‘Cat’s-Paw’ Beckons to Ex-Singer

Christine Ebersole has been getting very chummy with a terrorist lately.

It’s part of her role in William Mastrosimone’s “Cat’s-Paw” (opening tonight at the Los Angeles Theatre Center), the story of a bombing at Environmental Protection Agency headquarters--and the newswoman assigned to interview the man responsible.

“It has a lot to do with what’s good for the public to know, how much the media should show,” said the actress during an interview at LATC. Initially reticent to reveal too much about the plot or herself (“I’ve been burned by the press”), Ebersole assessed her attraction to the material: “It had a message; it was important and instructive. Personally, it posed a lot of challenges. It’s a very strong dramatic piece--and character.”

To research her role, Ebersole spent time with KABC-TV Channel 7 reporter Cynthia Allison, who was covering the recall of a polio vaccine that had shown positive effects in some AIDS patients: “In Cynthia’s case, she decided who to interview, put together the questions, wrote the story, broke it. You’ve got to make your own way. It’s as cutthroat as any other aspect of show biz. And the hours are just impossible.”

Another aspect Ebersole related to was that of performance.

“There’s an on-camera presence and an off-camera presence, absolutely,” she said. “And there’s a formality, a shape in which you work: a certain way you sit, a way you look at the camera. So, yes, when Dan Rather does the news, it’s a performance--he’s just relating the truth. Acting is believing in what you’re saying. That’s what makes people good at this: being able to translate that to an audience and make them believe it too.”

Ebersole began as a jazz singer in her native Jacksonville, Ill. Next came studies at New York’s Academy of Dramatic Art, “and of course I was a waitress. My first play professionally was on Broadway. I was waiting on tables--then boom . It was a total fluke, a play called ‘Angel Street.’ Anyway, the show closed in three weeks and I was back waiting tables again.”

She sighed. “It was a very humbling experience, character-building. See, I thought this was it . When you’re young you dream, ‘I’ll give myself five years, then I’ll have this movie and I’ll be famous and I’ll be happy.’ You think it will transform you, make you a better person. Then life doesn’t work out that way. But I’ve always had the work to go back to; that’s my foundation. Then when the big break comes, you’re ready for it.”

Her own break came amid such turmoil that it was hard to enjoy.

“I was doing Ado Annie in ‘Oklahoma,’ then my marriage (to soap opera star Peter Bergman) ended, I moved into a new apartment, and I got ‘Saturday Night Live’--all in one week. The rest of the year was fallout.” Although her stint on “SNL” lasted only one season, there are no regrets: “I think I made a strong contribution to them in (terms of) my singing--and their contribution to me was the opportunity to express myself.”

Since then, she’s made her mark in TV (“One Life to Live,” “Valerie” and “The Cavanaughs”), film (“Amadeus” “Thief of Hearts” and the coming “Mac and Me”) and stage (“Evita,” “My Fair Lady,” “Guys and Dolls” and “Camelot.”)

Three years ago Ebersole left New York for Los Angeles. “If you want to make like $295 (a week) for the rest of your life then go ahead and try to live (in New York),” she said sardonically. “When you’re young you can do it--who cares? But it gets to a point. . . . “

It got to that point with the 1985 premiere of “Harrigan and Hart,” in which she co-starred with Harry Groener and Mark Hamill. “There I was again, back on Broadway: ‘It’s going to be great, we’re going to win all the Tony awards, play for years-- Boom. The guillotine came down on our necks; we were gone in three days. I was so depressed I couldn’t even drag myself down to the unemployment office.”

Nowadays she’s more resilient.

“Everything happens for a reason. Through the difficult times, the pain, and challenges, we grow--and change. . . . I don’t believe we go through this alone; we’re not meant to. We all connect: Our energies blend, ignite, diffuse. Life is a fight--and I don’t take it lying down. Except for Mondays--that’s my day off.”