Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Show is UP: Lily Tomlin

This was a particularly fun one because interviewing someone like Lily Tomlin is not what one would reasonably expect from a journalistic career in Las Vegas. (Others who fit this bill have included Harvey Fierstein, Maya Lin and Dominick Dunne.) I hope you agree I made the most of it. Click on the date below to make it play or right-click to save it and listen at your leisure. You can subscribe, too, (it's free!) in iTunes or in Zune.

Nov.9: Ungilding Lily

She’s conquered Hollywood and Broadway and won over the hearts everywhere in between so at 70, Lily Tomlin has finally decided it’s time to become a Vegas headliner. For nine nights, from Nov. 10-18, the comedienne brings her cast of famous characters – Ernestine the telephone operator and bratty 5-year-old Edith Ann among them – to the stage. Tomlin explains this hour her illustrious career never before included the Strip and chats with Steve about her roles in Desperate Housewives, West Wing, Damages and the X-Files. Plus, she explains why she walked off the Dick Cavett show in 1972 in a feminist huff and why she and her longtime partner Jane Wagner won’t be getting married.

In Banter: A CityCenter tour, Bette's departure, the WSOP final table, Miles' Oval Office adventures, the disgraceful debasing of The Harmon, a Top Chef viewing party and some we-toldja-so's.

Links to stuff discussed:

Get tickets for Lily Tomlin’s MGM Grand shows Nov 10-18
The Advocate's current piece on Lily Tomlin
Time's 1977 cover on Lily Tomlin
Steve’s blog about the Bartolotta viewing party
The VegasHappensHere.Com post about the marathon WSOP session on Saturday
Steve’s pieces on Phil Ivey, Darvin Moon and the outcome of the WSOP
Links to blog posts about Barry Manilow and Viva Elvis long before both were official
The VegasTripping.Com run-in with Wynncore over Wynncore.Com
VegasTripping.Com's perfect response to Wynncore
The charming letter from Steve Wynn to RateVegas.Com from 2003


1 comments:

Jeff in OKC said...

I found her very nice, and honest. Yet, back in the day, she did take positions that were very controversial and didn't help her career. I think she hurt herself more with her sense of self-importance at the time than by the substance of her political leanings. I have always wondered if she didn't hurt herself with her purportd romance with John Travolta during the making of "Moment by Moment", in 1978. It seemed that the press of the time clearly saw it as a publicity stunt, and gave her little slack because of her actions of the previous 10 years.