"Daddy's Dyin'" Cast Profile: Jan Cohen

"Daddy's Dyin'" cast member Jan Cohen, who plays Mama Wheelis, talks about spirituality, hotels as theatre sets, and being a Badger...

GCP Girl: Tell me about some of your previous shows.

JC: I guess my favorite theatrical moments happened in Kathmandu, Nepal.  We did the Jean Paul Sartre version of "The Trojan Women" in an old Rana palace, complete with barbed wire and flaming torches (the fire dept here would definitely have closed us down).  I played Hecuba and cried every night as I said my beautifully simple but profound lines.  It was very cathartic and wonderful to do with all my dear friends.  Then, I directed "Tamara" there, the play about WWII and the denial of Fascism by poet Gabrielle d'Annunzio.  We did it in yet another hotel, a garden hotel, and the audience follows the story/actor of their choice from room to room.  When we first did a complete run-through and the actors all entered the central room in the middle of the act just on the cue line, we decided that the author was a genius and that also we were blessed by the gods.  My goodness, I loved that show.

GCP Girl: Which do you enjoy performing more, comedy or drama?
JC: As a director or audience member, I always prefer drama.  As an actor, maybe not.  Comedy is harder to do, so there is a bigger challenge.

GCP Girl: Tell me a little bit about your character.

JC: Mama Wheelis is a survivor.  She has had a tough life, but has toughed it out with a sense of humor and a lot of cooking!  Oh, and her religion--she truly believes, but this belief has not gotten in the way of still being able to speak her mind about just about everything!  

GCP Girl: What is your character's catchphrase?

JC: On the positive side, "Bless her/his heart," and on the negative, variations of "Where is my razor strap?"

GCP Girl: Are you anything like your character?

JC: I think I am fairly tough and I do love to laugh, but I would prefer that someone else does the cooking (like a good restaurant), actually.  As to religion, I am a Protestant, married to a Jew, devoted to the Catholic priests I worked with for years in Nepal, and actually have very strong Buddhist leanings.  So, give me a spiritual event, and I will celebrate it!

GCP Girl: This show is about family. Is there anything about this family that reminds you of your own?

JC: A lot!  I would say that makes me sound dysfunctional, except I think most of us have had resonant chords struck by some things that are said and done in this script.

GCP Girl: If you had to be related to one of the characters in the show, who would it be and why?

JC: Harmony--he is genuine and loving, despite the hair, and since he doesn't usually drink, he would never ask me to bring him a beer!  He might even go and get me one instead!  Also, I went to the Univ. of Wisconsin in the late 1960's--enough said.

GCP Girl: Tell me something about yourself you would like everyone to know.

JC: I would kill to play Madame Ranevsky in "The Cherry Orchard," so if there is anyone out there planning to do it, here I am!

Thanks, Jan! Preview is in two days!

xo xo GCP Girl