January 14–21, 1999

20 questions

Petula Clark

Interview by a.d. amorosi

Petula Clark is waiting for you to catch up to her. The singer—notorious for her "nice girl" persona, lengthy live concerts and swinging British hits "Downtown," "Don't Sleep In The Subway" and "This Is My Song" (penned for her by Charlie Chaplin) which sold in excess of 30 million copies—is also a renowned film and stage actress. Along with gigs in Francis Ford Coppola's Finian's Rainbow (with Fred Astaire) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (with Peter O'Toole), she's spent the last 20 years on Broadway, London's West End and in road companies of Blood Brothers, The Sound Of Music and Someone Like You (a musical she wrote with Fay Weldon), as well as doing gigs in Vegas, Atlantic City and concert halls. Now Clark is touring in a meaner-than-usual role, as silent film diva Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. I caught up to her on a snowy day in Kansas City.

You spent your youth divided between film and music, projecting what's considered to be a good girl image. What was your first bit of rebellion?

I wasn't allowed any. I was under contract to the [British film giant] Rank Organization and any signs of rebellion were put down rather quickly. I did have one boyfriend, from Norway, who knew nothing of my stardom. It was all hand-holding stuff, and we did share my first grown-up kiss, upon which I slapped his face. But I remember him literally trying to crawl up the drain pipe of my father's house, only to have the pipe break and he falling heavily to the ground. I didn't experience "normalcy," for a woman anyway, until I had children.

What's the greatest difference between the London of today as opposed to the London of your youth?

That's a funny question because during the whole "Swinging London" thing I was living in Paris and by the time I had had any British hits I had the most enormous career throughout all of Europe.

You couldn't have been too anxious to take on the unsympathetic role of Norma Desmond?

I'd never been asked to play anyone outside of my perceived character. I had seen the show on Broadway with Glenn Close. It never occurred to me that I might play her and quite frankly had no desire to. Several months later I was in London, packing my cases to go on holiday and I got a call from [director] Trevor Nunn. I spent hours with him trying to convince me that I'd be great in the role. I don't know what he was basing all that on but then I realized this is Trevor Nunn, and that he was so confident. He told me to reach inside me so I dug around, finding stuff like envy, hate and fear. I found that VERY liberating [laughs].

It's a pretty demanding role in a pretty dramatic setting. What's the toughest moment to play?

Right before the final "mad" scene… it's a matter of seconds really. But there's all this stuff going on backstage: hairdresser, slipping on all these bracelets. I could bluff her going mad, but I'd rather not so that becomes difficult. Musically she's very difficult, and I don't play it anything like Glenn, Betty Buckley or Elaine Paige. Every woman I've seen do it brings something special.

I know I started the conversation with that swinging '60s question, but aren't you sick to death of people venerating that time, asking those stupid questions?

[Laughs] No, no. I'm not sick of it. There are definitely people who are stuck in the '60s and there are definitely people who think I am and it's just not true. I was performing for a long time before the '60s and I'll be doing exciting interesting things for along time to come.

Sunset Boulevard, starring Petula Clark, runs Tuesday, Jan.19 through Sunday, Jan. 31 at The Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-732-5446. Tickets range from $29.50 to $67.