Christine Ebersole admits that when she was young, she wanted to be famous. The blond beauty now describes herself as daughter, mother, wife, and animal lover. In that order.Talk about underselling yourself. Ever since Ebersole blazed to prominence as Ado Annie in a 1979 Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!,” she has been one of the most sought-after actors, twice winning the Tony Award (“42nd Street”, “Grey Gardens”) and appearing regularly on film and television, most recently in the sitcom, “Royal Pains.” Now Ebersole is set to return to the Café Carlyle in a new show, “After the Ball,” from October 11 through October 22. This follows an acclaimed turn as cosmetics pioneer Elizabeth Arden in the Chicago world premiere of the Broadway-bound musical, “War Paint,” which co-starred Patti LuPone as her business rival, Helena Rubinstein.The musical is by the same creative team - director Michael Greif, librettist Douglas Wright and songwriters Michael Korie and Scott Frankel - for “Grey Gardens,” in which Ebersole starred in the dual roles of the eccentric Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edie. While the critical consensus on “War Paint” was that it needed a little touch up, its stars earned raves, including the New York Times evaluation that “Ms. Ebersole brings not just enameled chipperness but also a startling glimpse of genuine self-surprising pain to her singing. Her climactic solo of reckoning, ‘Pink,’ is a knockout.”Blouin Artinfo recently caught up with Ebersole to talk about her cabaret act, Alicia Keys’s war on paint, and the temptation to be more like men than men in the business and politics.Why title the show “After the Ball”? Well, I guess it means that the party’s over. [laughs]. It’s a time of reflection, of looking back on my life at this moment and I think it has to do with being an empty nester. My three kids are now in college.How does the song list reflect that? Well, let’s see. There’s “Yesterdays.” “Lazy Afternoon.” “Ready to Begin Again.” “Young and Foolish.” And “When I Get Too Old to Dream.”Will you be singing “Pink” from “War Paint”? I asked. They [the composers] won’t let me. They want to save it for the Great White Way.Your mom, Marian Esther, is about to be 99 and faced some of same challenges as the women of “War Paint.” How did she handle them? My mother had a master’s degree but it was as a social worker. The business world was my dad’s domain. He was a CEO for the Field Corporation in Chicago. The women of “War Paint” were certainly unparalleled in the business world. Women of my mother’s generation didn’t aspire to that. But I think man or woman, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.What was Marian Esther’s attitude toward fashion and makeup? She was never faddish. Her style was very classic and that’s what I try to do. Like my mother, who grew up on a farm, I’m pragmatic. When it comes to wearing makeup, I grapple with it all the time. Probably because I do it in my business, I don’t really like to do it when I’m not on stage. At the same time, it does give me confidence in a funny way. I look better with makeup! [laughs]When I was growing up, and the same thing now, I’m so blond that my eyelashes are blond, my eyebrows are blond, so when I don’t have any makeup on, I’m a blank slate!Are you aware of Alicia Keys’s informal “no makeup” campaign? I think that’s so brave! I think she looks great. She’s young. But, I’m wondering, it’s all so interesting because as you get older, the more makeup you wear, the worse you look. It has a sort of reverse effect. The older you get, the less makeup you should wear. It makes you look older, actually.Did you ever feel that makeup was tyrannical? There’s an interesting line in “War Paint” which goes, “Did we make women freer or did you help enslave them?” And I think that’s a valid question. I think it’s both. Absolutely both. It gives you confidence but perhaps a false confidence. It’s all dictated by culture. So the standards are set by… I think it’s a patriarchy, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s matriarchy.When it was announced that you and Patti LuPone would be starring as business women who are archrivals, some insiders braced themselves for an onstage cat fight.There was an awareness on the part of the writers to go beneath the surface because cattiness is shallow. But if you get the rivalry beneath that and the needs of the characters as they make their way through this [minefield], then it deepens the experience.How do you feel about how these women handled their lot in life? I think the biggest mistake that a woman makes in being equal to a man is to become like a man. I don’t think that’s where a woman’s power is. In my personal opinion, Women are the most powerful beings on the planet but their power is in their capacity to be compassionate, to nurture, to feed. It’s so wacked out in this frenzy of testosterone and power and the need to be more like men. Not that there aren’t difficulties for women in this world. But I’ll take 70 cents on the dollar if that means not coming home in a coffin.How was it to work with Patti LuPone? She’s wonderful. She was just really funny, smart, a lot of fun and she has a great work ethic. She just gets the job done and I find inspiration from that.Your last cabaret act was entitled, “The End of the World As We Know It.” Did it end for you? Well, you know, yes. [laughs]I’m just grateful that I’m alive. And in good health for the most part, except the little aches and pains of a creaky body. I have an embarrassment of riches: three wonderful children, my darling mother, a supportive husband, two cats, two dogs, and a cockatoo. How can I complain?
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