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• She's just a Broadway baby Full Disclosure She's just a Broadway baby Edie Cowan directs 'Once Upon a Mattress' at Barrington Stage Edie Cowan, who is spending her summer directing the musical "Once Upon a Mattress" for Barrington Stage's Youth Theatre, is an accomplished director and choreographer, as a quick Google search will reveal. She is most noted for choreographing the original production of "Little Shop of Horrors." In a recent interview at Barrington Stage headquarters in Sheffield, Cowan shared her memories of another accomplishment -- she was in the original cast of "Funny Girl" on Broadway. Cowan was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y., in Laurelton -- which is actually in Queens. She started tap dancing at age 5, stopped for a while in high school, and started again at Queens College.
"By the end of that year, I had started dancing again and I realized that was what I wanted to do," Cowan said. "So I went to Butler University in Indianapolis -- they have a wonderful fine arts program -- and I had really good dance training, plus acting and voice -- and got my degree, came back to New York and got into my first Broadway show, which was 'Funny Girl.' I was lucky, but I also have to say that I did work very hard.” Cowan was with "Funny Girl" from the very beginning. She remembers, "I was so exited when I was chosen from the audition. When the stage manager called up to tell me I had the job, I was so cool on the phone. Then I hung up the phone and yelled, 'Dad, Mom, I got the show! I got the show!' "It was my dream come true to be a dancer on the Broadway stage. "I was in the chorus and I had lines in the show. I actually have a solo line on the cast album -- in the 'Rat-A-Tat' number, I’m Private O’Brien from Texas." "Funny Girl" underwent a lot of revisions between the beginning of rehearsals and opening night. Cowan said, "I didn't even know who Barbra Streisand was before I got cast in the show. She had two or three albums out, so I went to my neighbor’s house to listen to them, and I fell in love with her voice immediately. I couldn’t wait to meet her. As we all know she’s just supremely talented, and very quick. "There was never a show, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this, we never did the same exact show two nights in a row. There was either new music, new harmony, a new lyric, new choreography, new blocking, a new scene -- there was always something that was different. And frequently a whole number went in. We rehearsed it that afternoon and it went into the show that night. Everyone who was hired on that show had to pick things up very quickly. You have to, when you’re doing an original Broadway show. They make changes and they want to see the changes immediately to see if it will work or not. Once it opened, it was frozen. "Opening night in Boston the show was four hours. We knew it was going to be a hit because nobody left. There was a snowstorm, and nobody left their seats. And it wasn't because the show was great then, but when you saw Barbra perform, you knew there was something very special happening on that stage. Nobody wanted to miss a moment of her. "Even though it's called 'Funny Girl,’ it’s a very serious story. I just think Julie’s [Julianne Boyd, artistic director of BSC] production here ["Funny Girl” is currently playing on the BSC mainstage] is wonderful. Jeanne Goodman [as Fanny Brice] is fantastic. She sings wonderfully, and she’s a real comedienne. Which Barbra wasn’t. She’s a good actress and a quick study. She was always very professional to work with, but she was not particularly warm. She would throw parties for us, and give gifts, but she kept her door closed during intermission -- no one would have thought of going into her dressing room to chat with her. You really respected her privacy. Her personal dresser told me later that Barbra knew everyone’s name, she was very fond of everyone, but she was very shy.” "I stayed with 'Funny Girl' for three years. I left it to do another Broadway show called ‘Sherry!’ which is a musical version of ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner.’ But it was not a hit. "After that, I danced in the movie of 'Hello Dolly,' which was great fun. Then I worked at NBC for a few years. I did a lot of regional theater, and I also did a soap opera. I decided I did not like television. What I really loved was the theater. And I did ‘Annie’ on Broadway -- that was my last Broadway show, the original production of ‘Annie.’ That was 1976." After "Annie," Cowan started choreographing. "Howard Ashman, who wrote 'Little Shop of Horrors,' asked me to choreograph it, and, of course, it was a huge hit. "I had directed and choreographed Howard in a production of 'Dames at Sea' at Indiana University, some years before. He called me because he said he thought I worked really well with non-dancers. "I started choreographing exclusively, and then I started directing. I stopped performing without intending to. But my performing background has been really helpful as a director and choreographer. I always try to put myself in the shoes of the actor paying the role." Cowan described her decision to become a director. "I worked with a very good friend of mine, Stuart Ross, who directed and staged 'Forever Plaid.' He asked me to assist him, so I started directing and choreographing productions of ‘Forever Plaid,’ to prepare them, and then he would come in and tweak them. "One day we were talking and I asked him, 'How do I start directing? Everyone knows me as a choreographer.' He said, ‘Just tell people you’re a director. Put it out there.’ So the next day someone was introducing me at a party, saying, ‘This is Edie Cowan, she’s a choreographer,’ and I said, ‘Actually I’m a director and a choreographer,’ and the person said, ‘Oh really, I’m looking for a director right now. Would you be interested?’ And it was that quick. "And the most amazing thing is that I still love the theater so much ... I never thought I'd be in the theater more than a few years. And here I am, thirty years later, still at it and having the most wonderful time. And still being challenged by it." Cowan is enjoying her stint with the BSC Youth Theatre. "I have to tell you, I just love working with these kids so much. First of all, they're very talented. They’re high school kids. They’re very professional in their attitude and they’re eager to learn. Woody Regan is the musical director, he’s my partner in this, and he’s such a good teacher. We’re tough, we raise the bar pretty high and we ask them to meet that bar. We ask them to be as good as they can be. There are quite a few of these kids who have the interest and the talent to have good careers in this business. "'Once Upon a Mattress’ is a wonderful show for children of all ages. There’s enough of the fairy tale for the young children, and enough humor for adults. It’s a great family show. "My aim is to get it to be as professional as possible. We have professional costumes, sets -- we're doing it with one piano, and Woody is such a fine pianist and musical director. I think it will be a very good production. Until the show plays in front of an audience I don’t say it’s good, but my instincts tell me we’re going to be fine. Asked how she first came to the Berkshires, Cowan said, "I've known Julie for a long time. Four summers ago, a friend and I drove up and we saw 'Mack and Mabel.’ I thought, I’d just love to work here. And then the summer after that, I came up to see a play that Andrew Volkoff directed, and then last summer I was here sharing an apartment with him. I’m just thrilled to be up here. "I would like nothing better than to come every year to do a show. I like doing theater with people who are as serious as I am. It doesn't have to be Broadway for me to be happy." "Once Upon a Mattress" will be performed at the Consolati Performing Arts Center, Berkshire School Road, Sheffield, through July 27 and then at Springside Park, 874 North St., Pittsfield, from July 30 through August 10. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 7, Friday and Saturday at 2 and 7 and Sunday at 2. For tickets, call 528-8888 or visit Barrington Stage Company's box office, off Route 7 in the center of Sheffield. |
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