Wednesday, April 3, 2013

THE ADVENTURES OF CLORIS LEACHMAN ON HOT IN CLEVELAND

FIRST, I WANT TO SAY WHAT A BRILLIANT COMEDIENNE/ACTRESS CLORIS IS. She is an eccentric, one-of-a-kind creature. We all know that. So let's start from here---

CLORIS TALKING TO MARY---"Every time Mary Tyler Moore has an orgasm she throws her hat in the air."

MARY TO CLORIS--"Why was I wearing a hat in the first place?"

Cloris showed up for work the second day in her own pajamas, robe and slippers. It seems something went wrong with her ride to work and she had to ask a construction worker to take her to the studio. She was late--hence the outfit. As rehearsals have gone on each day, she has sometimes decided to eat lunch in the middle of them, sitting off to the side saying her lines. She has decided to "help" the director with blocking. Or, sometimes she just wanders off. Or, she may start crying or yelling in a scene when that isn't what's written. The bottom line, she is hilarious to interact with.

At one point today in the rehearsal, Betty, Georgia, Mary, Valerie and Cloris were just sitting around a table. They started to reminisce, and no one on the crew moved. Rehearsal just simply stopped, and we all listened to them talk about "Mary," "Rhoda," old lines or scenes from over 40 years ago that they remembered. It was such an extraordinary privilege to see that intimate moment. These people truly love each other. For those of us from the MTM era, to see them all again on a stage is something I never thought would happen. This may sound overboard (probably definitely), but I kind of imagined what it would be like to eavesdrop on a table of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, and Abe Lincoln. I know that's insanely drastic, but I am blessed or cursed with such a sense of history or occasion. Everyone on the set felt it.

Tomorrow Katie Couric shows up.
Just a little break with Jesse, Wendie and George

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