INTERVIEW: ‘Sexy Laundry’ stars real-life NJ couple
Sexy Laundry, the hit play by Michele Riml, will play April 10-26 at the Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey. The show centers on a couple who is trying to enliven their marriage after 25 years, according to press notes, and this production is a special one because it stars real-life couple Georgette Reilly Timoney and Bill Timoney.
Georgette’s theater work includes everything from The Weir to A Christmas Story, while Bill is known for All My Children and Broadway’s Network. Both actors recently exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox and expanded on what they like about Sexy Laundry, which is directed by Tom Frey. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What do you like about Michele Riml’s play?
GEORGETTE: I like the honesty of Michele’s writing. Only the truth is funny, and Michele captures the humor and struggle around the issues of intimacy and identity as we age in a way that is very relatable.
BILL: What I like about Michele Riml’s wonderful play is that it provides a wonderful evening of entertainment for audiences all over the world! As you know, Sexy Laundry has been one of the most frequently produced plays since its world premiere in Michele’s hometown of Vancouver, Canada (the production that opened in Warsaw, Poland, in 2014 is still running!). This is due to the fact that Michele has found a way to have her characters Alice and Henry connect with the audience members as the couple explore their 25-year marriage in ways that are heart-warming, heart-breaking and hilarious!
Do the challenges and triumphs faced by the couple in the play ring true?
GEORGETTE: Yes. It’s easy to lose your way when you’re focusing on the outside rather than the inside. Truth will triumph — you just have to have the courage and trust to hear it, really hear it, and act accordingly.
BILL: The challenges and triumphs that Alice and Henry face (and sometimes avoid) do indeed ring true. When Georgette and I did a previous production of this play (at Cape May Stage last summer, where we set a record for all-time highest-grossing play in that theater’s 36-year history!), we were often approached by audiences members after the performance who told us, “My wife / husband and I have had those exact same arguments!”
How would you describe your individual characters?
GEORGETTE: Michele has created such a wonderful character in Alice. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to play this complex, driven, funny, intelligent and caring woman who is struggling with the outside reality of becoming more invisible as she ages — and her internal struggle to rekindle the passion in her marriage.
BILL: Henry is a husband, a father, a dedicated provider and an engineer who would prefer not to work as hard on his home life as he’s required to work at the office!
What’s it like to be married in real life and play a married couple on stage?
GEORGETTE: Working with my real-life partner Bill is so much fun! There’s an ease, a trust that’s built-in, which makes it comfortable. But it’s not all smooth sailing. Sometimes the issues or the places you need to go emotionally make it difficult. At the end of the day, you need to leave it there and not bring it home.
BILL: Georgette and I “married late.” I was 44 when we got together, due to the fact that I spent my 20s and 30s chasing acting jobs in NYC and in Los Angeles. We’ve been married 24 years, one year less than Alice and Henry. Sharing the stage with Georgette in this play is the very definition of “bliss.” I proposed marriage to Georgette because I want to be with her, and I’m at my absolute happiest when I’m working with her on plays, movies and animated programs. But Sexy Laundry is the first time we’ve played an actual married couple (other than on several episodes of the cartoon TV series Pokémon, where we voiced the bickering couple of Izzy and Cara on season 12).
How would you describe director Tom Frey?
GEORGETTE: Tom Frey is awesome! He’s an amazing director. He guides you to places that you didn’t know you could reach, and his interpretation of the material is deep and meaningful and funny.
BILL: I have been extremely fortunate in my career to have worked with some remarkable directors — Kenny Leon, Martin Scorsese, Julie Taymor, Ivo van Hove, Sidney Lumet, Frank Oz, Anthony Minghella, Mira Nair, Ang Lee, John Badham, Joyce Chopra, Peter Hedges, etc. I consider Tom Frey their equal. Tom is extraordinarily insightful, communicates with clarity and has a superior level of stagecraft. He is an inspirational director!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sexy Laundry, starring Georgette Reilly Timoney and Bill Timoney, plays April 10-26 at the Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey. Click here for more information and tickets.
