Poised and peaceful
You might expect D.C.’s reputation for stiffness and self-importance to be a poor match for actress-writer Carrie Fisher, with her famously sardonic, dry wit. But that’s hardly the case, said Fisher, who’s about halfway through her run at the Lincoln Theatre in Arena Stage’s “Wishful Drinking,” her one-woman autobiographical show.
“It’s a lot calmer” here than in Los Angeles, she said. While there are some surface similarities between the two cities, Washington “seems kind of poised and peaceful,” while L.A. remains “a lot more about looks and fashion — an empire of vapidity.”
Indeed, she said, after performing the show in seven cities, Washington is among her favorites: “The crowd is fantastic; they give me ovations every night. They participate very much.”
Indeed, the entire first row ends up participating in one way or another. She’s gotten questions about her friend, Republican consultant Gregory Stevens, who died in her bed three years ago. But her favorite moment in our city so far is when a 76-year-old man volunteered to come up on stage to play with her Princess Leia love doll.
She said the show’s evolved over the two years she’s been performing it. “As my life evolves, the show evolves,” she said. “It’s probably become more intimate; it’s become more political.”
She’s added references to John McCain and Sarah Palin. She also likes to disclose that she’s gotten an “invite to a mental hospital,” before asking if anyone in the audience has. “It’s a very exclusive invitation. It’s like an invitation to the White House — only you meet a better class of people at the mental hospital.”
Hopefully after November, she notes, that joke “won’t be as vital.” She’s backed Barack Obama from the beginning, and has taken to worrying about the race of late. “I hope that when the Sarah Palin stuff dies down that people will be able to see more of who she is than what she looks like,” she said.
We also couldn’t resist asking: Is she more proud or frustrated that she’ll always be best known for her role in “Star Wars”? “It’s probably a combination,” she said. “But it’s ridiculous to get frustrated about something that’s an absolute.”
