The film version of Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls is considered as one of the worst movies ever made, a camp classic or both. Which makes it perfect fodder for a live reading of the screenplay. This weekend Wilson Cruz will play Neely O’Hara as part of an all-star cast in two readings that serve as benefits for the Alcott Center for Mental Health and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The readings take place on Friday and Saturday at the Renberg Theatre.
O’Hara is an up ‘n’ coming singer whose rise to fame threatens another rising star, Jennifer North, and legendary star on the descent, Helen Lawson. In the midst of it all is a legal secretary, Anne Welles, who falls in love with an attorney Lyon Burke. Pills, alcohol, affairs and more swirl around the characters in both the novel and the film.
Patty Duke played O’Hara in the film. This isn’t Cruz’s first time in the crazy world of actress Neely O’Hara. He first played the part in a reading in 2001. When I spoke last week with Cruz about this new reading, we talked about the appeal of this cult film to audiences, how his perspective on the character has changed in 18 years and what Judy Garland might have been like had she not been fired from the role of Lawson.
What was the experience of doing this reading in 2001 like for you?
It was a wild ride. What I remember most about it is the camaraderie between all the actors. We didn’t expect the response to be as overwhelming as it was. We were just having a good time. There was no expectation. It was a bunch of actors hamming it up. I guess we’ll recreate that sense next week.
Michael Kearns, who played Helen Lawson in that reading, wrote for the LA Weekly in response to an audience of mostly gay mean howling for 90 minutes, “what is so fucking funny?” If he asked you that question, how would you answer?
I didn’t know that’s what he wrote. What was so funny? I think it was just how ridiculous that script is. It’s all of the tropes of Hollywood, the cautionary tales and worst-case scenarios you can think of in one script about Hollywood. For me, it is the outlandish and ridiculous things that come out of these people’s mouths.
You’ve lived a lot of life in the 18 years since you first played Neely. How do you think your approach will be different today than it was then?
It’s funny. I was just thinking about that. When I initially did this reading I remember identifying with the climb, Neely’s climb, this ambition she had. Time has passed and I’ve had a career with its own ups and downs. I can relate with the pressures of staying relevant; being in touch and having your ear to what’s culturally interesting and relevant at this moment as opposed to when you first started your career. The pressures of continuing to work and build a career and the things you are willing to do in order to make that happen. That’s far more interesting to me now than it was nearly 20 years ago.
When were you first exposed to Valley of the Dolls?
I think I saw it as a young gay, when I was a twink. I had older gay friends who were kind of my mentors; who helped me get the lay of the land. I remember there was a series of movies I needed to know of. One was Valley of the Dolls and there was Mommie Dearest. I remember seeing it back then – say early to mid-90s.
Do you think young gays who don’t have mentors as you did are going to miss out on learning about our past, our icons and our history?
I don’t want to be the old gay on high dictating on how to live your life, but I think younger LGBTQ people would find great value in reaching up to older generations and learning a bit about what their experience was. Especially those of us who are still here who can relate a lot of history of how we got to this place where we enjoy the rights we do and why the struggle was so difficult.
Speaking of our icons, Judy Garland was fired from Valley of the Dolls and replaced by Susan Hayward in the role of Helen Lawson. Had Garland done the role how do you think the film would be different?
Well, the songs that Helen Lawson performs might have been better! I don’t know. Hopefully Judy had a good day when she did it. There’s something about Garland’s performances at the end of her life and career that were so raw. They were too raw and too real and too painful to watch. I wonder if she would have added an element of that to the film. It would have been darker and more painful. What’s painful to hear in later recordings is how aware she was of what she missed out on. What that career stole from her. At the end of her life she was not ignorant to that.
Jacqueline Susann thought the film was “a piece of shit.” What do you think her reaction would have been in 2001 or this year to the readings you are doing?
I would hope that she would laugh, right? That she would at least be able to look at it and go, “Okay, it’s not exactly what I intended it to be, but it does serve a purpose in bringing people some joy.” That’s really all we’re trying to do is have a great deal of fun with a great campy classic and raise money for a good cause.
The complete cast of Valley of the Dolls is Steve Bluestein as Ted Casablanca/Claude Cardot; Wilson Cruz as Neely O’Hara; Joely Fisher as Narrator (Fri); Mo Gaffney as Bellamy; Robert Gant as Kevin Gilmore; Tom Lenk as Mel Anderson; Greg Louganis as Tony Polar; Alec Mapa as Anne Wells; Laraine Newman as Narrator (Sat); Sheryl Lee Ralph as Helen Lawson; Gordon Thomson as Lyon Burke; Joan Van Ark as Miriam Polar; Bruce Vilanch as Jennifer North and Marissa Jaret Winokur as Miss Steinberg
For tickets go here.