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By Nicki Gostin
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Dame Edna Everage, the alter ego of Australian comic Barry Humphries, is back. For the uninitiated, Dame Edna is an outlandish housewife dressed in garish regalia, a "gigastar" in her own mind, who mercilessly skewers celebrities, politicians and class-consciousness--and ends every show by tossing flowers at the audience. And four years after her first Tony-winning turn, she (or is it he? Pronouns pose a pesky problem when writing about a renowned female impersonator) has just returned to Broadway in a one-man show called "Back With a Vengeance."
Created nearly 50 years ago in Melbourne, Humphries's Dame Edna is a widow--her husband, Norm, died of prostate problems--and has three children including her favorite, Kenny, who has a devoted following all his own among gay men who have dubbed themselves "Friends of Kenny." Dame Edna's talk show has recently been released in a three-DVD collection. The new Broadway outing is vintage Edna, too. Unsuspecting souls are plucked from the first few rows and subjected to cross-examination, marriage counseling and whatever else is on Edna's wicked mind. So, theatergoers, be warned! Dame Edna, for her part, was privy to no such caveat before having the tables turned on her by NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: When did you start performing?
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Dame Edna Everage: Do you know next year it'll be 50 years on the stage. Fifty years of throwing gladioli at grateful patrons. It started with a little show I wrote about the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, and I never thought I'd still be doing it in New York. Did you know that they have discovered that Australia and Manhattan were joined in the Jurassic period? In Central Park they found fossils of women that looked exactly like me. Strange aboriginal wall paintings of beings wearing rather elaborate glasses and holding in their hands objects which can only be gladioli.
What do you say to audience members who may be scared to become part of the show?
There's nothing scary because anyone I spot in the audience that I involve in a caring way is pathetically grateful later. I still get letters from people that I chose years and years ago. I prefer to say I empower them.
You also pick a married couple and offer marital counseling.
Well, I do it so well. People think they're even planted in the audience, but I'd never do that. I've found I have skills as a counselor. Couples on the brink of divorce are reunited because of me.
Has anyone ever refused to come up on stage?
Once or twice, and it's never their fault. It's because I might be a little bit tired or overworked or worried about a family member. I briefly lose my magnetic power, my hypnotic tug, because I do have that gift. I can mesmerize an audience. It scares me a little bit because I can use my powers for evil, but I use them only for good.
Any celebs come to see the show?
Sarah Jessica Parker. Barbara Walters. Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, a couple I brought together. I was on "Ally McBeal" as a guest, and I thought Calista looked lonely. Harrison does a lot of handiwork around my home in Los Angeles--he's a carpenter. He was making some bookshelves and he was bending over and his jeans came down a little bit low and I saw the carpenters crack and I thought Calista might be entertained by that. I mentioned it to her, and the rest is history. Celebrities come backstage and I get them to sign my book, which I later auction off for charity. Mostly prostate-related charities. I've had an interest in the prostate ever since my late husband had a problem with his waterworks. I'm also moving into the deviated septum. It's a neglected complaint. It's very unpleasant, and I want to try and inaugurate Deviated Septum Day.
Was it hard leaving your family in Australia to become a superstar?
I had to abandon them, and I recommend it. The abandonment of family is the first step towards selfhood, and selfhood is what I stand for.
What do you do in your spare time in New York?
I do all the traditional things. I've got rather a lot of high-society friends. I walk daily in Central Park. I just wear that headscarf that the queen gave me. I never get recognized because of the anonymity conferred on me by that horrible little square of polyester.
Does it bother you when people ask you about your "manager," Barry Humphries?
Well, it does a bit because he's never here, and he never helps me. He just takes his percentage. Above all, what annoys me is when people don't hint, they state that he is the same person. That's a big insult to a woman. They can't accept a high female achiever. They have to assume it's really a man.
You must have a lot in common with Condoleezza Rice.
I think I've got more of a sense of humor than her.
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