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[0:00] Jeryl Brunner: From Shakespeare to Schwartz, from Fawcett to Alvin Ailey, from Sondheim to Borelis, from McNally to Fay, it happened to the greats. It still happens every day. When lightning strikes, it's the moment you know, when lightning strikes, where you're meant to go. You can stand and shout, Eureka, do whatever you like. You'll never forget the moment when lightning strikes.

[0:25] Jeryl Brunner: Hi, this is Jeryl Brunner. And you're listening to When Lightning Strikes, where we talk about the tingly mic drop moments that led you to becoming an artist. Called the Lady of a Thousand Voices, actress Christine Pedi is known for her fierce impersonations of countless performers, including Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, and Elaine Stritch in the hit show Forbidden Broadway and in her other shows. Some of her other credits include Chicago, Talk Radio, Little Me, Dr. Death, and The Sopranos. This March, Christine stars in The Rewards of Being Frank from New York Classical Theatre, the new play written by Alice Scoville. It's a sequel to Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and will run at Mezzanine Theatre at ART/New York Theatres. Well, welcome, Christine. How are you?

[1:38] Christine Pedi: I'm very happy to be back in New York. I've been in lovely Cincinnati for seven weeks and that was enough of any city in the bitter midwinter. I loved it. I mean, Cincinnati was great, but it's nice to be back in New York now, you know, and we've had some weather that makes us think that the spring will indeed come again. It was bitter cold there and I'm just happy to be back and to bring this show, which is such a luxury to have this show, you know, which was mounted in Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in a co-production with the New York Classical Theater. They are working together, sort of co-opting the show. So it was built in Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and the costumes were built and the set was built and it was rehearsed and it was for the first time put on its feet in a full-blown production.

It's only had like a reading, I believe. And we nipped it and tucked it in. Well, we didn't. Alice Scoville, the playwright, did and it went through its sort of its first run in front of lovely audiences. And now we're bringing it to New York and we'll make some more changes and also see if there's a difference in the response geographically. I don't know. You have a Shakespeare Company, so I suspect that attracts a certain audience that occupies a certain headspace, you know, theatrically. And here in New York, I'm not so sure what the audience for New York Classical Theater is going to be. But we're excited.

[3:32] Jeryl Brunner: You have me at the title, The Rewards of Being Frank. I love that. And that it's a sequel to The Importance of Being Earnest. Can you talk about what it is about and who you're playing?

[3:44] Christine Pedi: Well, it's a sequel to The Importance of Being Earnest set seven years later and written very much in the same exact tradition as the Oscar Wilde play. It's not as if they've two-pointed it to the point where it's, well, they kind of have it in that there are certain things that are referred to that perhaps would not have been referred to in public. But they're spoken of with the same veiled flowery language that you would have gotten from Oscar Wilde. And it's a sequel set seven years later, Gwendolyn and Ernest are married, Cecily and Algernon are married, as they were, you know, perched and ready to do at the end of The Importance of Being Earnest. And they have had children and the two boys, they've each had a boy.

The boys are six years old, ready to have a tutor. So Lady Bracknell, who is living now with her daughter, Gwendolyn, you know, sets up an interview with the third best tutor from the third best agency and he shows up and his name is Frank and his parents named him Frank because they hoped that he would go through life always speaking nothing of the truth. And those are the characters. We have five of the original characters in a new character named Frank and hilarity ensues and people learn a lot about themselves. And, you know, there's a seven-year itch issue going on with the marriages. Everybody's in a rut. And it's done with the same flowery, beautiful language, chock full of SAT words that you would expect from Oscar Wilde.

Alex Scoville is, I believe she's a Harvard educated woman. I think she was formerly a lawyer and she's just got a gift for this. And really, when I saw it, I read the sides. I said, well, this is really kind of good, you know, you just you get it, you get it, you get taken aback when you think somebody's had the audacity to, you know, take on those characters, but it's nice to have them back. It's nice to have those characters.

[6:25] Jeryl Brunner: I love that. Well, Lady Bracknell, what do you love about your character?

