Imagine this. Duckie, the wannabe hipster in "Pretty In Pink," has a fabulous wedding to a hunky homo. Together, they raise two adopted children. Oh, and his Grace Adler is Andie. Uh, wait. Wasn't Duckie gaga over Andie – played by the then teen-star Molly Ringwald?
"I really think that he's like the gay best friend," the soft-spoken star predicts at a show stop for "Sweet Charity," a national-touring musical that will run from May 1-20 at the Fisher Theatre, with additional stops in East Lansing and Grand Rapids.
"Pretty In Pink" rocketed Ringwald, now 39, into a series of high-profile mid-'80s teen roles, including "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club," where she settled into outcasts' shoes.
"I think that those movies sort of talk about being an outsider and sort of overcoming adversity … ," she says about her gay-icon status. "I think the gay community has always singled out really strong women and I think I'm in really good company."
Brian Wanee, a "Sweet Charity" ensemble dancer from Sacramento, Calif., regards Ringwald's gay-fan flock to her films' rise-above motifs. Laughing, he adds: "She was definitely an '80s pop icon, and you know how the gays like their icons!"
Shimmy and shake
Post "Pink," Ringwald's film-star faded as she stepped to the big-screen sidelines, settling for a handful of made-for-TV movies (which included her portrayal of real-life AIDS victim Alison Gertz in "Something To Live For: The Alison Gertz Story") and resisting lead silver-screen roles unless they gave her goosebumps.
To shake the kid-star facade, Ringwald resorted to theater, playing Sally Bowles in a Broadway revival of "Cabaret" and an incest victim in the ultra-dark comedy "How I Learned To Drive." So, it shouldn't come as a shocker that pink isn't her prized color. But her 3-year-old, Matilda, digs it – a lot.
"I guess for a few years I wasn't as crazy (about it) as I was when I was a teenager," she spills. "My daughter almost dresses exclusively in pink." Matilda and Ringwald's husband have been touring with the thespian during the 10-month run of the soon-to-close "Sweet Charity," where the super-savvy performer anchors the musical as Charity Hope Valentine – an ultra-optimistic taxi dancer at a shady dance hall called Fandango.
"She's a little naive. In some ways she's not, but definitely her faith in human nature is very much like my daughter. She'll go up to anyone and talk to anyone and she's just completely guileless in her experience. In her point of view everyone is good and that's sort of what Charity has maintained. It's really sort of sweet," Ringwald marvels about the film character she fondly favored at 10 years old.
As Charity, Ringwald, a veteran vocalist, had no problem exercising her pipes, but when it came to working her legs, it felt a bit like going to shimmy boot camp.
"I consider myself an actor/singer who moves well," she insists, noting warbling has been a constant; leg-flexing hasn't. "I don't think I'll ever consider myself a dancer. I mean, not like the dancers in the show – the ensemble."
Wanee, 25, had to adapt to a more difficult dance style as part of the troupe. "I feel like the dancing in the show is so much more featured than in every other show I've done," the former New York University student says, comparing "Sweet Charity" to past parts in "Evita" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Sweet charity, indeed
During downtime, Ringwald visits her family, but Wanee hits the town, unwinding in local coffeehouses and mingling with the mostly gay ensemble at bars. "The prospect of having a new city each week – or every two or three weeks – is daunting a little because you have to travel to each new city, but it's really fun to discover a whole new city."
Though – as Wanee makes crystal-clear when he says they're currently in Detroit (and quickly corrects himself: "I mean, no we're in Baltimore") – the touring clockwork can be a bit dizzying. In each city, he and the ensemble perform some more sweet charity at local gay bars for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Sometimes even Ringwald joins them.
"She comes out to the gay bars and we do the 'Cabaret' (a benefit performance) but other than that she has a kid and a family," Wanee says.
As the tour winds down and Ringwald, who eagerly declares she's ready for a long breather, prepares to send Matilda to preschool in the fall, the actress will play another role: stay-at-home mommy. "I imagine that (theater) won't really be something that I'm going to do for a while … . So I don't imagine it's something that I'm going to seek out, but who knows? I never know where my life is going to take me."
"Sweet Charity"
April 24-29
Wharton Center, East Lansing
May 1-20
Fisher Theatre, Detroit
May 22-27
DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids
www.sweetcharitythemusical.com
