But I can share with you the delight of having seen her interact with the University of the Arts would-be actors, musical comedy stars, directors and playwrights a few days before the snow hit.
One of the things I liked most about my stint at Temple University was having access to prominent speakers and talented people who would drop in and lecture students. So I really appreciated an invitation last week from Professor Johnny Hobbs at the University of the Arts to come share in a very special one-on-one interview with Harper, conducted by University of the Arts Theater Arts Director Gene Terruso, for about 100 of his students, as the second installment of the Broad Topic series. Clever title, as the Merriam Theater, down the street from University of the Arts, is on Broad Street (or the Avenue of the Arts).
I love Valerie Harper's down-to-earth approach. Imagine, someone who had had a long run on a wildly popular television series that has become a classic, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, followed by her own popular series, Rhoda, plus stints on Broadway that would make anyone green with envy, announcing her age! "I'm 65," she said matter-of-factly to the adoring students who sat enthralled in the Merriam Theater last week, just before Harper was to transform herself into Golda Meir, the legendary leader of the state of Israel.
Harper was quick to tell the students that no, she herself was not Jewish, even though fans of her television series always assumed she was because of the character she played. So she had to study her way into the mind and times of Golda Meir. She enjoyed sharing her favorite quote from Golda Meir: "We have a secret weapon against the Arabs: no alternatives."
Harper asked the students if they knew about Golda Meir and her position as head of state, and she was pleased when she saw most of them raise their hands.
None of them had even been born when Harper was starring in her two television series in the 1970s, but they had all seen the shows in reruns.
Just because Harper is the only actress in a one-woman show does not mean that she is the only character on stage. In Golda's Balcony, she talks of 40 different "voices."
Young people always want to know how someone "breaks in" to show business. Harper did not disappoint them. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Harper's beginnings in the theater was that she had been trained as a dancer, selected by Michael Kidd, the famous choreographer, for the chorus line of four of his shows on Broadway. Harper served as background for stars like Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason. But when she was offered her fifth chorine role, she bravely turned it down, determined to focus on her acting classes and move into speaking roles instead of dancing.
Harper lectured the students on the perils of smoking, insisting that she fakes it when she carries around Golda's ever-present cigarettes. She warned the students that smoking is bad for their "instrument"- their voice.
And she urged them to keep quitting until it keeps.
Harper spoke with awe of the "alchemy of performing" between the actors and the audience. She also urged the students who wish to become directors to take acting classes as well so they can understand the process.
One of the students asked Harper, "What is an actor's greatest responsibility?" Harper thought for a moment and then replied, "Human responsibility." She said that actors do not give up their citizenship or beliefs.
Modeled after James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio, Broad Topic is a collaborative effort between the Merriam Theater and The University of the Arts. The event is free and open to the public, so try to take advantage of it next time. The experience will also give you a different perspective on the "generation gap" -- a more favorable perspective.
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