[6:31] Christine Pedi: Oh, well, she just Lady Bracknell had independence and Lady Bracknell, Lady Bracknell didn't suffer fools. And Lady Bracknell took care of Lady Bracknell. And she, for a woman of the time, there were a lot of women like that in that they were a lot of submissive women at that time, obviously, who did everything at the whim and in the bidding of men, but not Lady Bracknell. And I dare say there were a lot of women like that who knew how to play the game and get what they needed and get what they wanted and rule with an iron fist. And she has a very healthy ego and a strong sense of family and at all costs wants everything to be set right for in the original play for her daughter to be married and now in this play for her grandchildren to be brought up with the proper education. And that's the stepping off point. And then hilarity ensues.

[7:45] Jeryl Brunner: I want to talk about your lightning strikes moment from what I've read, listened to. You went to Fordham, saw this radio station in the castle for and. You're a lightning strike, but I want to hear from you, when did you know that?

[8:05] Christine Pedi: Yeah, that there's not been a lot of lightning strike moments in my life. It's been more slow, but that was certainly one because I was going to major in I was probably going to major in education or be a teacher, an art teacher or something like that. But I had a very short list of schools that I could afford and they were all had to be commuting distance from where I lived and Fordham was back then affordable. So I was getting the tour with my parents and then they took us. They opened a door to a long corridor that was dedicated. It's a castle building, Keating Hall. So it's four corridors that overlook a, you know, a courtyard or whatever. And there's maybe, I don't know, five or six classrooms on each corridor.

And one of those corridors was completely dedicated, it had a doorway was closed off, you had to go through a door to get through this corridor and it was closed off and it was dedicated to WFUV radio, which still exists, is going strong. But when I was there, it was a student run radio station and had been for decades. Alan Alda, I think, was involved. Charles Osgood, very involved in the Fordham radio station. And when they showed me that, I said, well, what is this? They said, it's the school radio station. And I figured teachers ran it or something. I don't know. And when they said kids ran it and I said, I could be on the radio. Yeah, I mean, I can just I can do this. And they said, yeah.

I thought, why would I want to go anywhere else? I mean, I didn't know even know how radio happened. You know, like I knew people stood in front of a microphone and talked, but I didn't know how the commercials got on the air. Like, where did they come from? And, you know, I didn't know there was a control room. And back then we had what looked like eight track tapes, but they were called carts and that's what you'd stack them all up. And all your commercials or we didn't have commercials. We had PSAs, we had station IDs, we had other things. But I didn't even know how radio was made. So this became my clubhouse and my dorm. I lived at home, but I spent countless hours there. And then I interned at WNBC radio at 30 Rock.

So I fell in love with that building. Oh, you know, when I was a teenager, I had an ID and I'd go into that stunning building and up to the I think it was the third floor. And I interned at WNBC radio and then I had a job, I actually had a paying job in the music research department after I'd interned for five hours, I'd sit in a room with a cassette tape and a wire that connected to the telephone receiver. And I'd call people and say, would you like to take music survey? And I'd say, I'm going to play a few seconds of a song and when I'm done, give it a one to five rating. So I'd press play. The music will go through the headpiece. I'd press stop, they'd give me the rating, I'd press play again.

I mean, it was that prehistoric. And after I would do that on a Friday night, I would go up to SNL because I had met the lighting designer. So he would let me sit and watch the rehearsals of SNL. And I sat like 10 feet away from Elton John in a pretty empty space, just watching Elton John perform. And I just embraced everything that was available to me in that world. Thanks to the college radio.

[12:05] Jeryl Brunner: That's incredible. And didn't the college radio station, the Fordham radio station, give you access to Broadway because suddenly...

[12:13] Christine Pedi: I became the arts editor and I was talking about doing interviews. I called the press agency to do an interview with somebody. And she said, well, let's get you into the show. Then I went, huh? She said, all right, we'll get you in. When can you go? Oh, you know, you're telling like an 18. How old was I? I was probably at that point 19 or 20. Like, when do you want to go see a Broadway show for free? And then I discovered that I was allowed and they were press nights and I was a viable member of the press. And granted, a low man on the totem pole. But there were a couple of press agents who were so awful to me, just so terse and mean on the phone. And then there were some that were so nice. And, you know, they went on like Adrian Brian Brown was always so nice to me and he was just starting out and then he became the head of the biggest PR, theatrical PR companies.

