INTERVIEW WITH THE ONE AND ONLY VALERIE FAGAN!

Val as Mary Poppins- Practically Perfect in everyway. (Photos by Maryann Lopinto)

On her phone- Photo by Maryann Lopinto.

I have been seeing Valerie Fagan for the past several years in Forbidden Broadway, the recent Drama Desk winner for best Revue. I hope to do a video interview in the near future as Val is one of my favorite performers!

Interview with Val Fagan;


Corine Cohen: Hi, Val. It is pretty funny that they have you listed as Val Fag on Broadway world. Hopefully, they will change it when this article is published. (Not that there is anything wrong with that but your name is FAGAN! They could make a skit out of that next season! I hear that you are out this summer because you are in something else. What are you in this Summer?

Val Fagan: (I know! I hope they change it soon….it’s so wrong!) Yeah, in March I was offered two shows. The first was “The Producers” at North Shore Music Theatre (I just finished it a couple of weeks ago.) The next show this summer is called “Basement Church Ladies.” (It’s a hilarious musical where I play a 1960’s housewife who’s desperately trying to become the head cook in a small Minnesota church.) I really miss my FB family though. I just needed to take a little break this summer. ;)

Corine Cohen: I am sure they will miss you, I know I will! Tell me, you are hysterical as "Merman" in Forbidden Broadway. You are so spot on, is that your favorite character in FB?

Val Fagan: Yes, by far! You know what I love about Ethel? She was so open “What you saw was what you got.” She was so lovably real. Of course she had “star quality” and that amazing voice But, when you got right down to it, she just seemed like such a great gal, you know? I think if she were alive today, we would see her gabbing on “The View,” belting out a few numbers during the commercial break and giving Elizabeth Hasselbeck a piece of her mind when the camera came back on.

Corine Cohen: She went to school with my Grandma and I would have loved to see that VIEW Episode!![ I also love your impersonation of Lea Michele in "Spring Awakening" and you kill me in that number! If you could be in any Broadway show which would it be and why?

Valerie Fagan: I loved meeting Lea after the show. She is so cute and tiny. She came to Rude Awakening last Spring, we took pictures together after the show and seriously, I looked like I had taken human growth hormones standing next to her. My sister got a kick out of that, I was NOT amused….ok. a little amused.
If I could do any Broadway show it would definitely be “Hairspray.” I played the female authority figure (the Jackie Hoffman role) at North Shore Music Theatre last year and it was such a great fit. It’s also a show with such an inspiring message told with incredibly brilliant humor. I learned a long time ago that if you’re going to get on a soapbox, you’ve got to do it wearing a wink and a clown nose. Well, not literally a clown nose…. More like a flip-do and a fat suit.

Corine Cohen: I could see you in that role! Or should I say roles! I know you have written a musical. Can you tell me about it?

Val Fagan: It’s called “Six Women with Brain Death.” Music Theatre International calls it: “A fast-paced, take-no-prisoners satire of life and pop culture at the end of the millennium.” I call it: “a big pain in the a--.” Seriously, it taught me at a very early age that writing a show is a lot harder than it looks. My hat is definitely off to Gerard.

Corine Cohen: If Gerard ever stopped writing "Forbidden Broadway" do you think you, Michael West and Philip George would continue writing it because I asked him at the 25 Anniversary party that I hoped it would be on Broadway for 25 more years and he said he wasn't sure it would last that long. Would you take over and keep "Forbidden Broadway" alive? (If John Freedson stopped Producing it I would want to do it!) It can't stop. It needs to run longer than "Cat's"!

Val Fagan: Well, Gerard is "Forbidden Broadway". I can’t even think of the show going on without him. Do you hear that, Gerard? Keep taking your vitamins, we need you!

Corine Cohen: Yeah. I think I would die without it. It has to continue forever! I'm not kidding! Thank heavens we got LE MIZ number is hysterical and you also do a killer "ON MY PHONE" I know you were in Le Miz is that why you make it so hysterical?

Val Fagan: That is my favorite number in the show and yes, it helped immensely that I heard it sung every night for a year while I was in the real "Les Mis." I always wanted to play Eponine, but I was the wrong type. Please, I think I was even a little too “healthy” to play Fantine. (I always thought I looked like a Swedish masseuse in that blonde wig.) By the way, did you know that Elaine Paige picked “On My Phone” from our Rude Awakening cast album as one of the “Broadway Essentials?” She played it on the BBC in April. I was thrilled!

Corine Cohen: Congratulations! It is so funny! If you could take a space ship to anywhere in this world or beyond, where would you go and why?

Val Fagan: I love this question! I’ve never revealed this to anyone, but I’ve always been one step away from being a full on “Trekkie.” Let’s see…hmmmm….well, I would definitely go to the Pleiades, don’t ask me why, just a hunch….oooooeeeeeooooo.

Corine Cohen: If you had 20 wishes what would you wish for and why?

Val Fagan: Wow, 20? Ok, I’d love to say world peace 20 times…but, I’m too narcissistic so, I’ll just say A MILLION SMACKAROOS 20 times!
Seriously, I would wish for what we all would wish for…you know, boring things like: decent health care, clean tap water, affordable organic produce, healthy bees, honest boyfriends, rediscovered innocence, wishful thinking, kindness, breathable air, trusting hearts, a ban on ageism, a ban on sexism, a ban on racism, a ban on all isms, a country that values the arts, lower taxes, music in the schools, no more MTA hikes, bringing our troops home and getting those poor misguided fools out of the White House. I think that’s 20, right?

Corine Cohen: That works! Do you have a favorite restaurant in NYC? Where is it and why?

Val Fagan: I just lost my appetite after that last tirade. Seriously, I LOVE the Saigon Grill on 90th and Amsterdam. The food is amazingly addictive and affordable. (great, I’ll never get a table now)… I mean….The McDonald’s on 42nd street, yeah, they have great..uh…fillet-o-fish…yeah, that’s it…

Corine Cohen: I love Saigon Grill. When it was on 86th Street I went there once a week!I met your Dad a few years ago on Christmas and he was so proud of you. Are you very close with your Dad?

Val Fagan: I’m very lucky to have a Dad who is also one of my best friends. We watch the Sunday morning talk shows and argue about politics. I think he’s seen me in Forbidden about 50 times. Didn’t you sit together a few years ago at the show? He thought you were cute. He’s 72 and still flirtin’ with the girls.

Corine Cohen: Yes. I sat with him and he was very nice. It made me miss my Dad who died 8 years ago and he was so sweet! Who do you admire most?

Val Fagan: Single mothers. On second thought, I guess ALL mothers. Think of the daily miracles they perform…and they get no applause! How did my mother do it? Courage, spirit and strength I guess...and Zoloft.

Corine Cohen: You are always so funny! What is your biggest dream?

Val Fagan: I really love this question. I haven’t thought about my “biggest dream” since I was a teenager, lying on the hood of my best friends car on a hot summer night in Kansas. (wow…sorry I was channeling Truman Capote for a second.) Anyway, I guess my “grown up” biggest dream is to continue doing what I’m doing; working with great people, singing great music and making people laugh for a living. Oh, and going out on an occasional date. Who could ask for anything more, right?

Corine Cohen: I hope the shows work out for you and hope to see you on Broadway soon. You are so talented, Valerie! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Dating in NYC in theater is a miracle. Hope the dates and work continue to flow as you are a very talented and funny woman.

Interview by Corine Cohen and Valerie Fagan.