I could have talked to Erin Dilly forever! The Tony-nominee is the kind of person who instantly makes you feel like you’re talking to a dear friend, and it’s precisely that warm quality that makes her such a unique presence on the stage. From her Cinderella in Into the Woods, to her Mother in A Christmas Story: The Musical, she is able to find the humanity in each of her characters, even when they’re as kooky and fantastical as Truly Scrumptious from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In Songbird, currently playing at 59E59, Dilly takes on one of her greatest parts yet as Pauline, a sassy bar owner who looks after everyone, except herself. She finds escape from her humdrum life by starting an affair, but the beauty of the play is that neither the affair, or her family life define who Pauline is. They’re just some of the elements that make her.
Songbird is a musical adaptation of The Seagull, with Kate Baldwin playing larger than life country singer Tammy Faye, and Dilly’s character being the Polina to her Arkadina. The two of them share wonderfully moving moments, in a show that’s never lacking in those. I spoke to Dilly about the challenges in playing this character, her dream roles and how she’s grown along with Chekhov.
Did you ever see yourself ever doing any version of The Seagull, not to mention a musical one.
Oh absolutely, I’ve known this play for years, it was probably the first thing I read in my college theatre class. It’s such a rich, funny, heartbreaking play, when you add the element of music to it, it’s like a match made in heaven.
How was the process of working with Lauren Pritchard on the songs?
Lauren is an explosion of creative power, this woman has a well of artistry within her, that is so deep and comes from her heart. It’s a gift to be around her, because she inspires all of us up our games, but she’s also one of the most generous human beings I’ve ever known. She’s also an actress, so she understands our process, and that it can be difficult and vulnerable, and it takes time and nurturing. She knows all of that, we call her the mama bird, because she watches over all of us like a parent.
During the first part of the show I kept saying to myself “why isn’t Erin singing more?”...
Oh, thank you (laughs)
...but then you get this amazing song that closes the first act.
It’s such a beautiful song. It’s also interesting because there’s a very specific reason why Pauline doesn’t sing, and it’s that she and Tammy used to sing together as children, but they made different choices. Pauline decided to stay home, raise her baby and find her importance and stronghold at the bar in Tennessee, and Tammy went out and conquered the world. Pauline is really insecure about singing in public, so that set up of her just looking at the lake, waiting for the sun to rise, is the only place where she can sing, where she can let her instrument fly. And it’s such a beautiful love anthem to Tennessee, and she’s the right person to sing that because she’s not trying to get out of Tennessee, she loves it there.
Have you found yourself identifying with different characters from the play as the years go by? Were you a Nina and now you’re more of a Masha?
I think in my sophomoric days at university I was completely Masha, but I’m loving growing into a richer time in my life, raising my children, nurturing my own marriage but also coming to roles that defy stereotypes. Here’s this grown woman, a mother, eventually a grandmother, beautifully flawed, really lovable...I know Pauline, I’ve met her, she has a sliding scale of morality but it makes sense in her mind. It’s a great pleasure as an actress, I do a lot of episodic television and I’ve found that in television I’ve had a wider breadth of characters I’ve been allowed to play marvelous cuckoo birds, and interesting, difficult, strange mothers, so when I encounter those kinds of roles in theatre I grab them!
I love that you used the word “flawed” because what makes Songbird so good is that it’s a show about imperfect women, and it’s so well done that we as the audience never feel like we have the right to judge them, because they’re so human.
That’s amazing that you said that and that you noticed it. I appreciate it.
I think it’s really important that theatre remind us that women can be more than saints or villains! It seems there’s a very small space for “grey” female characters so to speak.
Without a question! I’ve brought this up to my friends and family who ask me about the show, I appreciate what you were able to perceive, because I think it has to do with the fact that we’re not making apologies about these women, we’re not saying “Tammy is a horrible mother”, she’s a woman trying the best she can, she is raising her son with the skill set she has, and I think people recognize all of these people onstage. It’s a gift to be able to play someone you might meet at the grocery store, that you might see onstage performing in Nashville. It’s real life when you allow a flaw in your character, because no one is perfect in life. This is The Seagull but it’s also Michael Kimmel and Lauren Pritchard.
That scene with the fight between Pauline and Tammy was so wonderful! I’ve seen that very same scene play out among my friends before!
I know, Kate is one of my best friends, so when we read that scene we were like “oh boy, we have to go there”, and you really have to go there, to that ugly place of raw anger and frustration. The truth is in that scene they’re yelling at themselves because they’re so unhappy with the state of their own lives, the underbelly of their relationship will always be love.
From imperfect women to Truly Scrumptious…
(Laughs) She’s sort of the photo negative of Pauline, isn’t she?
You’ve played Nellie in South Pacific, Cinderella in Into the Woods. What are some dream roles you have left?
It’s so funny you said that, because the pieces I have done on Broadway recently have been new pieces, I did A Christmas Story two years ago, and I went in for Nice Work if You Can Get It, and they were original pieces, so I felt such a connected satisfaction, because I felt I could bring all of me to the part. I feel my dream role hasn’t been written yet, I feel it’s going to be new, it’s going to be a piece that interpolates all of my life’s learning and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think it’s going to be a revival. It’s going to be something brand new. I’m hoping our beautiful Songbird has a long life, because more people need to see it.
We need a cast recording by the way.
Yes we do! I’m one hundred percent with you on that.
What’s the latest word on Martin Guerre?
I originated the role and we had aspirations of it coming to Broadway but it just never did, it was one of those things where leadership got shaky and I think there wasn’t an opportune theater opening. I just read that they may revive it again and Cameron might try to bring it over again, but lord knows my teeth are too long to play that role now. I’ll happily pass the torch, but it’s a beautiful piece that needs to be heard.
With the holidays around the corner what songs from A Christmas Story do you find yourself humming around the house?
Aww, I’m so excited that the show is going to be at Paper Mill this year and my dear friend Elena Shaddow will play the part of Mother, I think she will be divine. I’m actually hosting a night at 54 Below for the kids of A Christmas Story, they’re all singing individual songs, and these kids who I met years ago are now young adults and teenagers and I have to be appear as though I haven’t aged, but they are growing up and speeding past all of us (laughs).
What are your favorite Sondheim songs to perform?
Oh that’s a wonderful question! I just did the Baker’s wife from Into the Woods at The Muny, so it’s definitely “Moments in the Woods” right now, cause it’s so rich. I love “What More Do I Need” which I used to sing all the time, and you can never go wrong with “Anyone Can Whistle”, it’s a remarkable anthem that just kills me. It’s so cool to be a woman growing up through his canon because I was young Phyllis in Follies on Broadway, then I was Cinderella in Into the Woods, then the Baker’s Wife. I think I need a shot at Desirée at some point, eventually I’ll be Mrs. Armfeldt, but that’s still a couple of years away (laughs).
Songbird is now playing at 59E59.