And you don't forget, you always have to be nice to people. I mean, granted, everybody has a bad day. I get that. But you never know where somebody is going to end up. You never you just never know. And you just just pays to be nice to people.

[13:26] Jeryl Brunner: And what's incredible is that your career in radio continues to blossom. I mean, here you are a host and I've been a host for many years on Sirius XM.

[13:33] Christine Pedi: I have this job because of my dearest friend from Fordham University, from the radio station, Paul Cavalcante. We met on the first day of school at an English class and we both found each other in orientation at the radio station, so we became our friendship, it's one of my oldest friendships. And he has worked only in New York radio and he was working at Sirius before it even went up, it was before it even went live. It was in test markets. They hadn't gone live to sell the product yet. And they were looking for somebody to host the Broadway channel and he recommended me. And it's because of him that I've had this job for what now? Twenty-one years. I mean, kids, there are I'm coaching somebody in a few days. A performer who's been listening to me since he was 10, you know, so that's bound to happen.

[14:37] Christine Pedi: If you stick around long enough, you hear, I've been listening to you since I was little. I've loved you since I was little. The first instinct is to cringe and vomit. But then you take a breath and realize, yes, that's what happens if you're lucky enough to still have a job and do it well, make a good impression, I guess. It took years. It took decades before I actually got a job in communications at Sirius. And then I actually did the math at some point. I said, well, the money I've made at Sirius, I've actually now made enough money in broadcasting to have paid my tuition. So it paid off, is my point. Because it hadn't, it wasn't paying off. I was doing theater and that never pays off. But you know, those numbers never work out. But this one actually did. And I love the job. And I love the work. And I love the listeners. They're so nice. And it was serendipity. And, you know, I'm very, very, very, very, very, very lucky to have that job.

[16:00] Jeryl Brunner: I'm in awe of the many facets of you, because I think about you as a performer. I remember seeing you in Forbidden Broadway. Everybody should go on YouTube and Google Beatles diva video and watch you sing, watch you do Carol Channing.

[16:14] Christine Pedi: Oh, you like that one? Thank you. Carol Channing, singing the Beatles, Catherine Hepburn. I am the walrus.

[16:30] Christine Pedi: I'm so glad that you like that one, because I was rather proud of that one. And Catherine Hepburn. Hey, Jude. Joan Rivers, I love it. Listen, do you want to know a secret? You promise not to tell. I close it. Let me whisper it. Word you want to hear. It's just, I just, I thought it was funny. Brad Drescher. I mean, it goes on. It's what, 22 divas singing Beatles tunes, which is very unsurprising. As you say, anybody, you know, of course, you can hear Eliza Minnelli is saying Le York, Le York, but to hear her sing a Beatles song, like Come Together is priceless.

[17:14] Jeryl Brunner: What is Come Together?

[17:17] Christine Pedi: So stupid. So what was so delicious? So what was your lightning strikes moment as a performer? How did you know, OK, this was awesome, my path that I could sing that I had. I mean, you're a beautiful performer. How did you know or when did you know, OK, that this is what I got to do?

[17:43] Christine Pedi: It was almost the came in an inverted back ass word way, because I would say I really didn't have one. I always loved performers. I would have wished as a kid I watched Edie Gourmet on a variety show singing and I cried. I think I was probably a teenage tween, you know, and I actually went to bed and cried because I thought I could never wow to sing like that. Wow. Now, I'd never sung a note, P.S. ever. I would sing around the house and I would sing along to Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits and hit all the notes. But I didn't think I could sing because I just somehow thought, I don't know, the musical theater fairy would come and tap you on the shoulder and guide you to into it was a world that was so far out of my world. I didn't even know much about Broadway either, so I didn't even understand that there was this whole segment of the world called Broadway.

