First I called for a cold reading, just in a conference room in Los Angeles with agents and friends, people I trust. It seemed to fly, to have the right elements right from the start. The current version, heading toward arrival on Broadway in March 2001, began three weeks ago in Minneapolis, then two weeks in Boston, and now Pittsburgh. Plummer said it's the aloneness on stage that makes it hard. She just gets phone calls to help her move the portrait along.
Time almost slows down.
The play treats the audience as if they're in Tallulah's home, so Turner gets to work the audience directly. I start the play with more of a Southern accent. Her voice was very like mine, so there's a sense of mimicry. But I stay far away from parody. It's not essential that you even know who Tallulah was.