TODAY'S POP STARS, TAKE NOTES DEBORAH GIBSON KNOWS HOW TO NAVIGATE THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF FAME.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer `Step into my office,'' says Deborah Gibson as she takes a seat in the back row of UCLA's Freud Playhouse. On stage, workers are assembling what will be the highlands of Scotland, somewhere in the 18th century. The yoga-savvy singer/actress tilts a leg at an impossible angle and bursts into laugher when asked, ``Isn't that painful?'' In fact she laughs quite a bit. She's back on stage, and life is good. When you've made it big while still in your teens and - 20 years later - you've never been the subject of an ``E! True Hollywood Story,'' chances are you're doing something right. Even if you're spending more time on show tunes than pop hits. Especially if you're spending more time on show tunes than pop hits. ``I think I'm one of the happier stories,'' says Gibson. ``People want to see (celebrities) fail and pick themselves back up and keep going. They don't give any credit to the people who actually just keep themselves going on a daily basis, which is very interesting and very difficult.'' Back in the mid- to late 1980s, while other girls her age were gearing up for proms or graduations, the Brooklyn-born Gibson - then known as Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson (born August 31, 1970), is an American singer-songwriter who was a teen pop icon. She was popular in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Her popularity with her dedicated fanbase remains today. - was touring, producing albums and becoming the youngest person to produce, write and sing a No. 1 hit (``Foolish Beat.'') ``I kind of learned my life in reverse,'' says Gibson, who will turn 34 at the end of the month. ``I was employing 100 people at age 17, but I didn't know how to do my own laundry until I was, like, 25. By the time I was 25, I was kind of caught up.'' Gibson has a featured comic role in Lerner and Lowe's ``Brigadoon,'' which opens the 2004-05 Reprise re·prise n. 1. Music a. A repetition of a phrase or verse. b. A return to an original theme. 2. A recurrence or resumption of an action. tr.v. ! season tonight for a two-week run at the Freud. It's the second consecutive Reprise! show for Gibson, who was part of the starry star·ry adj. star·ri·er, star·ri·est 1. Marked or set with stars or starlike objects. 2. Shining or glittering like stars. 3. Shaped like a star. 4. Illuminated by stars; starlit. ``Company'' ensemble The word ensemble can refer to
In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. TV and film work and has found herself doing more live stage instead. Her most recent album, ``Coloured Lights'' is a collection of Broadway tunes, and she's talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Reprise! about ``Skirts,'' the musical she wrote several years ago. She was originally going to play the lead in its film version. Now, if and when it's produced, Gibson would stay behind the scenes. ``I'm supposed to do an independent film project next month, but now there's a theater project that I really want to happen, so I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what's going to happen,'' she says. ``With TV, I've tested for a couple of things and consistently gotten down to the last two or three people for a bunch of projects. I feel like my time is going to come. But again, it's a new area for me. And it's earning your stripes and proving yourself and starting at ground zero.'' By now, she's earned her theater stripes. In 1992, she returned to her theatrical roots to take over the the role of Eponine in the long-running hit, ``Les Miserables'' (which had been the last show she auditioned for at 15 before signing her record deal). She has toured with ``Funny Girl'' and ``Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is the second musical theatre show written by the team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and their first performed. The Likes of Us, written in 1965, was not performed until 2005. ,'' and played Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' long-running production of ``Cabaret'' on Broadway. Mutual friends keyed her into Reprise! - the three-play series that produces scaled-down productions of musicals for two-week runs. With ``Company,'' she auditioned for the dim-bulb stewardess April but instead got Marta, who sings the galloping gal·lop·ing adj. 1. Of or resembling a gallop, especially in rhythm or rapidity. 2. Developing or progressing at an accelerated rate: galloping technology. 3. ``Another Hundred People.'' ``Brigadoon'' casts her as Meg, the love-seeking comic relief comic relief n. A humorous or farcical interlude in a serious literary work or drama, especially a tragedy, intended to relieve the dramatic tension or heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast. who sings a song with rather tricky Adrian Thaws (born January 27, 1968), better known as Tricky, is an English rapper and musician important in the trip hop and British music scene (despite loathing the "trip hop" tag). He is noted for a whispering lyrical style that is half-rapped, half-sung. patter pat·ter 1 v. pat·tered, pat·ter·ing, pat·ters v.intr. 1. To make a quick succession of light soft tapping sounds: Rain pattered steadily against the glass. , ``My Mother's Weddin' Day.'' `` 'McKenna, MacGowan, MacGregor ...' this big long list of names. It's almost like ``Another Hundred People'' was a warm-up for this,'' says Gibson. ``I'm going, 'What is it about Reprise! wanting to give me tongue-twisters?' ``I love playing the belty, brassy, comedic broad,'' she continues, ``and I think the perception of me from years ago, people probably see me as being a little softer in personality.'' Perception is, she admits, a double-edged sword career-wise. On the one hand, Gibson's name still sells tickets. At the same time, there are directors and casting directors out there who, upon hearing her name proposed, reject the possibility outright. ``They don't get it, and they never want to give me any kind of respect,'' says Gibson. ``It's just interesting, because it's starting to turn a little bit for me, I'm being considered for more serious theater projects. Which is nice.'' ``We've talked about that a lot,'' adds ``Brigadoon'' director Stuart Ross Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor. Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. . ``I've gotten used to looking at those people who are pigeonholed and saying, 'Let's see.' I've always liked Deb and her spirit. She'll just keep going, and more people will realize it. She won't be replacing people in Broadway shows anymore. People will be thinking of her to create roles. I know I will.'' Ross noted a moment that exemplified Gibson's can-do spirit during the final week of rehearsals. It was the end of a lengthy day, and Ross needed to work with the off-stage chorus. Principal actors weren't needed, Ross said, even though it would help to have the extra voices. And Gibson, unasked un·asked adj. 1. Not asked: Several unasked questions remain. 2. Not invited: Unasked guests arrived at the party. 3. , was among the helpers. ``Deb just sat there on the floor with the rest of the cast and the ensemble for hours,'' Ross recalls. ``Nobody knew she was doing it. I just watched it, and my tiredness went away. If I hadn't been knocked over before, that did it.'' Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com BRIGADOON Where: Freud Playhouse, UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , Westwood. When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; through Aug. 29. Tickets: $60 to $65. Call (310) 825-2101. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Yes, there is life after teen-pop stardom star·dom n. 1. The status of a performer or entertainer acknowledged as a star. 2. Star performers considered as a group. . Just ask Deborah Gibson, who's doing plenty of stage work and is now looking for TV and movie roles. She is starring in ``Brigadoon,'' part of the Reprise! series at UCLA. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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