Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2007)
36 lUStiOUt MAY 18. 2007 eatingout eatingout eatingout eatingout Funny Honey Chicago star Rinna is a winna PORTLAND’S EASTSIDE DINING & SPIRITS I eaturing music and video'. on flat screen plasma monitors Extended menu including Lite night hours Saturday & Sunday 9am to 2am Saturday Breakfast 9 am Sunday Brunch 9-3® am 503-230 7980-2913 SE Stark w wu. s t a r ky s. c o tn • vegetarian & vegan haven • breakfast, lunch & dinner everyday t’s kind of hard to take Lisa Rinna seriously. With her bright eyes, bee-stung lips and impossibly tiny waist, she ltx>ks like one of the Brat: dolls come to life. But the Medford native, who catapulted to fame in 2006 on Dancing with the S uits , has a steely determination that’s led to her dreams. Now she’s on her way to Broadway, where she’ll star as Roxie Hart in Chicago opposite heartthrob husband Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law, Making Love). But first, Lisa comes to Portland for a week of performances. 1 recently sat down with the beauty and Human Rights Campaign supporter. Floyd Sklaver: Who are you modeling Roxie Hart after? Lisa Rinna: No one, because I think the beauty of Roxie Hart is she’s a woman who’s childlike.. .and she wants to he famous. Now I think 1 certainly have that in me. • cocktails • outdoor patio • bocce ball • free wi-fi www.vita-cafe.com 505.535.8255 5024 NE Alberta SUNDAY BRUNCH 9 am -3 pm DJS 10AM-2PM FS: You’re from Medford. Did you ever get to meet Ginger Rogers? LR: No, but we’d go down that Rogue River and we would look at her house and be like, “Oh my G<xl, that’s where Ginger lived.” FS: Have you seen her in the movie? | Rogers played Roxie in the 1942 movie that inspired Chicago. | LR: I haven’t seen it. Harry watched it and the funny thing is...it’s all full circle...one of my old est friends from L.A., her grandfather, William Wellman, directed the movie.... So I will watch it. FS: Any shout-outs for former friends or teachers? feel good music torfeel good people every Sunday >»>> 1400 se morrison FS: That was pretty hot. LR: Yeah. 1 transformed during that dance.... I really messed up my steps and 1 got really pissed off thinking, God damn it, I’m not going to let [the judges) he hard on me, I’m not gonna fuck up. And so something like came through my bcxly and 1 just went whoosh, and that changed everything, because 1 danced out of body, like I had an out-of- body experience. FS: You did the reality show Tease w ith Coby Archa, the very bitchy, very funny and very gay member of Survivor: Palau. What was he like? LR: I love a gixxl gay man.... 1 always have me a g<x>d gay best friend. Always have, since 1 was in seventh grade. One of my best friends was gay; he didn’t know it yet, but he was.... The gays tend to love me, so I love them back. Floyd dances with the star. Mon-Fri 6 am to 2:30 pm Sat-Sun 7 am to 3 pm (503) 287-4750 FS: Let’s talk about Dancing with the Stars. Which was your favorite dance and why? LR: Probably the pasodoble. FS: Speaking of bodies, what did you do to get those killer abs, especially after two children and being over 40? LR: Did Dancing with the Stars. Period.... Some times I’m like, G<xl damn it, I don’t want to live up to this, 1 want to just let it go, but I’m too vain. A mazingly Great Breakfast And Lunch 1801 NE Broadway FS: How so? LR: Well, I think adversity teaches us much more than being given things.... My path has been about working hard and being told “no" as opposed to being told “yes," which is exactly what Roxie Hart’s about. Her dream was to have her own act in vaudeville, and everyone told her no, no, no, no, no. So there are a lot of similarities there. LR: You know who I want to shout out to? My two teachers that taught drama at University of Oregon in 1981. My first experience knowing gay men, actually.... They wouldn’t put me in Acting 2, so I quit schixil. FS: Why wouldn’t they put you in Acting 2? LR: Obviously I wasn’t gixxl enough. So now I'll shout (Hit to them and say, hey, y’know, tenaci ty, it paid off...'cause I wouldn’t be sitting here tixlay probably if it wasn’t for them. FS: Why do you think that is? LR: Well, ’cause I’m married to Harry. Let’s face it. It has nothing to do with me. It’s ’cause I married Harry Hamlin and they all want him. FS: Well, you have a wonderful personality. LR: I’m silly, aren’t 1? FS: Yes, but also Out Going. • Portland Opera’s Broadway Across America presents C hicago May 29 to June 3 at Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St. Tickets are $23-$68 from Ticketmaster. F loyd S klaver wants to know about your event. E'mail him at floydsklaver@comcast.net.
