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Friday November 2, 2007

Dukakis reprises

by dan pine
staff writer

In the one-woman show "Rose," Olympia Dukakis plays a Ukrainian-born Jew who loses her family in the Holocaust and survives the Warsaw Ghetto by hiding in a sewer.

Definitely not something out of her personal experience. To prepare for the role, the Massachusetts-born actress had to dig deep. "The heart of acting is in the transformation," said the 76-year-old, who won a 1987 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Cher’s world-weary mother in "Moonstruck."

"Besides," she joked, "there were places I lived in that felt like a sewer."

"Rose" enjoyed a successful local run earlier this year, with Naomi Newman portraying the title character in Traveling Jewish Theater's production. But it was Dukakis who originated the role in London in 2000. British playwright Martin Sherman ("Bent") created "Rose" with Dukakis in mind.

"When he finished it, he said my face popped into his head. And when I read it I thought, 'I have to do this,'" she recalled. "At the time, I was almost scheduled to play the judge in 'Judging Amy.' But I knew if I didn't do this, I would regret it."

Dukakis premiered the play at London's National Theatre. Seven years later, she has been touring the country staging what she calls "concert readings" of the play. She will make a stop at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco early next month.

Though a fixture in Hollywood and on the New York stage, Dukakis considers San Francisco a second” or maybe third” home. "I come out to ACT all the time," she notes. "I did 'Hecuba' twice, and Gorky's 'Mother.' I'm on the board at ACT, and I teach at the school there. I'm very connected to San Francisco."

Her "Rose" turn here is brief " only two performances " but it works out for the actress, who says the two-hour monologue is intimidating and challenging, even though nearly all the action consists of the title character sitting shiva on a bench. Sherman trimmed 30 minutes, and Dukakis performs the play with script in hand. But the staging includes lighting, props and all the bells and whistles of a typical theater experience.

The story follows 80-year-old Rose through her Ukrainian childhood, a few years of romance in Warsaw, followed by the horrors of the Holocaust and a trip to Palestine on the ill-fated ship Exodus. Act Two has Rose safely ensconced in domestic life as a Miami hotelier. But neither her feminine fire nor her geopolitical ire can be extinguished.

That political element shows itself late in the play, when it is revealed that the shiva Rose honors is not for a family member, but for a Palestinian girl she doesn't even know. The play manages to avoid polemics by focusing on the emotional core of its title character.

"I feel this play like it's in my bones," she said. "[Rose's] take is the take of an outsider. She is constantly surprised, shocked and ruminating about how people behave, what they did and what they said. The play is full of contradictions " she is full of contradictions. Each time, I discover new things."

Dukakis has been delving into character study since launching her acting career 50 years ago. She founded several theater companies on the East Coast, and was an accomplished stage actor when Hollywood came calling. In addition to her memorable role in "Moonstruck," Dukakis drew raves for roles in "Steel Magnolias," the "Look Who's Talking" films, "Away From Her" and the PBS TV series "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City," filmed in San Francisco.

So far in her career, she's played everything from an alcoholic jazz musician to a southern matron. How does a role as a Jewish widow stack up? She's done it before, starring in the 1993 play "The Cemetery Club" alongside Ellen Burstyn and Diane Ladd. But for "Rose," Dukakis had to get her Yiddish on.

"I spent time learning that," she says with a laugh. "I did not have a good Yiddish accent when I started the play. Now I can do it."

"Rose," starring Olympia Dukakis, plays 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10 at the JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. Tickets: $55-$60. Information: (415) 292-1200, or online at www.jccsf.org.

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