[Dixielandjazz] Any Listmates in the Buffalo NY area?

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Notice the mention of ol' dad here.  But, the writer should have used the
word "is" not "was."




The Astonishing Molly Ringwald
by Anthony Chase

Molly Ringwald is rather astonishing. I found it odd that she would be 
starring in
the national tour of the Broadway musical
Sweet Charity
 that rolls into Shea's on Tuesday, but in a very cordial telephone 
conversation,
Miss Ringwald makes it sound like the most logical thing in the world.

"I'd never toured before," she says, "and while my daughter is young enough, 
I was
interested to give it a try."

I quickly realize that I know very little about Molly Ringwald, beyond her 
teenaged
Pretty in Pink
 persona. I know the icon, not the actress. I did see her on Broadway, where 
she
quite bowled me over with her nuanced performance in
Enchanted April
; and I was aware of her turn as Sally Bowles in the revival of
Cabaret
 on Broadway, which I took to be a career anomaly.

Not so, the star explains patiently.
"I started out in music and in theater," she says. "My father was a jazz 
musician
and I first performed with him, singing, when I was three and a half! Then, 
as a
child, I played one of the orphans in the Los Angeles production of
Annie for 15 months. I studied ballet, jazz and tap. I moved into films 
later."

Ah, but the move into films was meteoric. Ringwald was internationally 
famous as
a film star by the age of 13. In 1986 appeared on the cover of Time
magazine: "Ain't She Sweet-teen actress Molly Ringwald," top young actress 
of the
decade. She'd starred in a fast succession of blockbuster movies like
Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink
, making her the veritable Mary Pickford of her generation, a true American 
Sweetheart,
and leader of the Brat Pack.

Other well-regarded films like The Pick Up Artist, Fresh Horses and Betsy's 
Wedding
 followed, but in 1992 Ringwald made an unusual move. She took a break from 
Hollywood
and moved to Paris for four years.
It seems that when Molly Ringwald yearns to try something, she just does. 
How many
of us have fantasized about living in Paris for a while. She did.

"I loved living in Paris. And sometimes I really miss it! It is a beautiful 
city
and there is always so much going on."

Success followed Ringwald in Europe, or to be more precise, it preceded her. 
In 1987,
Jean-Luc Godard, foremost filmmaker of the French New Wave, invited her to 
appear
as Cordelia in his
King Lear. Her other European films include Seven Sundays and
Enfants de Salaud, in which she performed for the first time entirely in 
French.

In terms of classy offbeat work, Ringwald can also count a starring role 
opposite
Jeanne Tripplehorn in Office Killer
, the debut film of Cindy Sherman, leading post-modern photographer and 
co-founder
of Buffalo's Hallwalls.

 In Sweet Charity
, Ringwald will play Charity Hope Valentine, a dance-hall hostess with a 
heart of
gold and a talent for finding really horrible men. The show was written by 
Neil Simon,
Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields and features such Broadway greats as "If My 
Friends
Could See Me Now" and "Big Spender."

Again, Molly Ringwald seems an unlikely choice. This was a role created for 
the great
Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon, who was succeeded in the role by a litany of 
great Broadway
dancers, from Chita Rivera to Donna McKechnie to Debbie Allen to Ann 
Reinking to
Shirley Maclaine who starred in the film.

"Dance is not my strength," concedes Ringwald, who then trumps the 
discussion with
her European background. "But when I think of Charity, I think of the real 
original,
Giulietta Masina, who played the character in the Fellini film
Nights of Cabiria
 on which the musical is based. That is one of my very favorite films. There 
are
many different ways to approach the character."

Life on the road has not been everything Ringwald expected.

"I imagined I would have longer stays in each city. I did not think I'd be 
moving
every week. And I imagined the theaters as more intimate than they have 
been. These
houses are really huge!"

Indeed, Ringwald will perform for mre than 3,000 people when she walks out 
onto the
Shea's stage. Nonetheless, a true theater trouper, she is glad for the 
experience
and enjoys doing the show.

Molly Ringwald will appear as Charity at Shea's Performing Arts Center for 
one week
only, February 6-11. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday 
at 8pm,
Saturday at 2pm and 8pm and Sunday at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are on sale by 
calling
Ticketmaster at 852-5000, online at www.ticketmaster.com, at all 
Ticketmaster Outlet's
and at Shea's Ticket Office.




--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
916/806-9551
www.ringwald.com
--
Leader, The Fulton Street Jazz Band
www.fultonstreetjazz.com
--
The Boondockers (jazz and Comedy)
www.theboondockers.com

In a perfect world, O.J. Simpson would have married Lorena Bobbitt.




--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
916/806-9551
www.ringwald.com
--
Leader, The Fulton Street Jazz Band
www.fultonstreetjazz.com
--
The Boondockers (jazz and Comedy)
www.theboondockers.com

In a perfect world, O.J. Simpson would have married Lorena Bobbitt.