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Thursday September 20, 2007

Actress sees her role as a ‘Golda’ opportunity

By dan pine
staff writer

Camille De Saviola isn’t Jewish, but starring as Golda Meir in “Golda’s Balcony,” she gets to play one of the great Jewish women of all time.

It’s not such a stretch. The Bronx-born actress grew up Catholic with plenty of Jewish teachers and friends, and she says as a child she always wanted to be Jewish.

“Something about the Jewish experience spoke to me,” she recalls. “In this play I get to be Jewish, speak in Hebrew and Yiddish, and address issues that mean something to me: the shape of our world and how we pull out of this tailspin.”

Previews for TheatreWorks’ three-week run of “Golda’s Balcony” begin at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 3. The production is directed by Aaron Davidman, the artistic director of S.F.’s Traveling Jewish Theater.

“Golda’s Balcony” is a one-woman play in which the former Israeli prime minister recounts her turbulent girlhood in Milwaukee, her early Zionist fervor and her life as a key player in the young state of Israel. It’s a tour-de-force vehicle for a seasoned actress, and has been tackled in the past by Valerie Harper and Tovah Feldshuh, who brought the play to ACT in San Francisco two years ago.

De Saviola likes being in that company.

“I spoke with Valerie, who did the tour, and she gave me her working script,” she said. “She was very helpful. But Tovah, Valerie and I are very different women.”

To inhabit her character, De Saviola did her research. Despite Meir’s reputation as a tough cookie, the actress discovered another side to Golda.

“She was a humble woman, no matter what the gifts or success,” says De Saviola. “I looked for the person inside, her family and her mission, and how she balanced them.”

The emotional climax of the play comes as Meir ponders an Israeli response to the bloody Yom Kippur War of 1973. With Arab armies closing in, some advisors urged the prime minister to use nuclear weapons. Agonizing over the decision, Golda ultimately just said no.

“A man would have pushed the button,” De Saviola said. “She held off, waited and waited, took a breath and struggled — and still didn’t push the button.”

Pulling off what is essentially a 50-page monologue can’t be easy for any actress, but De Saviola says she loves a challenge. “I’m drawn to things where there is transformation possible of feelings, ideas and thoughts — even if it’s comedy or a musical.”

She has done plenty of both.

As a kid, she fell in love with musical theater, spurred on by an early infatuation with Judy Garland. As a teen, De Saviola saw Garland in performance, and even had the chance to meet her. “She would invite me to rehearsals,” she recalled. “I once said to her, ‘Judy I have to sing,’ and she said, ‘You should sing. I do this only because I can’t do anything else.’”

De Saviola went on to a life in the theater. Her resume includes roles in “Zorba” and “Ragtime” and Broadway productions of “Chicago,” “Nine” and “Jerry’s Girls.” She’s also been a fixture in film and television, with roles in “Entourage,” “Judging Amy” and “ER” under her belt. She’s also a Woody Allen staple, and has appeared in three of his films.

Though Golda Meir died in 1978, De Saviola believes contemporary audiences have much to learn from the life of the late Israeli prime minister. And not just because the play is something of a history lesson.

“This story is important now,” she said. “If the world could stop objectifying women and take us on as partners, we can work towards something. Testosterone has really done some damage.”

“Golda’s Balcony” plays at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; and at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays from Oct. 3-28, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets: $20-$56. Information: (650) 903-6000 or online at theatreworks.org.

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