I am so excited to catch up with actress Marilu Henner, whom I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing in 2021.

When I heard she was returning to the New York stage, in Sandra Tsing Loh's Madwomen of the West, I wasted no time in trying to get a new interview. I am so grateful she agreed to talk with me a second time.

Marilu is known for starring in the classic TV sitcoms Taxi & Evening Shade as well as over 76 films (including 28 Hallmark movies), 7 Broadway shows, 5 Golden Globe nominations, and being the author of 10 New York Times Best Selling Books.

This time around, Marilu is Baring It All with Call Me Adam about:

• How she got involved with Madwomen of the West
• A time when her opinion was deemed outrageous
• The craziest thing she's done for at audition
• What she still wants to accomplish
• Putting her superhero memory to the test
• So much more

Madwomen of the West takes place at Jules' stunning Brentwood mansion, where hangry (she's sugar-cleansing). Marilyn is throwing a surprise birthday brunch for Claudia, who hates birthdays. Champagne corks pop — and tempers flare — when their long-estranged celebrity friend Zoey crashes the party, fresh from her TED Talks. Expect hilarity, outrageous opinions, and unexpected wisdom about what it means to be a woman (no matter what pronouns you use) in the 21st century.

Madwomen of the West plays at The Actor's Temple in NYC through January 1, 2024. 

**This audio version has been shortened from the original print format. Click here for the FULL interview**

More on Marilu Henner:

Marilu Henner has the energy of a teenager, the wisdom of a sage, and the memory of a superhero. She has done it all: 76 films (including 28 Hallmark), 7 Broadway shows, 2 classic sitcoms (Taxi and Evening Shade), 5 Golden Globe nominations, and the New York Times Best Selling author of ten books on health, parenting, memory, and lifestyle improvement.

Marilu hosted and executive produced two talk shows (Marilu and Shape Up Your Life) and the nationally syndicated radio show, The Marilu Henner Show. She competed on Celebrity Apprentice (2008), Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars (2013), and Dancing with the Stars (2016).

Marilu is one of twelve people documented with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory and was the subject of a five-part special on 60 Minutes and on 60 Minutes Australia and served as the consultant on the CBS series Unforgettable. Marilu has spoken before Congress eleven times (Alzheimer’s, dietary supplements, women’s cardiovascular disease, The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, deadbeat parents), and she contributed to the 2005 and 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Marilu is a keynote speaker for professional organizations, universities, government agencies, interest groups, and corporations on topics including memory, diet and fitness, women’s health issues, cardiovascular disease, cancer survival, child rearing, lifestyle, entertainment, and business organization strategies.

Marilu can be seen in Disney’s Haunted Mansion, indy film Rock & Doris Try to Write a Movie, the Aurora Teagarden prequel, and she can be heard as the English dub in 16 Netflix International projects. She tours the country in Music & Memories with Marilu Henner!

Special Thanks:

• Candi Adams
• Theme Song by Bobby Cronin
• Podcast Logo by Liam O'Donnell
• Edited by Adam Rothenberg

Connect with Me:

Website: www.callmeadam.com

Facebook: @CallMeAdamNYC

Instagram: @CallMeAdamNYC

Mentioned in this episode:

GME (Good Morning Entrepreneurs) Commerical

I want to tell you a personal behind the curtain story that I may not have fully shared here. For the past two years, I have been part of an amazing community built for and by entrepreneurs called My Sexy Business. We have a wonderful weekly live streaming show called GME (Good Morning Entrepreneurs). As an Associate Producer and Roving Reporter, I can easily say this show is for you, the entrepreneur who is in search of community and getting your questions answered. Our Co-Hosts and Roving Reporters share life experiences that will hopefully make you feel less alone on your entrepreneurial journey. We'd love for you to join us every Friday at 8 a. m. Eastern Standard Time at https://www.mysexybusiness.com/gme

Thank you for doing a new interview with me.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

This fall, you are starring in the new off Broadway comedy, Madwomen

of the West by Sandra Tsing Loh.

How did this show find its way to you?

Well, Caroline Aaron has been a really good

friend of mine for a long time.

We played sisters on Broadway in Social Security, directed

by Mike Nichols, I might add.

And, we just became like great friends after that and never

lost contact with one another.

And our kids grew up together.

We do like Easter egg hunts and Christmas things.

And her daughter, Sydney, and my son, Joey, they graduated

from high school together.

So we never lost contact.

We always stayed in touch.

And she did Sandra's play Madwoman in the Volvo and I saw it.

It was fantastic.

And so called me right before the pandemic started or at

the beginning of the pandemic.

And she said, Sandra's written a new play.

She wants to cast four women.

I told her she has to cast you because you're so perfect for this part.

So she's going to call you.

So that's how it all came about.

