The Maine Edge: “A Tale of Two Dresses” has many laugh-out-loud moments, and it turns out that the title is true – we see you in two dresses.
Rudner: I wear both but not at the same time. I was trying to decide on a name for the show. I almost called it “Lady Ha-ha.” Do you like that one?
The Maine Edge: (laughs) Yes, very much. You can save it for the next one.
Rudner: So I was trying to think of a name for the show and I couldn’t decide between two dresses. One was tight and one was loose. I liked the loose one because it was more comfortable. I’ve been working out and I didn’t want people to think I’m trying to hide everything. Martin – my husband, not my boyfriend – said that the other dress – the black one, was sexier.
The Maine Edge: One of my favorite parts of the special was the section titled “Medical Treatments” where you discuss, among other things, the proliferation of prescription medication advertisements. The side-effects disclaimer is sometimes twice as long as the section outlining the benefits.
Rudner: And they say them so quickly, and in such an even tone, I’m not even sure what I heard. ‘You’ll have your hair forever’ – ‘may cause your ass to bleed in public.’
The Maine Edge: (laughing) You and Martin have a singer-songwriter daughter. Many kids are influenced by the music they hear around the house when growing up. What kind of music would we hear at your house if we dropped by some day?
Rudner: It’s very strange because Molly is so young, yet she loves The Beatles. Martin and I both love The Beatles, so we have that bond with her. I get very excited when the three of us can listen to the same music and The Beatles do that for us. We also love artists like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Ingrid Michaelson. Molly is kind of an indie-pop singer-songwriter.
The Maine Edge: Do you sing around the house?
Rudner: I do and she hates it! I’m in this musical at the moment and I sometimes practice vocalizing and she is in pain when I sing. “Oh mom, just stop singing. Stop it!” That’s been kind of difficult. But she is a very good musician. In fact, this past Sunday night, one of the guitarists in our band had to go to Temple because it was Rosh Hashana and Molly learned all of the songs in the show and subbed for the guitar player. She was very good.
She also loves “Hawaii-Five O.” We took her to Hawaii for her 16th birthday with her best friend. Hawaii is her dream place. She said “Mom, can I go to college in Hawaii?” No, I don’t think majoring in basket-weaving and surfing is a good idea. I know they have good schools in Hawaii, so please, nobody tell me I’m a bad person. The thing is, it’s such a beautiful place you want to be outside all the time. You don’t go to Hawaii to stay inside and open a textbook. The worse a place is, the better the college. That’s why East Coast colleges are the best - because it’s freezing and you don’t want to go out.
