Converting to Judyism

If you're out in the Los Angeles area, you won't want to miss the hilarious new one-woman show starring Judy Tenuta and two other people, "Mountain Girl: The Musical," this Friday (and next) at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood. I caught up with everyone's favorite Petite Flower last night to find out what's new in the Goddess' life, and to ask her why she's doing her first musical.

"I wrote the song 'Mountain Girl' a long time ago but in recent years -- like in the last four years -- it became apparent to me that I had to make it into a musical," Judy explained. The love songs "I Married a Mass Murderer" and "It Takes Two" ("it's about a pig who's cheating") quickly followed and soon she had enough material to tell the story. ("I play Edna Jane who's a waitress at a diner.") Finding the right co-stars has been more of a challenge. "I don't understand all of these actors in L.A. who have never had a paid acting job before -- they all work at Kinko's and stuff -- yet I'm paying them to be in my show but they won't come to work half the time." When I suggested that the reason she might be having a hard time keeping her cast in tact was because of her demanding Goddess ways, she conceded: "Yeah -- I'm a lot like Idi Amin, except I'm cuter." She says she's very pleased with the final group of actors she assembled and she's hoping to continue performing the show after the two-night engagement in Hollywood, perhaps moving next to the Gay and Lesbian Center and eventually on to New York. (Buy tickets here.)

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