Tony Award-Winner Judy Kaye Shares Lifetime of Acting

Broadway royalty and two-time Tony Award-winner, Judy Kaye, discusses her amazing career and her new musical "Sousatka" headed to Broadway in 2017.

12/5/16 #1926

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Honored to be joined by Judy Kaye, two time Tony Award winning actress. It is great to have you with us. Again, you... You were with us last time? Right. You only had one at the time? Yeah, I think you're right. And the second one is for? Nice work if you can get it. And you can get it if you try. How...? Let me ask you something. I remember interviewing you the first time around, and I had a great time talking to you, cause you're fascinating, you're talented, and you're interesting. You've been doing this for a few years? Yes I have. How many? Next June, I will be a proud member of Actors' Equity for fifty years. No way. Yes way. So the first time, the first big break, I hate that, but it's 1978? '78. Yeah. Okay. You're working with Kevin Kline? Yeah. You were... Judy and I were just talking about this before we got on the air. Madeline Kahn part of it? Yes. She's there? Madeline... Madeline... I was understudying Madeline. Something happens? She's not feeling great? Eh, you step in? Right. You kick butt? Hmm. In my dreams, yeah. What was the...? What was the play? The show? Yeah. On the Twentieth Century. On the Twentieth Century? Right. Which was recently revived by the Roundabout. Yeah. We're not talking about that right now. Okay. So we're talking about you. So you step in, Madeline Kahn's not feeling well? New York Times says what about you? They came back and they liked it. They liked it. They said you were an overnight success. They said you were huge! Something like that. Well I was actually on the front page of the Post. The first time I was, that was the first of two types. I was on the front page of the Post, I didn't murder anyone. That's a good thing. I... yeah, I didn't do, but by the afternoon, I was on the floor of the IRT, so, you know. Yeah. You killed it on stage. People were putting it under the... yes... I had to do it, my producer said "go with it," I'm going with it. Okay. [laughter] So here's the deal. You are now, literally, in that moment, your life changes or no? Oh, completely. How so? Well, from a professional point of view, I mean I had been in the trenches for a long time. You know, I'm at this, I just got my Equity card in 1967. So that means... But you're still... hold on. Yeah. But you're still really young? I'm young. I'm young. Yeah, I was, yeah. In your mid twenties? Put it that way. Yeah, something like that. Something like that? [laughter] And you're still... but you hit it big? I did, in a Broadway sense..."