[18:42] Christine Pedi: And I started doing community theater in college. I started to go to a lot of free theater, a lot of musical theater, and I really started to fall in love with it. And I would I just would look at those people on the stage and I would be so envious and just heart sick that they were living in this magical world and that would never be a part of my life. And the costumes and the clothes and the wigs, you know, all of it. And I was totally immersing myself in musical theater albums and learning, teaching myself all about it. When I graduated from college, I started to do community theater and it just evolved that I could sing. I had done one show in college, Side by Side by Sondheim, and I could sing all that Sondheim.

And I don't know, it just came out of my voice. It just came out. I hadn't sung. I hadn't done any. I did a musical in high school. I was Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly. But that was a very different type of singing. And I had a singing teacher who only gave me soprano art songs, so I didn't even like what I was singing. You know, she never gave me anything fun to sing. I didn't belt a note until really that Sondheim show.

[20:03] Christine Pedi: And then after that, I started auditioning for musical theater and community theater, great community theater, outside of in the suburbs of New York. And I started getting all the leads. I got these great roles. I played Eva Peron, I played Fanny Bryce, I played Eliza Doolittle, I played Marion the Librarian, I played Audrey, I played Nancy and Oliver, just Petra. I mean, it was one after another. And then I started getting The Yen. And I was a temp at the March of Dimes. And then I got a job in their telethon, which was in broadcasting, really, but I hated it. And there was nothing about that that was particularly thrilling. And I just decided, you know, I mean, if I had gotten a job with my communications degree, if I had gotten a job, I don't know, with a TV show or something that was a bit more productive and gave me a sense of purpose, maybe I never would have made the plunge to become a performer.

[21:10] Christine Pedi: But anyway, I did. I decided to just give up the full time job, become a temp slash waitress, and audition. And it was years and years of open calls. And I'd say like, five years of open calls, and I got one job. And I could sing I knew I was just you know, I was And I finally said so this is why I say it's a reverse instead of saying this is what I have to do. And I will be a performer. It was kind of a what's the term, an inversion of that in that I said, I'm never going on another open call. That's it. I'm done. It's over. I am not going to audition and put myself through this mind numbing humiliation over and over and over again to no end. This is clearly not getting me anywhere. So I'm just gonna make a decision to stop doing it.

And I won't go to auditions. I will not go to another audition until I have an agent submit me like a human being. I have no credit. So I don't know how that's going to happen. But I simply said, enough, I let go of being tethered and attached and holding on for dear life to these possible what I thought were possibilities. They were just killing me. So I just said, I got to let them go. I have no idea what's going to happen. But those are no longer part of my life.

[22:43] Christine Pedi: And like, within the next day or so I was looking at backstage. And there's an audition for Forbidden Broadway. And I'd always thought, you know, I could do that show. I don't know why, because I never did impressions. But I always had a sense that I could do that show because at the time that it was being done, the impressions were not killer. You know, Norma Ling was not a killer impressionist. She was a freaking killer genius comedian. You can make anything funny. So I thought, you know, I could certainly be funny. But I had made a pact with myself never to never go to another open call. But the first one I read about after this pact with the universe was for this really appropriate show.

And I just looked up and I said, OK, but this is the last one. And it was the last one. You know, and I think it's because I just shed off all of the anxieties that I attached to open calls. And I had said they're not going to be, they're not going to complicate and toxify my life anymore. And when I did, something came in. It's just so wild.

[24:01] Jeryl Brunner: Look at your mindset.

[24:03] Christine Pedi: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was it was incredible, really, that that happened. But I encourage people to do that, myself included. I need to do that more often in my life. That's how I believe this happened with Lady Bracknell. I'm going to tell this story a lot. But people had been saying to me, what's new with you? What's going on? Anything new? You know, the usual coffee talk, the usual dinner conversation. And I have slowly been losing my vision. So I have low vision and I'm you know, I've got this vision handicap, which is getting worse. It's degenerative. And so I would say to people, well, I really can't do musical theater anymore because I can't navigate on the stage with a lot of people in a big musical.

I can't do it. It's too difficult. And I would say that to sort of answer their question about my performing life. But then I realized that's kind of negative. So let me see if I can if I can answer that inquiry with an I can rather than I can't. So I would always say that I can't do musical theater, but I but I said I could do drawing room comedies. I could do Noel Coward or Oscar Wilde. I could do Lady Bracknell. You know, walk on, sit down, say some lines, walk off. My vision is perfectly fine for that. You know what I mean? I just can't be Mama Rose with a bunch of newsboys running around. You know what I mean?

