stop since last August- I'm taking a few weeks to spend time with my family. I'll do FINISHING THE HAT and I have a few other possible job opportunities for the fall, but I haven't made a decision yet as to which project I'll be doing. But I'm sure it will be fun, whatever it is.

Have you seen anything on Broadway or Off- that you adore this summer?
Thanks to PRINCESS GRACE, I got a great ticket to see AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (which was directed by Princess Grace Awards winner Anna Shapiro) and absolutely loved it. In fact it inspired me to start writing my own play, which I'll hopefully have plenty of time to work on when I am at home with my family for the rest of July. I highly recommend AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY...it's brilliantly written, directed and acted. It was truly one of the most satisfying evenings at the theatre I've had in years.

In her most recent Broadway appearance, Champlin, a winner of a 2007 Village Voice OBIE Award for performance, played "Pirelli" (and the accordion, flute and piano) in John Doyle's groundbreaking Broadway revival of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd where critics characterized her performance both “hilarious” and “superb.” Champlin just finished her run as "Marcy" in the new Off-Broadway musical Marcy in the Galaxy at the Transport Group, which earned her rave reviews, in particular the NY Post's entitled "Leading Lady in Galaxy has Star Quality".

More: www.donnalynnechamplin.com

watch the video: www.myspace.com/finishingthehatdlc<p></p>

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