Posted on: Friday, May 11, 2001

Stage Scene
Audience gets in the act with Carol Burnett

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Carol Burnett may be featured in a one-woman show, but she says dialogue exists between the audience members and herself. Impromptu questions from the audience will shape Saturday night's show, titled "Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett." Gannett News Service • Carol Burnett • Birthdate: April 26, 1933 • Birthplace: Austin, Texas • Key TV credit: "The Carol Burnett Show," on CBS-TV, 1967-79 (later syndicated as "Carol Burnett and Friends") • Claim to fame: Elastic-faced comedian who sings. • Education: Hollywood High, Los Angeles; University of California-Los Angeles (majored in journalism and theater arts) • Awards: Six Emmy Awards, five Golden Globes, nine People's Choice Awards, a Peabody Award and a Cable Ace Award. • Notable quote: "Comedy is tragedy plus time." • Recent Broadway credits: Stephen Sondheim musical review "Putting It Together" and the farcical "Moon Over Buffalo" (for which she was nominated for a Tony). • Next up: A comedy-drama, "Hollywood Arms," which she co-wrote with daughter Carrie Hamilton.

Carol Burnett is a firm believer in taking risks and respecting her audience.

That combination fuels her convivial one-woman show, "Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett," in which impromptu questions from the house shape the evening.

"That's always the most fun, when you talk to the people," said Burnett, 68, in a long-distance conversation from her Los Angeles base, about the show she's bringing to the Hawai'i Theatre Saturday.

"It's total honesty and I've been doing this, off and on, for the past seven or eight years. You never know what will happen, you're always flying by the seat of your pants without a safety net. But that's the challenge, and you're only as good as the questions you're asked. So really, it's a dialogue, between audience members and me, not a one-woman show."

In a sense, it's a kickback to a popular feature of her 11-year "The Carol Burnett Show" on CBS-TV, where she would field questions from the gallery of viewers. Simple talk would evolve into refreshing, revealing entertainment.

It's an art form Burnett didn't invent, but certainly one on which she has put her stamp. Talk to her and you are taken by her wit, warmth and gift of gab. She also shares her keen sense of what's funny, and it explains, in part, why she remains a legendary figure on television, stage and screen.

"Over the years, I've never really had an embarrassing question — the crowds are pretty classy — but I recall an instance when I was a little embarrassed," she said.

At a show in eastern Pennsylvania, a man in the audience raised his hand and announced it was his 25th birthday. "He asked if could he get a birthday kiss," Burnett said. "I had the whole audience sing 'Happy Birthday' and he came up for a kiss. About 10 minutes later, I called on another man in the audience, who said, 'It's my birthday, too; I'm 40 and in love with you and I'd like to get a birthday kiss, too.'"

She got him on stage and drilled him. "He was in a suit and tie, was very nice-looking and I asked him what his name was. He told me it was Bob and I asked him, 'Bob, ever think in terms of an older woman?' and 'Are you involved (with someone)?' He looked down at his shoes and said, 'Yes, I am,' and he said he was a priest. I immediately said, 'Father, forgive me, for I have sinned,' and it just was a wonderfully funny moment. The honesty of it, and no, it was not scripted."

She trusts her audiences for guidance. "They tell you if it's funny and they're never wrong. If they don't laugh, they're right; it's not funny. Writers could never tell you that," she said.

"I've seen her show and it's fabulous," said Jim Nabors, her long-time pal, who is an Island resident. He's also been her good-luck charm, always appearing on the first telecast of each of her 11 seasons on the air. "When I talk about Carol, I don't think of her talent, which is abundant, because she's like family, like my sister. We talk about family things; we have so much history together; we play catch-up."

Burnett, Nabors said, is driven to work, much like other enduring performers who also are his friends — actresses such as Florence Henderson and Debbie Reynolds. "These are my buddies, who've been with me my entire career," said the man most TV fans still embrace as Gomer Pyle, from his 1960s sitcom. "These are the hardest-working people I know. Years ago, I discovered that people in our industry who wear well year after year are the ones who work the hardest and never take fame for granted. Their work is their life. And Carol is one of these tireless workers."

Burnett misses her weekly variety TV show mostly because she yearns for the fun she had with her cast. "I would love to see Harvey (Korman), Tim (Conway) or Vicki (Lawrence), only to see what would happen in today's world. So many things triggered our sketches." With her penchant for satire (she made fun of political figures such as Queen Elizabeth, and hit films of the day), "The Carol Burnett Show" was the "Saturday Night Live" of its time — bold, relevant, hard-hitting and hilarious.

Syndication of her vintage programs, depicting her comic timing, her vocalizing and her stable of co-stars (including Lyle Waggoner and Dick Van Dyke), is reaching a new, diverse audience, Burnett said.

"The show was syndicated 30 years ago and originally was a half-hour version with no music because of difficulty with the musicians union," she said. "But now that we have videos out on the original shows, people have discovered that some of us sing; but if kids stop me, I know they've seen me in 'Annie.'" She portrayed Miss Hannigan in the movie version.

Burnett never worried about total perfection on her show: "Oh, we always tried to get it right, but there was always spontaneity in what we did, often with unintended laughs. Nowadays, shows are taped and retaped; to do 22 minutes, some shows take five hours, so you get a different audience each hour because people watching get bored or hungry. Why bother having an audience if you operate this way?"

She laments the status of conversation on TV these days; "I usually don't plug in to the shows because they don't discuss many issues anymore; guests are usually only plugging their books or their movies."

Not one to rest on her laurels, Burnett is particularly thrilled about her next venture, a Broadway-bound comedy-drama she co-wrote with daughter Carrie Hamilton, which upholds family values and offers hearty old-fashioned laughs.

"It's called 'Hollywood Arms,' which is the name of an apartment building," Burnett said. "It takes place in the '40s and '50s, and is based on my family, covering three generations. Hal Prince has expressed an interest (to direct)."

She said Broadway, which often is afraid to take risks, has gambled and won on Mel Brooks' hot new hit, "The Producers," based on his 1968 film comedy.