[25:38] Christine Pedi: So I kept on saying that to people. Park and bark, walk on, be English, have a cup of tea, walk off. I could be Lady Bracknell. And I kept on saying I could be Lady Bracknell. And I don't even I don't even consider myself old enough to be Lady Bracknell. But I know that that's that that happens to you and you don't realize it. So it's not like it was a part that I coveted. It was just a fact. I simply said a fact. This is what I can do. I didn't attach any importance to it. I didn't attach any necessity or need or want or I didn't clench it. I just said it. And I'm in I'm in London in October doing my cabaret show and I get an audition email from my agents for the Cincinnati Shakespeare Theatre, which I think to myself that they have the right girl.

The Shakespeare Theatre wants me, Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, excuse me. And it's a play called The Rewards of Being Frank. Never heard of it. And I scroll down and in and the character that's highlighted is Lady Bracknell.

[27:08] Christine Pedi: So I, you know, uh, uh, and I'm looking over my shoulder. Uh, oh, God, you know, I didn't know my own power. And it turns out it's a sequel. That's that's why the title wasn't familiar. It's a brand new sequel. And she came into my life. It's beautiful. But I'm telling you, it's because I spoke the truth and I, I let it go. I didn't have any. I, I didn't clutch, I didn't clutch, I didn't clench. It's a beautiful story. I've always said if I wrote an autobiography, it would be called Christine Petty Unclenched. Because I mean, I think that's just the goal in life for me. And I think a lot of it should be to just unclench, light the hell up, let it go, especially in the theater. You know, it's all an illusion anyway. It's all it's not a meritocracy. People, people's talent is not rewarded because there's just too many talented people. And just just calm down and don't just don't give things values they don't have.

[28:57] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah. You know, especially where they've happened to you. As they're happening, or after they're happening, then you can say, gratitude. Thank you. That was I that was worth something to me. But before it happens, I mean, you're gonna you're just you that makes you clairvoyant. And that's just a rare skill.

[29:17] Christine Pedi: Can you take me to that Forbidden Broadway audition? What do you remember about it?

[29:22] Christine Pedi: Yeah, it was a lot of girls. But, you know, it was at Theater East, which was the second home of Forbidden Broadway, near Serendipity on the east side. And John Friedson, the producer and Gerard Olisandrini were there. And I sang Shy, which was my favorite and still is my favorite audition song. And then what else did I say? They asked me if I did any impressions. And I said, I do my Italian grandmother. And I did. And, you know, Oh, Christina, I'm gonna give you a bunch of bunch of kisses. You know, it was a thick Sicilian, you know, it's gonna take we're gonna go to Radio City Music Hall. We're gonna see a beautiful, beautiful show. So beautiful, you know, and then they...

[29:16] Christine Pedi: And I said, well, everybody can do Carol Channing. And I had volunteered at an event where Carol Channing was. And I said, I had to walk her to her dressing room and she was so lovely. And she, she thanked me and asked my name. And I said, Oh, my name's Christine. She went, Christine. And I just melted. I was like, Carol Channing said my name. And I told them that story and they gave me, they were so lovely. And they gave me some songs to take. Like Patti LuPone's Don't Cry For Me, Barbara Streisand and an Ethel Merman song. And I did, you know, I, my Merman and my Patti LuPone were not fabulous, but all my impressions were serviceable enough. You know what I mean? And they said that of the, I don't know, 200 girls they saw, 150 girls they saw, I was their first choice.

And as a matter of fact, Gerard Alessandrini turned to the producer and said, I want her for the New York show. They never told me that. And it was, it was two years before I got into the New York show.

[30:18] Jeryl Brunner: Oh, really? Because I let.

