Preview performances of Mark St. Germain’s new play, Dr. Ruth, All the Way, get underway on June 19 at Barrington Stage Company. Debra Jo Rupp portrays the inimitable, diminutive Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who captured the attention of Reagan-era television viewers with her grandmotherly looks, chirpy Teutonic accent, and unflappable demeanor as she frankly told callers everything they always wanted to know about sex, but had no one to ask, at least before she arrived on the scene. Jeremy D. Goodwin gets a few of his own questions answered in this interview with Rupp, in between her rehearsals and horticultural expeditions. Ticket demand for this play is so hot that BSC has already extended its run through July 21, so don’t let the moment pass.
Perhaps it’s appropriate that Dr. Ruth’s visit to the Berkshires was inspired by Dr. Freud. The diminutive, German-born sex therapist, who emerged as a ubiquitous American pop culture presence in the 1980s, met playwright Mark St. Germain after seeing his two-hander Freud's Last Session during its lengthy Off-Broadway run, which followed the play’s 2009 premiere at Barrington Stage Company. She was so taken with the play she returned five times.
St. Germain was surprised to learn something Berkshire theater audiences will discover this summer: Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s story is rich and unexpected, going well beyond the image of the familiar little lady with a distinctive German accent who takes great delight in frankly discussing the most intimate details of adult relations.
"Did you know she was a sniper in the Israeli army? I had no idea how fascinating her story is," says Debra Jo Rupp, right, who portrays the author, television personality, and "sexpert" in the world premiere of St. Germain's Dr. Ruth, All the Way, onstage from June 19 through July 21. Helmed by BSC artistic director Julianne Boyd, the one-woman show is primed to be a hit; advance ticket sales have already prompted a one-week extension of its run. On the phone from the house she designed on a two-acre property in Lee, where she lives when she’s not working in Los Angeles or New York, Rupp sounds playful and engaged. It’s only mid-morning, but she’s already made a successful outing to the season-opening plant sale at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. An avid gardener, she had a bit of a field day; one goal was to find a vine that will successfully grow up along the bird feeder a friend made for her yard. She’s already looking forward to the next weekend’s horticultural foray, to Tomatomania at White Flower Farm in Litchfield, where she plans to pick up some seedlings. Rupp herself become a familiar figure in pop culture thanks to her portrayal of Kitty Forman, below, a key character in the Fox television comedy That 70’s Show, which aired for eight seasons beginning in 1998, but her deep roots in theater span Broadway and the Berkshires.
In New York, Rupp acted alongside Kathleen Turner in the 1990 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, having earlier enjoyed one of her first big breakthroughs in the world premiere of Cynthia Heimel’s A Girl’s Guide to Chaos in 1986. Her television and film credits are dotted with small but memorably quirky roles, like that of the secretary to the Tom Hanks character in Big, and, on Seinfeld, as the titular comedian’s somewhat out-there booking agent. She moved to this area after her hit sitcom wrapped, and has since worked at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Chester Theatre Company, and in three three prior shows at BSC, beginning with the production of Ring ‘Round the Moon that inaugurated the company’s move to Pittsfield in 2006. Rupp’s research for her current role at BSC included several meetings with Westheimer herself, who will participate in an audience Q&A after the July 3 performance. Rupp says she became fascinated by the story of the woman known as Dr. Ruth. Born Karola Ruth Siegel in Weimer-era Germany, the indelible television personality was sent by her Orthodox Jewish parents to safety in Switzerland in 1939 before losing her family in the Holocaust. After the war, at age 17, she moved to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, where she served as a scout and sniper in the Israeli War of Independence. After a stint in France, she relocated to Manhattan in 1956, eventually earning a master’s degree in sociology from The New School, and an Ed.D. from Columbia University. By 1980 she began hosting a late-night radio show devoted to sexual topics; an ensuing television show, Sexually Speaking, landed her on the couch of Late Night with David Letterman and turned her into an unlikely star of Reagan-era America.
Rupp says the key to her portrayal of Dr. Ruth is to capture the essence of her subject without reducing the role to mere mimicry. “I'm not Rich Little,” she says. “It's when you don't believe what you're doing, or if you stand to the side and watch yourself do it, then you're screwed. You have to be in it and believe it. And if you do that, the audience will be there with you.” The actress says she particularly enjoys the theater scene in the Berkshires because she gets a chance to see many of her peers from the New York theater world at work, but also because of the engaged quality of the audiences. “We get a lot of people in from New York and people who are knowledgeable about theater—people who actually listen to what you say, who want to come to a talkback after the show,” she says. “The quality of the productions is quite good. Broadway now is so slick. You get someone that wants to do Uncle Vanya but they want to set it in 2085, with pointy hats or something.” Though its forthright subject may have indeed been ahead of her time, it seems there’s little chance of Rupp finding such problems in Dr. Ruth, All The Way. —Jeremy D. Goodwin
Dr. Ruth, All The WayBy Mark St. Germain Directed by Julianne Boyd Starring Debra Jo Rupp At Barrington Stage Company's St. Germain StageJune 19 through July 21 Fall Return EngagementSeptember 19 through October 7
