Tickled Pink

I recently played a punk rock mom in the staged reading of the new musical, "How To Marry a Divorced Man," and I have to tell you, Pink is my new favorite color.

When you're doing a reading, it's often a bare bones production. No set. The actors read from the script for an audience of industry people. And costuming is incredibly minimal.

But for Glenda, the character I played in "How To..." the writers said, "Go for it!"

For the first reading, I sprayed pieces of my hair pink, pulled out my black leather motor cycle jacket and chained belt that I had first bought when I moved to New York, put on some hot red pumps, and went to town!

For this second reading at the Mint Theatre, I decided to go even  further. Since I had more time, I was able to explore what kind of punk rocker Glenda would be. I had recently read about Mara Rooney's transformation into Lisbeth Salander for David Fincher's upcoming film of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and it was helpful to hear about the process.

Lisbeth is an incredibly edgy punk, so costume designer, Trish Summerville focused on her dark porcupine aspect. As David Fincher said, Lisbeth is not a "look at me" kind of punk, which that made realize that Glenda (for "How To....") IS, so I went even more colorful with her.

I put my hair up into a faux Mohawk, sprayed it pink, pulled out a red plaid skirt and piled on the spangles and bangles. I felt like a peacock, which was perfect for Glenda!

I also let loose with her vocally, finding more of a raspy speaking voice coupled with a rockin screech for her song when she tries to make a comeback in a punk rock club.

Interestingly enough, I also got to sing this delicious love ballad in the first act, which you wouldn't think would come out of this rough-n-tumble character, but I love that the writers took her there, to a deeper place of lost love. It was a great moment.

The reading seemed to go well. It's fun to be part of a show in its early stages, rolling with the script changes and finding more nuances every time it's done.

I had a blast! And I'm looking forward to the next colorful character I'll be pulling out of myself and my closet. ;)