[30:20] Christine Pedi: Because they had me do a national tour for six months and then three months. And then I did a, what did I do? I did a Denver company. I did Detroit for a year. I did, I did a lot. So I did, I did a lot of, a lot of paying my dues with the show. I mean, Detroit for a year should be enough, but I actually loved Detroit. And yeah, I finally made it into the New York company and then the show closed two months later. I got eight weeks out of it. But it was the gift that kept giving and giving and giving because you were in so many iterations. I want to read something Robin Pogrebin wrote for the Inland New York Times. She said, yeah, I love it to me. It kind of sums up your performance in Forbidden Broadway.

And as a performer, watch her contort her mouth as she morphs into Patti LuPone or widen her eyes as she channels Carol Channing. And it is clear that what Miss Patti makes look easy is difficult and rare. And I really feel that kind of, yeah, I just think that's so lovely.

[31:41] Christine Pedi: It's lovely to hear. And I, I, I didn't remember that. Well, what has come up recently in conversation with some friends is that there are people who, important people in the business who can, you know, give you opportunities to move forward, who I have discovered think that impressionists are not actors. They think that they're what is it, learning by phonetically, like it's like acting phonetically, you know. And I don't know who they're watching. But when you see a great impressionist and when you see a great impressionist, like a Jim Carrey, let's say, it's more than just the fact that he can get the voice right. It's that you're stepping into the energy of whoever it is you're doing. And you're, I don't know how to explain it, but you're really trying to tap into their energy field or something.

And it makes for a better impression. But also, it takes an instinct. There's instinct in doing impressions, and it's not just a good ear. If there's some who can just do it with, you know, who are kind of, they can get the good sound and stuff, but there are others that really they tap into the energy of the other person. And there's an instinct to it, which would make a lot of impressionists. And it's not like that's all we are either. I've been pigeonholed, I guess, is what I'm saying. I've been pigeonholed. And if people were really paying attention, they'd realize that there's a certain level of instinct that could carry over into anything I do.

[33:46] Jeryl Brunner: Exactly.

[33:46] Christine Pedi: And I think that there are many Forbidden Broadway people who've been pigeonholed based on with all due respect, ignorance, you know, and because it's and I also think that sometimes if I go into an audition, they can't get Liza Minnelli out of their head or they can't get whatever they saw me do that they love. They can't hear anything else because that's the most significant memory of me that they have. And I just think it's yeah, it's yeah. But that you imbue these characters with so much love and that you're able to inhabit them. And it's the ultimate, you know, acting feat because, you know, you really you're becoming them in this very unique way. And it is acting, you know.

[34:39] Christine Pedi: Well, it's so funny because doing Lady Bracknell, I was just telling my mother, I said, you know, I'm on stage, I'm playing this English woman, this proper, you know, hoity English dowager, and I'm speaking in an English accent. But there's no fright. There's no funny wigs. There's no sequins there. I said it feels so. Like I'm being a phony in a way, you know, because when I'm in a Liza Minnelli wig and a red sequin jacket or an Elaine Stritch thing, that to me is being a character, like creating a character, and that feels natural and normal and regular and in no way unusual or extreme. And now I'm playing Lady Bracknell, and I feel like like I'm a little kid and I'm a little kid playing with, you know, playing with her dolls going.

I don't know what you're going to do. Well, I sort of wonder sometimes I just feel like I'm a doll like doing that because I've I've spent so much time conjuring up these larger than life characters, these musical characters, too. And just playing someone who's a little more sedate and talking in a British accent with no attempt at satire. Excuse my proximity to Mount Sinai. You hear it in the background. I it's this seems odd to me. This seems almost goofy to me. And all the other stuff I've done no longer seems goofy at all.

[36:07] Jeryl Brunner: What's astounding to me is that.

[36:10] Christine Pedi: You said you you went into this Forbidden Broadway audition not to keep harping on it, that you it's not like you were in your bedroom conjuring up these characters that they, you know, that they were inside of you and you were able to pull them out. You know, I'm thinking of just yesterday I went to a talk with Austin Butler talking about Elvis and how he spent months and months and months and months. You know, in his apartment, trying to to find Elvis inside of him for the Baz Luhrmann movie. And here you are. You know, you go to this audition and you're able to nail these people.

