Eppie Lederer was a woman on a mission:
As Ann Landers, she would dispense advice to the heartbroken, the afflicted, the lost.
So you can imagine what kinds of stories the longtime newspaper columnist, who died in 2002, had to tell.
And many are told in David Rambo’s “The Lady With All the Answers,” Live Theatre Workshop’s next offering.
The lady playing the lady in the one-woman show: Lesley Abrams, one of the Old Pueblo’s most accomplished actresses.
“I’m interested in her,” says Abrams. “I figured others might be too.”
The story
The play puts us in the opulent Chicago apartment belonging to Lederer/Landers. She’s preparing to write a book and sort through the years of letters she’s received. Meanwhile, she is putting off writing a letter to her readers explaining she is about to travel a road many of them have been on.
She muses about her interesting life and reads excerpts of favorite letters — actual letters.
“I am a devout Christian with several gold crowns on my teeth,” reads one.
“When I am dead, I would like to will the gold to my sister, who could really use the money. But do you know if after the Resurrection it will be possible for me to have new crowns put in?”
Another: “My husband has been pulling a stunt that embarrasses me to tears. When we have company, he puts on a Tarzan outfit, paints claw marks on himself with lipstick, tucks oak leaves in his hair, grabs a banana and goes up in the tree and waits. When the guests arrive, he starts making chimpanzee noises and swings down on them. …”
The advice columnist had a wicked sense of humor, and you’ll find that overflowing in this play.
Abrams’ take
“When we started rehearsing, I (gave the character) a snide attitude,” says Abrams. That was quickly corrected by the director, Sabian Trout. “She kept reminding me that Ann Landers encounters these people with kindness. I think that’s a great quality in a human being.”
As pastor of St. John on the Desert Presbyterian Church, Abrams has a unique insight to her character: She must know the art of giving advice.
And she greatly admires how Landers did that.
“She’s completely nonjudgemental,” Abrams says. “She gives advice and she loves them all. She’s good and kind to everybody.”
All alone
This one-person play means committing lots of lines to memory for Abrams.
“It’s no small feat to memorize that much and have no one (on stage) to fall back on,” she says.
So how does she do it? “(The character is) telling stories, reading letters, and she’s covering a wide range, so there are lots of natural breaks,” says Abrams. “I broke the script into those beats. And I pray every night.”
When there is a cast with multiple players, they feed off of each other’s energy. “You don’t get that, so right away you have to generate all the energy yourself, and that’s difficult.”
But this play, which has the character speaking directly to the audience, is a bit different.
“The audience participates to a limited degree, so they will provide part of the energy.”
While it’s hard work, there are definite advantages to doing a one-person show.
“It’s a great challenge and it’s fun,” she says. “You are in control the whole time, you learn new things, and you can make nuanced changes during the run without throwing off other actors. Plus, you have the whole backstage to yourself.”
In the end
Abrams embraces what this play says to audiences: “That we human beings are flawed, and that there are great universalities in our struggles and our pain,” she says. “By sharing that through the advice column, we find a safety knowing others are struggling with what you are struggling with. We are all struggling to be the best we can be under all circumstances. I love that about this play.”
