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.