We were so happy when we got to do it a few months ago at the Odyssey

in California, here in Los Angeles.

And then we got extended because people loved it so much and then all of a sudden,

people wanted us to do it in New York.

So I think it's really just the beginning because it's a fabulous piece of

theatre, and it features four fabulous characters played by four fabulous

actresses, so we're very excited.

And here's the other thing, the show is about four people who went

to college together and were besties.

And three of them have stayed in contact all those years, and one of them went off

to get her fame and fortune and became this international famous person, wellness

and an actress and everything else and she comes back to this brunch that's a

birthday brunch for one of the characters.

That's my character, Zoey, and I come in and I'm like The Cat In The Hat.

Things get crazy and secrets are revealed.

So I've known Caroline forever.

I've known Melanie [Mayron] even longer, because we were in Grease

and Godspell at the same time.

She was in Godspell, I was in Grease.

So those two companies were very familiar with each other and close.

And I helped to find her apartment in New York.

And then Brooke [Adams] I've known forever, as well,

when I moved to Los Angeles.

And Caroline's been close to everybody.

So, I mean, it's like a love fest.

Oh my God.

It's almost like, it's almost like art imitating life in that you all

have this history together and you have the friendship and hopefully not

the drama that comes out in the show.

Oh, well, you know, it's funny with friends who

can fight and love, you'd feel comfortable getting in their space.

You get comfortable with cleaning them up, fixing their

hair, you know what I'm saying?

Oh I love that.

And so what do you relate to most about Zoey?

Well, she was kind of written for me, so her career as an

actress, her career as an author, and a wellness person, tours the country and

does TED Talks and things like that.

And I also relate to her memory because they threw my memory in there too.

And what is it like to have a role written

for you, specifically for you?

Sometimes it's harder to play yourself, but Sandra is so

brilliant in her writing that it just kind of flows, and it's fun.

And, and, and We talk to the audience and the audience talks

back sometimes and that's really fun because we break the fourth wall.

And the whole piece is just so much fun to do, and I think that that reads to

the audience, so they have a great time.

We had so many people that came back, and we felt like we had our little madwomen.

And it's men and women!

Because I think the characters are so well written that you will

recognize yourself or your friends and you'll say, Oh, I'm a Zoey.

Oh, I'm a Claudia.

I'm a Marilyn.

I'm a Jules.

You know, one of the shows that I did forever and ever was, was Grease,

I played Marty in Grease and did the original company in Chicago.

And I think one of the reasons Grease is so successful is that

people recognize themselves.

Everybody's gone to high school, so you recognize yourself in one of

those characters and I think when there's that recognition factor,

the specificity of each character makes people really latch on.

It's not just generic.

It'll be so interesting to see what a New York audience grabs on to.

Like, at one point, somebody says something about Bristol Farms.

One of the characters says to the audience, think Citarella.

So things like that happen throughout the piece.

There are so many surprises that start to happen in the show that

people are always like, Oh my gosh, I didn't see that coming.

According to press notes, it says that audiences

should expect hilarity, outrageous opinions, and unexpected wisdom

about what it means to be a woman.

So what is an opinion you have shared publicly that got deemed as outrageous?

In my very first book, my first health book,

people were outraged that I talked about, being anti dairy products.

And now people say, oh, she was the first person that I ever talked to that

wrote about, or talked about dairy.

I'll tell you something else.

I was on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, talked about people's digestive tracts

and I said on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, floaters, not sinkers, right?

And I'm saying that, they cut it out.

I saw the show after, I said, why'd you say, she said, you can't

talk about poop on television.

And I said Yes, you can.

And then sure enough, years later, Dr.

Oz has whole show's about it.

And when have you received unexpected wisdom in your life?

Well, every day there's something that you learn.

I'm a real student, so I'm always trying to learn from people.

I feel like everybody's a work in progress and you're in the laboratory of your

life, so there's really no bad data.

It's just data.

You can't beat yourself up for, oh, I did this or I did that.

It's like, well, you just went to that experiment.

It didn't work, but that's okay.

Nothing is wasted.

I think you learn that early in your life.

Everything gets used somewhere.

I had such an advantage when I was eight years old.

And I sat in a classroom, and there was a question on the test that asked, How many

pencils are in a score, I thought What?

Pencils in a score?

What's a score?

And then I thought, Oh!

I heard that before.

Four score and seven years ago.

And all of a sudden I went, Oh my gosh!

There are twenty pencils in a score.

And I thought nothing is ever wasted, it's all just connected.

Even as a tiny little girl, I thought every experience

is going to be used somehow.

Because everything is connected to everything.

That's why I say I could walk around this room right now.

And look at your purse, or your wallet, or your gym bag, or anything, and I can tell

you how you're taking care of your health.

