IT'S GREAT TO BE A DAME.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer ``What's the vogue? What's the fashion?'' asks Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934 in Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian comedian, satirist and character actor best known for his on-stage and television alter egos , falling easily into the habit of turning his interviewer into the interviewee. ``What are people talking about in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. ?'' The question is, of course, part of a fact-hunting session for Humphries' alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when , the famously badly dressed Dame Edna Everage, who likes to be well-versed on the cities she visits. Dame Edna knows L.A. quite well and may already have gathered the local soil and water for her particular brand of mud-tossing under way at the Shubert Theatre The Shubert Theatre is the name for several current and former theatrical venues: Currently named Shubert Theatre:
What are people talking about? Well, when the question is asked, we're still a few weeks from a Writers Guild settlement, and Colby and Tina are still duking it out somewhere Down Under. Robert Blake Robert Blake may be:
How about the power crisis? ``Yes,'' Humphries nods, turning the idea over. ``The power crisis. Well, Edna will be here to sort of electrify e·lec·tri·fy tr.v. e·lec·tri·fied, e·lec·tri·fy·ing, e·lec·tri·fies 1. To produce electric charge on or in (a conductor). 2. a. the city. We might have the lights dimming a bit during the performance, having them go fainter and fainter. That might be funny.'' You figure Humphries asks the same questions of everyone he meets, from old friends to waiters to ushers. That's how it works on the nine-month Royal Tour of America: Barry Humphries does the research; Dame Edna puts the information to maximum comic use. Along the way, Edna purchases, poses, preens, self-promotes and calls everybody ``possum possum or phalanger Any of several species (family Phalangeridae) of nocturnal, arboreal marsupials of Australia and New Guinea. They are 22–50 in. (55–125 cm) long, including the long prehensile tail, and have woolly fur. .'' On stage, she dispenses gifts, flings imported gladioluses into the audience and banters with the Ednaettes. And she sells tickets. ``The Royal Tour'' had a successful Broadway run in 1999 - collecting a special Tony award - before Humphries decided to take Edna across America. By now, the dishing dame is used to the adulation ad·u·la·tion n. Excessive flattery or admiration. [Middle English adulacioun, from Old French, from Latin ad . Since her first appearance in 1956 during a touring Australian revue, Edna, the Melbourne housewife turned superstar ``managed'' by Humphries, has become an international sensation. Author, game-show hostess, performer, she's even writing an advice column for Vanity Fair. She has appeared on every talk show known to man, except David Letterman's. Humphries figures Letterman's mother is worried that bachelor Letterman ``might capitulate ca·pit·u·late intr.v. ca·pit·u·lat·ed, ca·pit·u·lat·ing, ca·pit·u·lates 1. To surrender under specified conditions; come to terms. 2. To give up all resistance; acquiesce. See Synonyms at yield. to the charms of the Australian mega-star.'' World domination “World conquest” redirects here. For other uses, see World domination (disambiguation). The concept of world domination (sometimes world conquest) has long been a popular theme in both history and fiction. is clearly part of the agenda for the woman Humphries cheerfully calls ``a mixture of Martha Stewart <noinclude></noinclude> Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941) is an American business magnate, author, editor and homemaking advocate. She is also a former stockbroker and fashion model. , Bea Arthur, Joan Rivers Joan Rivers (born June 8, 1933) is an American comedian, actress, talk show host, businesswoman, and celebrity. She is known for her brash manner and loud, raspy voice with a heavy metropolitan New York accent. and Attila the Hun.'' ``Edna would like to have her own talk show because really the guests don't get a word in at all,'' says Humphries. ``She does all the talking.'' On a warm Monday, it is Humphries, not Edna, who is holding court at a Beverly Hills hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel is a hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, at 9641 Sunset Boulevard. It was opened on May 12, 1912 and started by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, who had been managing the Hollywood Hotel. . As quaintly elegant as Edna is gaudy, Humphries nibbles hors d'oeuvres and offers his prediction that the 16-performance run at the Shubert will be the highlight of the tour. ``Whether you like it or not, L.A. is the cultural center of the world,'' says Humphries, 67. ``You may not like to think that the film is the art form of our time, but of course it is, and the people who congregate to make these films, good and bad, are inevitably rather an interesting group of people. Of course, that's not the only thing that happens in L.A. It's just one business.'' Humphries lived in Los Angeles in the early '90s while filming ``Dame Edna's Hollywood'' and other Edna-bles. That was the program in which Dame Edna - as brazen a star hound as you're likely to encounter - sang ``I've Got you, Babe'' with Cher, dunked Larry Hagman into a swimming pool, turned Bea Arthur into a dog groomer and, while running an errand to fetch orange juice for Barry Manilow  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. , returned with Burt Reynolds. During his previous stay, Humphries lived at a house off Coldwater Canyon with a lemon grove and a swimming pool where mountain lions used to come and drink. (``Are there still lemon groves?'' he wonders.) So while Dame Edna condescends to grace the City of Angels with her presence, her manager rather likes it here. ``I like the variety,'' he said. ``You can live in the hills, you can live in the flats, you can live by the sea. Much is accessible in L.A. The tourist just sees Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive and that's it. Disneyland.'' The son of a contractor, Humphries studied law, philosophy and the fine arts at the University of Melbourne
In 2006, Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne 22nd in the world. Because of the drop in ranking, University of Melbourne is currently behind four Asian universities - Beijing University, . During a lengthy stage career in Australia and London, he has played countless roles, including Fagin in the musical ``Oliver!'' Characters like Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, developed during the mid- to late '50s, have made frequent appearances on stage and TV shows, although when it comes to name recognition, nobody out-Ednas Dame Edna. ``I'm very lucky with my job,'' says Humphries, married to Lizzie Spender and a father of four. ``I still do roles in movies, I write books, I'm quite a successful amateur painter, and I kind of do this for fun. I'm not by any means rich, but I'm comfortably off, and I don't need to tour. I could quite easily retire, but I love the job of entertaining people.'' As a child, Humphries occasionally was taken to touring musicals, but it was the comedians who made the biggest impression. A night of vaudeville featuring British comedian Tommy Trinder showed young Barry the direction he would eventually take. ``I didn't understand any of the jokes, but I saw this man on stage and I saw the audience laughing and I thought, 'What a wonderful job,' '' says Humphries, who would later write a part for Trinder in the 1974 film ``Barry Mackenzie Holds His Own.'' ``Today, when I look in an audience and see parents with a child, as often happens ... I'm not the caliber of Tommy Trinder, but this kid is experiencing vaudeville because that's fundamentally what I do. This child is experiencing a kind of theater that doesn't much exist anymore.'' ``DAME EDNA: THE ROYAL TOUR'' Where: Shubert Theatre, 2020 Avenue of the Stars, Century City. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through May 27. Tickets: $30 to $60. Call (800) 447-7400. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Dame Edna Everage, aka Barry Humphries, brings her act to Los Angeles for a 16-performance run at the Shubert Theatre. (2) Humphries calls his chatty chat·ty adj. chat·ti·er, chat·ti·est 1. Inclined to chat; friendly and talkative. 2. Full of or in the style of light informal talk: a chatty letter. alter ego ``a mixture of Martha Stewart, Bea Arthur, Joan Rivers and Attila the Hun.'' Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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