Transcript
of TV Guide Chat, March 9, 2000
TV Guide Online: Tonight we are chatting with Sheena Easton about her special At The Copa.
Welcome Sheena! Thanks for coming.
Easton: It is great to be able to talk with the fans out there and it is great to be able
to speak directly to the people that support me.
Question: Hi! Can you tell us a little about At The Copa because I am not familiar with it?
Thank you.
Easton: It is a brand new show it has been open for 2 months it was written by David Cassidy
and it stars David and myself. It is a fantasy love story that spans 50 years that takes place
in the Copa. David Cassidy plays Johnny Flamingo and I play Ruby Bombay we have a 20 piece big
band on stage and we do many standards and some of our hits. It is a new format. It is a
combination of a Broadway show and a concert performance.
Question: How different is it to be in an ensemble show instead of a solo concert?
Easton: It is very different it is actually more enjoyable on certain levels in the sense
that you have other people to play off of. You are part of a team. That isn't something that
you can do too often as a solo artist. The energy of the rest of the cast helps bring you up
to be at your best. There is a real family atmosphere on the show that you don't get as a solo
artist.
Question: That sounds great how long does the show run for?
Easton: Well, I am going to be in it for a minimum of 1 year. I think the show will be on
for at least 2 years. With any show of that nature it could run for longer, but with the format
of the show I think it could continue to run with different cast members.
Question: Do you ever look over at David Cassidy and just think, "I'm working with KEITH PARTRIDGE"?
Easton: Actually, when I was younger I used to have posters of David around my bedroom. When
I was a teenager he was one of my idols. When I first got the call from him for about the first
five seconds on the phone I was like, oh it is David Cassidy on the phone. I got past that, and
all of that is gone. Now he is like a friend and I know his family and I perform with him every
night once and a while when it gets crazy and all the girls in the audience are screaming I think
to myself, Wow. I am up here doing what all these girls in the audience would love to be doing.
Question: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being in At The Copa?
Easton: Well I guess the most challenging aspect is the same as with Broadway. When you are
doing 8 shows a week you have to be 100 percent on top of your game. You can’t go out to the
audience and tell them you have a headache and ask them to come back tomorrow. You have to
perform every night because this may be the only time the audience gets to see it. You have to
keep your concentration up and remain focused on keeping each show as fresh as the first time
that you did it.
Question: Is it true that you recently adopted a child?
Easton: My kids are 5 and as half and 4 years old. 5 and a half years ago my son was born
so recent doesn’t really fit with that statement. I am a single mom with 2 children and anyone
who has been following me knows that it is a huge part of my life. It is the biggest part of my
life.
Question: Do you have any albums coming out soon?
Easton: I am doing an album right now as we speak. I start vocals on it in about 2 and a half
weeks. Most of the tracks are being recorded in London. The vocals will be recorded in Vegas. It
will be mixed in London and NY and it will probably be released early summer to late fall. There
will be new music on it as well as cover tunes. It will be very upbeat and have a lot of club
music. I hate to use the word disco but very much dance music.
Question: What was it like working with Don Johnson in Miami Vice? And was that your first acting
role?
Easton: That was my first acting role. I got my recording contract when I was in drama school
I had been trained to act but that was my first grown up job. That is really going back. There
have been so many acting jobs since then. It was a really high profile job so there was a lot of
pressure to perform well. I have been lucky, as any time I have performed there has been a very
veteran actor to help me. The first time I did Broadway I worked with Raul Julia. And he really
took me under his wing and helped me a lot. When I worked with Don Johnson he was very helpful
as well. Miami Vice was a huge hit and he was a veteran actor on that show. Not to mention that
he was good looking and a good kisser.
Question: Are you thinking of pursuing any other Broadway roles?
Easton: Well, everytime I commit myself to something, such as Broadway or this usually by
the time it is finished you say that you aren't going to do that for 5 more years. Because it
is year out of your life. I have been offered a lot of projects recently, but many of them
require moving all around the country or moving to Broadway and dragging my kids across the
country. That was the great thing about this when David offered me this in Vegas because I get
the theater feeling and it is only 45 minutes away from my house via plane and my friends come
to visit me every week. And I can go home on my days off and get my business done. It is really
hard to uproot and go to the east coast because I have no family there and I have to relocate
my kids, and there haven’t' been any opportunities that I would want to move cross country for.
But I never want to say that I wouldn't go cross country, but once my kids are in school that
will happen less and less.
Question: Do you consider yourself a singer first and foremost or as an overall performer?
Easton: Well, I have done so many different things now. It has been 20 years. But looking at
my strengths and weaknesses my strength is singing. Although I have been acting for 20 years, it
still get intimidated and there are many roles that I would get intimidated by. But signing I am
not as afraid to try as many new genres. So I guess that my main thing is still being a singer.
Question: How was the experience, working with Prince?
Easton: He is probably one of my favorite producers that I have ever worked with certainly one
of the most spontaneous and creative. He taught me a lot about the songwriting business. He was
very encouraging and very inspiring. I think that most people would say that in our industry he
is one of the most unique talent. He encouraged me a lot to pursue my songwriting.
Question: When you look back on your career--what is most memorable moment?
Easton: Oh God...There are too many. There is not one.
Question: In the future, who would you like to work with?
Easton: There are some many people I would love to work with Luther Vandross...I love his
voice. There are so many singers that I would love to duets with. There are so many new talents
out there that I would love to work with. There is a world of possibilities and people out there
that it is hard to say just any one person. I like to work with people that have strong vocal
abilities. They are the people I get most excited about working with. I don't really get excited
about working with someone in the field of rap, for example
Question: Hi can you tell us some of the things you like to do in your free time?
Easton: Well, being a mom. My non-work time is spent with the kids. I have arranged my life
so that like this show, At the Copa, I work at night so I arrange my days so that I can spend
them with the kids we go to the park. Sometimes it is a big Chucky Cheese day we go to target
and buy Tarzan underwear. My life is very normal. I think that many people think that it is very
different, but it is very normal. I love to go to movies. When I am really stressed out my favorite
thing is to go to the mall and walk around and eat lunch at the food court and have something
really bad for me and then go to a movie and get out when it is getting dark. I always feel very
naughty. It is my favorite way to spend the day. I also have been designing dolls for the Seymour
Mann company. It is my own collection. The Sheena Easton line of dolls is available. It was
launched on QVC in January. They are available in catalogs and in stores so retail as well as on
QVC. It is called the "Angel's Touch" collection and is available now.
Easton: We have been working on them for 3 years but the have just become available. There are
fairies and Angels are the start of the collection but I am working on many ideas, a bunch of
mythological creatures coming down the line.
TV Guide Online: Thank you Sheena for talking with us tonight! We had a great time and look
forward to your upcoming projects.
Easton: It was really great to be able to talk to people I might never get to meet. Someday
I might get to meet you if you come to Las Vegas. Have a good night and take care of yourselves
out there.