Because how you take care of the small things, is usually how you

take care of the bigger things.

Oh my gosh.

Don't come to my apartment.

That is a cool skill.

Between your memory and that, I, I, I mean, what can't you do?

Oh, man.

You don't want me on your team in Pictionary.

My niece and nephew laugh at me because they're 8 and 10 and they just

cannot believe how much I can't draw.

Auntie Lu can do a lot of things,, but she can't draw.

Well, I have a few general questions to ask as well.

So, at this point in your career, do you still have to audition for

parts, or do you get offer only?

Sometimes you want to audition just to see if

you're compatible with people and if you can do the material.

I haven't had to audition for a while for things, but it depends on the project.

And what's something you still want to accomplish

that you have not done yet?

I would still love to create a role on Broadway, I loved doing

Getting the Band Back Together five years ago, and I did have a wonderful song

that I loved, but I want to do something on Broadway where I really get to sing,

because I do my club act now all over the country, and I've done it 40 times

since the pandemic started, and I did it actually, that's three weeks sit down

at Bucks County, and I love doing that.

My voice has gotten stronger, so it's like, put me in coach, I want to do

another musical dance, singing, that kind of thing, originate in a Broadway musical.

Really sink my teeth into something great in a Broadway musical.

Now, since the play is called Madwomen of the West, What do

you feel is the craziest thing you've ever done to prepare for a role or at

an audition, when you did audition?

Oh, I ran into Steve Martin, at a restaurant and Steve

said, what are you doing right now?

And I said, oh, I was in a project and it just fell apart.

They said, we're going to send you a script.

So they sent me a script, and I read it and I thought, Oh,

I'd love to play this part.

She was vegan and she was earthy and everything else.

And I went there dressed really earthy and vegan ish.

And they went, No, no, no.

Would you come back and read Trudy?

And I came back the next day dressed to the nines.

And I worked with my acting teacher, and he said, Okay, Marilu, this

character is a total bitch, and she makes everybody wait for her.

So when you do the reading with Steve, dump your purse out, and take

your time putting everything back.

I thought, really?

And he said, no, do it, just do it.

I thought, okay, I'm listening to you.

So I did it during the audition with Steve.

This is for the movie L.A.

Story and I just took my time and Steve's a great improviser

and I love to improvise.

So we improvised all this dialogue about how much time I was taking

and how we always had to wait for me and blah, blah, blah.

And I'm just like blowing it off like I could care less.

I'm so fabulous.

You just have to wait.

Anyway, not only did I get the part and get a comedy award for it.

But, uh, the improv that we did at the audition, they put in the movie.

So, that's probably the most outrageous that I ever did.

And it paid off.

That's one of my favorite stories, to just take that chance, and

be that character in the moment

. Adam Rothenberg: Oh my gosh, I love it.

Well, I want to end the interview similar to our previous interview

together, where we play with your superhero memory, in which you can

recall every single day of your life.

So, I'm gonna list some dates and I want you to tell me what

you were doing on that day.

So the first one is going to be April 6th, 1962.

So it was my 10th birthday, 1962.

It was a Friday.

You could always get what you wanted for your birthday dinner with the family.

So I remember we got these little lobster tails because I wanted lobster tails.

I was also in rehearsal for a play South Pacific.

My sister was choreographing it for Notre Dame Boys High School.

So I went to rehearsal for that, had our little lobster tail

dinner, and then went to rehearsal that night to do South Pacific.

Wow.

December 25th, 1967, which is my parents wedding anniversary.

December 25th, they got married at Christmas?

They did, yes.

The one advantage of being Jewish.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

So, I remember what I got for Christmas, was, I was obsessed with, Gone With

The Wind at the time, and got a Scarlet O'Hara doll, which I loved and, helped

my mother with the food, it was one of the last Christmases with my father,

because he passed away, years later.

And, so, I remember, I was wearing this, Blue velvety dress.

And the last two I have are.

September 12th, 1978, which was the day that Taxi premiered on TV.

It was a Tuesday.

But I was, with John Travolta at the time, and so we were actually in London,

but then we flew to New Orleans that Friday morning, September 15th, and

all the Taxi guys were there because it was for the Ali vs Spinks fight.

And that night, the show had just premiered, but we walked down the

street and people were honking, going, Louie, Nardo blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I thought, our lives have just changed.

We're on TV, and people are loving our show.

Wow.

The last date is May 23rd, 1994, which was the series finale of Evening Shade.

I had just had my son, Nick.

Nick Lieberman, director of Theatre Camp he was like just,

ten days old, eleven days old.

I was in the throws of motherhood and working on my new Marilu show.

Wow.

So exciting.

All right.

Well, I thank you so much for your time again, Marilu.

I really appreciate it.