[37:56] Christine Pedi: You know, well, in all fairness, you know, they were they were good, serviceable to good. You know what I mean? But it was also a school. It was a school. I had my own laboratory and I have had the luxury after God. Now, let's see how the hell many. Oh, my God. Almost. Well, I had a good, solid 25 years of doing of doing Forbidden Broadway and and and musical and Spamilton of having this lab on stage where I go on stage and do stretch and she evolves. She gets better the next time. Then they take her out. A little time passes, then they put her back into the show. And I've come to know her better or I hear certain things pop more. And I know what to emphasize. My Bernadette Peters went. Got so much better, I didn't know what to do with her in the beginning.

She sounded nothing like Bernadette Peters. Now it's really good. You know, some of these characters need to be fertilized and, you know, cultivated. And I had the luxury of doing eight shows a week for decades. And I mean, I think me and Michael West have broken records as far as being in an opera, well, Kathy Russell, of course, has broken all records in perfect crime, but Michael West and I have broken records in the musical opera, the musical world, having been in Forbidden Broadway and musical for so long. You know, Michael probably holds the record as an actor. And that's something that I miss and that I now like I want to do Dolly Parton in my act, and I know I can, but I don't have I can't get up in front of an audience every night like I used to.

To get her really good, my Oprah got so good in musical, it got much better. You know, I learned how to improvise a little bit more as her because of musical and I I just. I know that that was a luxury and I am grateful for it. And so people these these impressions got better and I got better at finding them quicker when it was a new person. Angela Lansbury popped out of thin air. You know, certain people just, you know, I just I'm better at finding an impression now because of that.

[39:37] Jeryl Brunner: Well, I cannot wait to see you in The Rewards of Being Frank. What? Is there anything else you could tell us about the show? Why should people see The Rewards of Being Frank?

[39:45] Christine Pedi: Well, I think I think because it's funny, because you if you know The Importance of Being Earnest, I definitely think you should absolutely, absolutely see it. It's just nice to see a period piece that has a lot of effervescence to it and just a lot of life to it and a new support, a new playwright support near a classical theater. The tickets are free. New York Classical Theater is the tickets are free. Have I said that you you can it's first come, first serve. So I believe it's a 99 seat theater. And if you're nervous that you're going to get there and there won't be a seat for you, you can you can reserve a ticket for thirty five dollars on your credit card. And then at the end of the show, go to the box office and they'll give you thirty five dollars cash.

Now, of course, they'd love you to donate that thirty five dollars, which is cheap by any standard for a theater ticket. But they still stand by their free ticket policy. So if you'd like to sort of reserve your spot so you don't have to wait on a first come, first serve in line, reserve your spot. Well, then do that for thirty five dollars and then give them your ticket stub at the end of the night and give you cash back. So it's it's a great way to support a theater that's trying to make it a theater accessible. And and also you're also supporting this, this, this idea of of co-productions for other for other Shakespeare companies around the country to co-produce like with New York Classical Theater.

It really, really. It really reduces the financial burden significantly. And and you share the, you know, you work so hard on these plays and then to only do them for three weeks in New York, which is their standard run or six weeks somewhere else. Why not take the actual play itself with the same people and move it if you can? And they do that because they're sharing the costs. And so anyway, it's just a it's just a lovely mission statement they have about that or a template that they have. And to support that is lovely and to support me is lovely, too. It sounds because they're also working with me and my handicap. You know, you don't notice it on the stage at all because I can still see I'm not blind.

I'm half blind, which is what I tell everybody. You know, but they work so diligently, making sure that the lighting is really well set up for me, that I have rope lights, that there's always everything is marked the way I need it. And that means a lot to me because I'm, you know, I'm evolving into a place where it's it's it's very hard to believe in anybody who is allowing me to work. At a time in my life where I didn't think I could has my deepest appreciation and gratitude.

[43:02] Jeryl Brunner: That's so extraordinary. And it sounds like the most priceless experience that one can get for free or thirty five dollars. So thank you. Thank you.

[43:14] Christine Pedi: Yeah. Yeah. For coming.

[43:16] Jeryl Brunner: Well, thank you. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. Have the most wonderful day.

[43:24] Christine Pedi: Oh, thank you very much. And I hope I see people at The Rewards of Being Frank. Take good care. Bye.

[43:37] ♪ Musical number ♪