Kathleen Turner – One Woman Show – Finding My Voice

Dec 27, 2021 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Sue Weston and Susie Rosenbluth – Two Sues on the Aisle

Kathleen Turner’s voice filled Town Hall in New York City and what a powerful voice it was! You might remember her as the voice of Jessica Rabbit, from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it is deep, sensual, and alluringly familiar. For years, Turner has delighted audiences from the stage in the US and England, staring in the Graduate in London as Mrs. Robinson and on Broadway as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? a role her 20-year-old self envisioned achieving by age 50 (and she did). In Finding My voice she boldly tells her story, in a night-club style format, lapsing between stories and songs, showcasing her career successes and personal struggles, a message of determination, grit, and focus.

Kathleen Turner’s one-woman performance Finding My Voice, produced by Ken Davenport, is a rare chance to share an evening with a legend. The show developed in 2017 with Andy Gale and Mark Janas, musical director, launched in 2021.

Turner commands the stage, sharing anecdotes about her career in film, stage, and TV. Her stories are short, pointed, and delivered in a deadpan, her dry sense of humor was disarmingly funny. Though not a traditional vocalist, she uses songs as an interlude to transition between stories. She is keenly attuned to her audience, waiting patiently for the laughter, sharing her views on politics and the pandemic, to a shower of applause. Showing her humanity, by calling her daughter out from the audience after singing “On the Street Where You Live,” a song she sang to her as a child. Turner shows her vulnerability in the choice of songs. “Every Time We Say Goodbye” “I’d Rather Be Sailing,” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon” which provides an understanding of her world ‘it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me’ and her need to connect.  

Success Piled on Top of Success

Turner’s story is the fantasy of all aspiring actors who long to be discovered and catapulted to fame.  She was spotted by director Herbert Blau when she was at Southwest Missouri State University, invited to study at the University of Maryland, and appeared on a TV soap opera, The Doctors. This led to her role in the 1981 thriller Body Heat which launched her career. But there is so much more to the story as Turner shared “I want to take audiences inside my life – about me, my adventures, what I’ve learned and what I believe in. In Finding My Voice, there’s no hiding behind a character, but I really enjoy that.” The 67-year-old reminisces, sharing her drive to succeed and unprecedented desire to avoid being stereotyped, ‘Everyone kept saying Sure, she’s sexy, but can she be funny?’ It’s acting.  

Throughout her career, Turner pushed herself to take risks, a relentless drive that enabled her to reach amazing heights. Her professional accomplishments (which are too long to mention, include two movies Romancing the Stone and Prizzi’s Honor, each of which earned her a Golden Globe Award). 

Commitment Comes with A Price

While it is easy to sit in the audience, starstruck, in awe of her success, Turner provides perspective. She paid a price for her success, which involved personal sacrifice, and long lonely nights. Turner was romanced by the theater and devoted herself to its pursuit. She commented that what most actors don’t understand is that the theater demands eight shows a week which means you can’t do much else. Everything is oriented around that show, you don’t go out, you don’t see friends. Turner says she is energized by theater, it has her working at all cylinders, fully alive.

She discusses her commitment to society, another way she makes her voice heard. Turner serves on the board and as an advocate for Planned Parenthood and is vocal about women’s rights, one of the points the audience applauded. She also shared her work with City Meals on Wheels in NYC, and their ability to provide uninterrupted service during the pandemic.  

Sharing Her Vulnerability

Turner struggled to fit in, growing up as the daughter of a diplomat, she was perennially on the move. She recounts how as a child moving from Canada to Missouri she was embarrassed to discover, as she sang loudly and proudly, that the Canadian national anthem and Star-Spangled Banner had the same tune. Who knew? Born in Springfield, Missouri, Turner lived in Canada, Cuba, and London where she developed a love for theater which grounded her and became her lifelong quest.  

Turner shares her bout with rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating disease that afflicted her in the 1990s and is now in remission, thanks to participation in a clinical trial. Each chapter of her life is punctuated with a song, for this segment, she selected Send in the Clowns. The disease hit at the height of her career, giving the lines, “losing my timing this late in my career” a deeper, more profound meaning.

A Performance to Experience

Being in the audience, knowing you are in the presence of greatness, was an amazing experience. There is a sense of gravitas, as Turner an industry leader, in a profession that leaves little out of the tabloids, tells her story. She quoted Margaret Mead, who reminds us “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  

Finding My Voice, lets Turner empower the audience to follow her lead, reaching higher, trying harder, and making an impact. I walked away from the theater feeling a profound connection, and admiration for a legend, who was not afraid to share her frailties, failures, and drive to do more.

***

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs it pays to buy (rather than make) in order to see the play, show, film, or exhibit being reviewed. 5 Challahs is our highest rating.

Kathleen Turner Finding My Voice received 5 Challahs