Regarding The Soap Myth, Feldshuh said, “Jeff Cohen has been wonderful. I had a very good experience working with him on the Coast. He’s a marvelous playwright and a producer. It is working to work for him. He takes care of his actors. It is a pleasure to join forces with him. Jeff is extremely kind and his piece is important because it deals with what is the truth.”
Feldshuh (pronounced “Feld-shoo”) will be starring in The Soap Myth with veteran actor Ed Asner. “I am working with a legend, Ed Asner, who still has all his marbles,” she said. “Ed has no trouble with his mind or his ability to still act. He can still stand up there and do it. He is strong like a horse. It is a life opportunity to work with him.”
On January 23, The Soap Myth will be performed at B’nai Jeshurun in New York, and on January 28, at the Center at West Park in New York; moreover, on January 29, it will take place at the Suffolk Jewish Community Center in Commack on Long Island. “B’nai Jeshurun is the synagogue that I belong to,” she said.
From February 22 to 26, 2019, Feldshuh will be starring in three shows of “Tovah is Leona” at Feinstein’s/54 Below, which will take place on February 22, 23 and 26 at 7 p.m. “I am back by popular demand. Leona is back for one hour. She has been given one hour from purgatory,” she said.
Feldshuh continued, “All her afterlife, Leona had two dreams, to get out of purgatory and to star at a show at Feinstein’s/54 Below, so there we go. We have a country in jeopardy, and I play a character, Leona Helmsley, who is also in jeopardy.”
To learn more about “Tovah is Leona,” check out the official Feinstein’s/54 Below homepage by clicking here.
In her personal life, she revealed that she became a grandmother of her first grandchild, Rafael. “My grandson is 21 days old, and I want to be around him as much as possible,” she said.
Most recently, for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she did a rap number entitled “Forget It,” which may be seen below. “It’s hilarious,” she admitted. “I am very proud of it.”
A few years back, Feldshuh performed her critically-acclaimed one-woman show Golda’s Balcony at Queens College in Flushing, Queens, for a sold-out audience. “We sold it out indeed. I was honored to do it,” she said.
Speaking of Golda’s Balcony, it was the longest-running one-woman show in the history of Broadway. “I still do the show. I just performed it in Montreal,” she said. “I always try to bring it back to the stage at least once a year.”
When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy all the time, Feldshuh said, “You get underneath the text like any good detective or attorney. You seek what makes people say certain things.”
Feldshuh acknowledged that the “brain is a muscle.” “The brain is flexible, and if you don’t use it, you lose it. I use it a lot,” she explained. “I prepare early and I walk on the set cold. I over-prepare to go with the flow. Often, the best takes are the ones where the director is open to improv, which is so great.”
Digital transformation of the entertainment business
On the impact of technology on the entertainment industry, Feldshuh said, “It’s a wild time. Television is this vacuum cleaner that needs talent for its programming. Thank God I am still operating on all cylinders. The amount of people competing with me is much less. A lot of people give up, and if you don’t give up, then you have a real fighting chance.”
Feldshuh continued, “I love television. I have no right not to love television. You get all these different, interesting roles.”
As an actress, she uses hard copies as scripts. “I always ask for one, since I am used to it,” she said. “That way, you can see the whole book in front of you, and you can cross-reference immediately. That’s how we learn. That’s the primary imprint.”
She revealed that she would love to someday play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as an older woman. “I am little like she is. I am slight and very fit,” she said.
For more information on screen and stage actress Tovah Feldshuh, check out her official website, and Facebook page.
