NR:  Let’s talk about Seussical. A lot of people don’t know that much about it, or we don’t completely understand what it’s going to be. Can you explain it?

MP:  It’s so joyous. Like Cabaret and Crazy For You, the team assembled, from the top ... when I did Cabaret, it just was stimulating, every second, to be in the room with that team. The two workshops that I’ve done of Seussical, it’s the very same thing. You have Steve Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens and Frank Galati and Kathleen Marshall who are like children. It’s like playing. It’s totally joyous. I can’t wait!

NR:  Is there a story?

Michele's costume for "Seussical"

MP:  Oh, yeah. I hope I say this correctly. The Cat in the Hat acts loosely as a narrator character. The story sort of follows Horton the Elephant and the way it works is that they have thrown several of the Dr. Seuss stories into the same sort of forest.

NR:  Sort of like Into the Woods?

MP:  In a way. Horton takes you through these various tales.

NR:  I take it that this is something that the whole family will enjoy?

MP:  Oh, yes. We did a couple of presentations in which there were kids there and I think the beautiful part about it is that kids get it on one level - it’s animated, it’s colorful, it’s bright. They recognize some of the characters, and when I say recognize, we didn’t have any costumes or sets or anything - they recognized the animated cells of them. Adults are weeping by the end of it because a) we remember those stories either as kids or we read them to children, and b) when you watch them again as adults you notice how far we’ve gotten from those simple truths that he told. If you’ve not read those books lately - they’re amazing. The Star-bellied and Plain-bellied Sneetches and The Butter Battle - he told these tales in the simplest, truest forms and by the end of Seussical you think, “Oh, my God. How simple and pure and true life should be, and how far sometimes we get away from it.”

NR:  When I saw the remake of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, people brought their kids and their kids didn’t really understand a lot of it. But you’re saying that’s not going to be the case? The kids will definitely get it also?

MP:  Oh, gosh, yes. With Kathleen choreographing it has almost a seamless flow through it. It’s more animated, (and I don’t mean animated in a “cartoony” way), than Charlie Brown was.

NR:  What kind of costumes are you going to have?

MP:  I don’t know. I have a fitting tomorrow as a matter of fact. Catherine Zuber is doing them and I had the extreme pleasure of working with her on Triumph of Love. She’s so colorful and I’m sure she’s going to do something wonderful.

NR:  You’re Mayzie Bird, right? That’s the one who leaves the egg and takes off.

MP:  Yeah, can you imagine? I’m the one who just gave birth. I did this entire musical throughout my pregnancy. I was pregnant right at the beginning of it, and I’m the one that’s the bad mother! Go figure. She doesn’t want to sit on her egg so she gives it to Horton.

NR:  So you could have feathers. Who knows? Hopefully you won’t have a mask over your face.

MP:  If they’re staying true to what they had talked about earlier, they want to keep it as simple as possible, with suggestions instead of full-scale masks. It won’t be like Lion King with heads.

NR:  Tell me about being a working mother. I know you’ve taken all this time out. How do you think this is going to be?

MP:  You know, I hesitate to even say this because you’re going to print this in your interview. I always thought I’d want to work and be a mom and do all that stuff, but now, having this baby for four months, I could care less if I ever work again! I’m so thrilled that the thing I have to go back to is Seussical because my son is such a part of it. We did his baby room in Seuss characters. We painted them on the wall. I’m thrilled it’s that, but I don’t know. It’s going to be great, I’m sure.

NR:  I can tell you, as a working mom, it’s a little bit of both.

MP:  Everybody says it to you, and you know it’s true, but you don’t really know until it happens to you - how your life really changes, and how important that part of your life is. I’m really lucky in this piece in that it’s not a demanding part which is nice. It’s joyous and it’s not like Cabaret where I’m going to be drained. I was really drained by that, as great as it was. And I am also planning on having him at the theater with me. The baby’s become my first priority and I’ll make my work sort of work around it.

NR:  It’s interesting that you’re going to do that. I wonder if someone has a baby really young, then maybe they regret things they didn’t get to do.

MP:  Yeah, maybe. Maybe there is something to that - being really ready for it and wanting and allowing your life to really change like that.

NR:  Now, you’ve done all of these roles for all of these years, and all of these TV shows, and all of these movies, and I did a search on the Internet but I had trouble finding you. You’re known in theater circles, but you don’t seem to be known outside of them. Does that bother you?

MP:  No. It’s all relative I think. It’s funny. I’ve worked with some movie stars like Ronnie Rifkin, who’s a fantastic actor, and is able to do both. Also Natasha (Richardson) and Jennifer Jason Leigh. This sort of comes with age, but it’s still such an eye-opener when you look at the problems that they’re having in their careers and the things that they’re trying to attain. They’re basically the same things, only on a different level. They deal with the same garbage. They come up with the same problems. They get told one thing and get screwed just like I do - but of course on a much larger scale. Their stuff is much higher profile. So, does it bother me? No. But also they can pick and choose, which is such a luxury. A lot of the time they can instigate projects. If I wanted to do a revival of a musical, I don’t think anybody’s going to throw two million dollars at me. But if they wanted to do something ... . it goes both ways.

NR:  It’s not an overriding goal in your life?

MP:  No.

NR:  Good for you.

MP:  I don’t really care. I feel really lucky to work and to make a living at what I really, really love to do.

NR:  Do you have any role you’d still like to do? Suppose you get through Seussical and it’s been a wonderful experience. What would you like to do after that?

MP:  I’d like to continue to work with people that are really challenging and inspiring. I’ll go see something and I’ll think, “I want to do that! I want to be in that!” It’s funny, when you get older, there are some parts you think, “I’m too old. I never did that part and now it’s passed me by.” There are some parts that maybe in regional theater I’ll get to do.

NR:  (laughing) Carolee (Carmello) said the exact same thing to me.

MP:  It’s funny. About three or four years ago I got a call from Paul Blake, who runs The Muni in St. Louis. It’s a ten thousand seat outdoor theater. He called me and said, “Darling, I’m doing a production of A Chorus Line and I want to know if you want to play Sheila.” I was 35 at the time. I knew I could do it. It’s a role I’ve always wanted to do, in a show I’ve always wanted to do but thought I’ll never get to do it at this point. I said, “Paul, but Sheila - the whole plot is about her turning 30.” He said to me, “Darling, at The Muni you can play 25! There are ten thousand seats!” So, I did it. So, there are parts like that. I want to do 110 in the Shade. I don’t know. I like to work with my sweetheart, John. I’d like to do something with him.

NR:  Have you worked together?

with John Dossett in "Hello Again"

MP:  We met doing Hello Again at Lincoln Center. I’d like to work with him again.

NR:  That would be great. I hope you get the opportunity. Thanks so much, Michele, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in Seussical.

MP:  You’re welcome.

Things seem to be going right for Michele these days. “Joyous” is a word she uses often and I believe it describes her attitude toward life. She’s very happily embarking on a new and exciting project with the added bonus of discovering the joys of being a new mother. I sincerely wish her the best in both of her new roles - Mayzie and Mom.

Learn more abuot Michele at her website: http://www.michelepawk.com/