Actress Christine Copley chatted about starring as Mae in the Off-Broadway re-engagement of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and being a part of “Mommy’s Box.”
On being a part of this show, Copley said, “I understudied for the first Mae over the summer and thought she was really great, so I had big shoes to fill. Joe, our fabulous director, told me they were taking the character in another direction. So that relieved some of my anxiety about doing Mae in the same way. I feel like it’s definitely different and I’ve made her my own.”
Playing Mae
She is drawn to playing Mae in the Tennessee Williams classic play for various reasons. “I love how she’s strong and not scared of confrontation. She calls people out. She speaks the truth. She gets angry. On a good night she’s provocative, funny and a bit scary,” she said.
The digital age
On being an actress in the digital age, now with streaming and technology being so prevalent, Copley said, “It feels great. It’s much easier to be an actress because you don’t have to be everywhere all at once. You can record your own auditions, you can rehearse on Zoom or FaceTime, you can get material quickly through the Internet.”
Working with the cast
She opened up about working with Matt de Rogatis, Courtney Henggeler, Frederick Weller, and Alison Fraser. “It’s fantastic,” she admitted. “The whole ensemble is extremely passionate about what they do and it shows. Courtney and I share the dressing room with Alison and we all have so much fun.”
“Alison is a firecracker, a veteran of the stage and she’s always there to give advice and keep us on our toes. I love how she changes her costume as well as tweak her performance every night. Courtney is so magnetic, natural and free on stage. She’s the perfect Maggie; tough, beautiful, a real wild cat. She’s a trip,” she said.
“Fred has a fresh no-apology take on Big Daddy, which is exciting,” she said. It is my second time working with Matt and it’s always awesome. He puts all of his heart into the play. I also love acting alongside my partner in crime, the gifted Adam Dodway, who plays my husband Gooper. Reverend Tooker (Milton Elliot) and Doc Baugh (Jim Kempner) add so much character to this amazing ensemble. It’s really been an incredible experience.”
“I can’t forget Jesse Meckl is our very organized, versatile, and patient stage manager that keeps everything afloat. I’m really excited to see where his career takes him. We have some lovely interns who have supported us throughout the run, who have also helped with social media marketing; one of our TikToks went viral with 1.5 million views,” she said.
Being dialogue-heavy in the show
When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy in this play, she responded, “So my dialogue is not as heavy as the others, but my lines could be very wordy. Williams’ dialogue is more poetic than naturalistic. For example, when I say ‘It’s a mighty dangerous thing to leave exposed round a house full of normal red blooded children attracted to weapons.’ That’s a boatload of words in one sentence.”
“It’s like speaking out a song,” she said. “Breath work is really important as well as vocal warm-ups. Fred is diligent about doing vocal work with his dialogue as well as sing and play his guitar before the show, which helps calm everyone’s nerves backstage.”
‘Mommy’s Box’
She spoke about the feature film “Mommy’s Box.” “It was the first full length film that I acted in,” she said. “I had known Johnny Greenlaw who wrote and directed it. We both did work with the Bare Bones Theater company- but never really worked together. I didn’t have a lot of experience acting in front of a camera, so it was a bit nerve wracking at first.”
“Johnny was a chill director,” she admitted. “Many of the supporting roles were drawn from the Bare Bones crew, so a lot of us knew and loved each other already which makes things easier. I played Bill Sorvino’s character’s girlfriend. He’s a blast to work with.”
Dream acting partners
She listed Olivia Colman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell. Andrew Garfield, and Mads Mikkelsen as her dream acting partners. “They play characters who are both comic and tragic, which makes them fun to watch,” she said.
Success
On her definition of success, she said, “I used to think success meant fame and fortune. Now, I think success is the ability to find and follow through with your purpose, to be present in the moment, to be open, to work well with others, to have self discipline, to be grateful for today.”
Closing thoughts on the show
Copley remarked about “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “It’s about mendacity. The play is about living in denial and how we lie to ourselves and others. The lesson is to accept yourself for all you are and allow yourself to love and be loved.”
“In the closing dialogue of the play, Maggie says: “Oh you weak people, you weak beautiful people! Who give up. What you want is someone to take hold of you. Gently, Gently, with love! I do love you, Brick, I do!” Brick ends with “Wouldn’t it be funny if that was true?” she added.
To learn more about Christine Copley, check out her IMDb page.
