Diane Miller has been known to employ some courtroom theatrics (in a good way!) to establish the innocence of her clients on General Hospital. Now, her portrayer, Carolyn Hennesy, is sitting down with Soap Hub to talk about a new role in which she’ll employ different kinds of theatrics!
Carolyn Hennesy Hits the Los Angeles Stage
Hennesy is set to star in a Los Angeles stage production of The Secret World of Archy & Mehitabel, which is based on the musings of Evening Sun columnist Don Marquis. The play tells the story of a newspaper columnist known as The Boss, played by Bill Chott (Wizards of Waverly Place), who comes upon a rather large cockroach on his manual typewriter! The insect, known as Archy, is played by Dan Gilvezan (Feud). Hennesy is portraying the role of Mehitabel, Archy’s best friend. The show is directed by former child actor Moosie Drier (The Bob Newhart Show).
Photo by Joselle Celine
Soap Hub: It’s fantastic you’re getting back on stage! How did this come about?
Carolyn Hennesy: My friend, Dan Gilvezan, whom I’ve known forever, is a big fan of the work of Don Marquis and, especially, of The Secret World of Archy and Mehitabel. He’s written this wonderful play based on those works. Dan is playing Archy, the cockroach, who has the soul of a poet. Dan had me in mind for the role of Mehitabel, the alley cat, who once was Cleopatra, or was it Nefertiti, or was it Mary, Queen of Scots, or was it all three? She’s been everything. Of course, I said yes!
Soap Hub: Does working in the faster-than-ever pace of daytime help you when you get back up on stage?
Carolyn Hennesy: Oh, of course. Sure. It comes close a little bit. Having the crew there and actors waiting for their scenes to come up [at GH] is all a play. It’s all a play. Now, having 85 people on opening night and hopefully from then on, it’ll be like getting into a warm bath again.
Photo by Joselle Celine
Soap Hub: This sounds like it could be a big-screen movie. What are the unique challenges in bringing this story to the stage, which is a limited space?
Carolyn Hennesy: It’s a black box. So, we have both the limitation and the freedom of a black box. It’s certainly up to the characters to create everything the audience members will see in their minds.
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Soap Hub: Is that an actor’s dream?
Carolyn Hennesy: It can be. It can also be an actor’s nightmare. We have the luxury of having a film/video screen and tremendous onstage music and wonderful costumes. We’ve got actors who play multiple roles and will do so brilliantly. I’m in the luxurious position of playing only one role — but it’s got to be spot on. We have a tremendous set designer. We are able and we ‘get’ to create everything with the surrounding elements that we have. It’s a character-driven piece. And those characters are poignant, desperate, hilarious, assertive, optimistic, and they’re wonderfully endearing.
The Secret World of Archy & Mehitabel runs September 10 through October 15, with performances every Saturday at 8 pm and one matinee performance on Saturday, September 17 at 3 pm. General admission to all performances is $30. At the matinee only, senior tickets are available for $25, and family packs (two adults and two kids or one adult and three kids) can be purchased for $100. The Secret World of Archy & Mehitabel is appropriate for ages 10 and up.
The Whitefire Theatre is located at 13500 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, CA, 91423. For reservations and information, including up-to-date Covid policies on the day of each performance, call (818) 687-8559 or go to Whitefire Theatre.
General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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