ELLEN LINDSAY

ELLEN LINDSAY, an RCRT company member from the premiere season, resides in New York City and has appeared in RIVER CITY REPERTORY THEATRE productions of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Anne), THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Laura) and GOD OF CARNAGE (Annette).

FULL NAME: Ellen Lindsay

HOMETOWN: Shreveport, Louisiana

ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

AT HEART, CITY OR COUNTRY GIRL? :
Being outside, walking in the woods, horseback riding, seeing the stars……umm….country. A diner at 3 AM, running into people I know in Times Square like it was Main Street, the Law and Order crew on my block, dinner after a show, seeing friends in shows, BEING in shows, the Ziegfeld, 8 million people from everywhere on the planet, the lights on all day and night, something new all the time, the bars, the restaurants, The Met, Lincoln Center, art, artists the THEATRE, the speed, the noise….um….the city!

ON YOUR TOMBSTONE IT WILL SAY:
“She Did Good”

THE LIFE LESSON YOU WERE TAUGHT THAT YOU DON’T USE:
I try to use them all! Although, my grandmother used to say, “Never leave your hat on the bed!” I some times forget that one.

BEST AND WORST AUDITION EXPERIENCES:
The best was finishing my piece and having them applaud
from behind their table saying I was absolutely wonderful and it was the best audition they had seen…..and then I didn’t get the job!
Worst: Doing my monologue (which was from a comedy) and there was dead silence. Crickets. Nothing. They just looked at me in total silence. Finally, after becoming extremely uncomfortable, I smiled brightly and said, “Thank you” and walked out…..I got the job! Ya just never know.

BIGGEST REGRET IN LIFE: Honestly, nothing.

WHY REGIONAL COMPANIES ARE IMPORTANT TO THEATRE:
I don’t think regional theatre is just “important” I think it is VITAL to the future of the American theatre. Making theatre more accessible to people, exposing younger audiences to plays and play-making and enriching people’s lives through art are just a few ways regional theatre has an impact. It is also the backbone of the development of the American play and where new works by new playwrights can be seen, often for the first time. Strengthening regional theatre is a way to strengthen art in America.

FIRST PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTION:
CATS

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND CATCH ANY PERFORMER OR PRODUCTION…?
There are so many! I would have loved to have seen Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse in anything. Helen Hayes in anything. Definitelty Laurette Taylor in THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Angela Lansbury in MAME. Opening night of the original OKLAHOMA!

WEBSITE MOST FREQUENTED:
Sartorialist

BEST OR WORST THEATRE TREND:
Worst: Loud pre-show music
Best: More plays by new playwrights.

YOUR MOST EFFECTIVE AUDITION SONG:
“Arthur”

ONE CD YOU COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT:
Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”

ARTIST THAT YOU WOULD DROP EVERYTHING TO GO SEE:
Fiona Shaw

MUST SEE TV SHOW:
Charlie Rose. I’m kind of a junkie!

LAST GOOD MOVIE YOU SAW:
I’m also a movie junkie. But I have to say, out of everything, it has to be GONE WITH THE WIND. On the big screen! Finally. It was sooooo great.

POP CULTURE GUILTY PLEASURE:
Lady Gaga

If you were down to your last few dollars would you buy flowers or food?:
Food! Although I adore flowers. Yellow roses!

FIRST STAGE KISS:
A production of HAMLET. I was playing Ophelia.

WORST COSTUME EVER:
A canary yellow dress with super high yellow platform shoes. It was a comedy and I looked ridiculous—which was perfect. The dress was fine. It was the SHOES! I tried it all on and thought the shoes were really high but nothing I couldn’t deal with. There were three of us wearing these crazy platforms. We got to the final dress rehearsal where we were seeing the set for the third act finished for the first time. It was stairs—three enormous, gigantic, steep staircases going straight up to what, I swear, was the clouds. And there were no railings. Of any kind. We were to start in the wings, at the top, and walk down one at a time in a kind of final grand presentation. It was like walking on stilts on stairs! Every night we, the “platform shoe girls” stood in a little group at the top holding hands right before the cue. Usually we said a quick prayer that none of us would die and did a “Go Team” before we descended. We made it every time. But it was a nightmare.

WORST MISSED CUE AND/OR STAGE MISHAP:
A stock production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. I was playing Eunice, the upstairs neighbor, and I was wearing a fat suit. A very large fat suit! Since it was stock, I was rehearsing one play in the morning, rehearsing STREETCAR in the afternoon and performing another play at night. Because I had two large roles in the other shows and Eunice was a fairly small role, I never rehearsed STREETCAR with the entire cast. I never did a full run-through and I had four costume changes. Fine. However, I had never done the changes during a run and I didn’t realize how long or short some of them might be. Also, the dressing rooms weren’t in the theatre—they were across a parking lot. The show started and things were going well. Then on the second costume change I made a mistake. I started changing for the wrong scene. I realized it and tried to take the dress off but it was vintage with a side zipper and that zipper wouldn’t budge. It was stuck. I was alone in the dressing room, trapped in the dress half on me with the fat suit. Then I heard my cue over the monitor and I just started to run. The fat suit was on me, the dress hanging off around my waist, and I grabbed some girls robe off a chair and high-tailed it across the parking lot. I ran up the loading dock, threw the robe on and hit the stage. Everyone was STUNNED. The actors onstage had decided I wasn’t going to make it, had already covered and moved on in the script when— SUDDENLY—I burst onto the set. The actress playing Blanche looked at me like I was crazy because I was wearing HER personal robe. I saw her face and realized what had happened. There was a pause. Then I said my lines, as if it was the most important moment of my character’s life, and exited. It was pretty hard to live it down that summer.

BEST COSTUME EVER:
The black and white Ascot dress when I played Eliza in MY FAIR LADY. The dress looked just like the one from the movie, with the hat and the parasol—it was really beautiful. When I made my entrance the audience literally oo-ed and aw-ed. That was pretty nice.

FAVORITE ROLE (professional or amateur):
Catherine in SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER.

ROLE YOU MOST WOULD LIKE TO PLAY:
Shaw’s Saint Joan

ACTOR WHO MOST INSPIRES YOU:
The Streep. Favorite of all time, though: Bette Davis.

DIRECTOR YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO WORK WITH:
Clint Eastwood

FAVORITE SHOW TUNE:
“One Hand, One Heart”

FAVORITE PLAYWRIGHT:
Tennessee Williams

FILM OR PLAY THAT HAD THE MOST LASTING AND PROFOUND IMPACT:
THE SEAGULL at the National Theatre in London starring Judi Dench. It made me want to be a professional actor.

WORST PRODUCTION YOU’VE EVER SEEN:
A production of KING LEAR. One of those four hour productions where at the 30 minute mark you know it’s going to be a rough evening. Lots of Shakespearean shouting. I began to wonder if I was watching a taping of Saturday Night Live.

FAVORITE HOLIDAY:
Halloween

MOST DREADED HOLIDAY:
Kinda like ‘em all. New Year’s isn’t my favorite but at least there’s lots of champagne.

WORST JOB EVER:
File clerk. Need I say more?

FAVORITE STYLE OF THEATRE:
Kabuki……ok, just kidding. But I’d really love to see it sometime. If anyone has free airfare to Japan, call me.

ONE VICE YOU CAN’T QUITE GIVE UP:
Diet soda!

FAVORITE JUNK FOOD:
M&Ms. They should be a food group.

FAVORITE NON-RELATED PASTTIME:
Horseback riding.