Actress Elena Ferrante, Las Vegas Sun, July 7, 1998

Give her regards to Vegas Lisa Ferguson Tuesday, July 7, 1998 | 10:01 a.m. It was love for a man that brought Elena Ferrante to Las Vegas. She followed him -- and her heart -- here in 1992. But it was another love -- that of musical theater -- which took her away earlier this year. During the more than five years that Ferrante -- a singer/dancer/actress who has performed on Broadway -- resided in Southern Nevada, she directed and starred in several productions for the local Actors Repertory Theatre, including "Brigadoon" and "Fiddler on the Roof." She also played Gen. Matilda Cartwright, and understudied veteran actress Maureen McGovern's role of Adelaide, in the musical "Guys & Dolls," opposite Frank Gorshin, when it played the Sheraton Desert Inn in 1995. All the while, the New Jersey native divided her time between acting stints here and on the East Coast. "It was a juggling act," she says, "but it was a challenge and I rise to those challenges." But when another big name musical -- the Tony Award-winning "Ragtime" -- came calling late last year, Ferrante packed up and headed for New York (which is now her home base) where she lives during performance breaks of the production's first national tour, which kicked off in April at Washington, D.C.'s National Centre. Next month "Ragtime" moves to the Denver Center for a six-week run before heading to Minneapolis, Seattle and Boston later this year to play a series of extensive dates. The overhead costs of owning homes in both Las Vegas and New York was "too much. So you can see why I had to consolidate my life," Ferrante says. "I'm living out of suitcase and a trunk for the next year. "It's a little crazy, but it is actually kind of freeing in a way because you just live with what you have." The rest of her belongings are in deep storage, she says. "I have my computer; I have my car; I have my dog; I have my clothes; and the other stuff you kind of pick up as you go along." And what about the man? "He's a great guy whom I still love," Ferrante, 33, says coyly. Did their relationship endure the move? "Kind of." What has endured -- thrived, even -- is Ferrante's career. Last year, she starred in the dual roles of Aurora and the Spider Woman in a San Francisco production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman." She spent last summer in Europe tackling the role of Anita in a German production of "West Side Story." "I had to speak the lines in German with a Puerto Rican flair and sing in English," she says. "I love (playing) these strong women that really have to make a difference to the story," Ferrante says. She previously portrayed Eva Peron in a Florida production of "Evita," and "Funny Girl's" Fanny Brice in New Jersey. On Broadway, she played Bess Truman in "Senator Joe," and, in a Las Vegas A.R.T. production of "Mrs. Warren's Profession," she starred as Vivie Warren. Up to that point, Ferrante had enjoyed lighter roles with A.R.T., according to its founder and artistic director, Georgia Neu. After working through a few obstacles with the Vivie Warren character, "she came back and she read (for the part) the second day and she was it," Neu says, calling Ferrante "very professional. She absolutely demands the best of people (and is) an absolutely wonderful performer. "If she gets staging and music (directions) one day, she doesn't come back with it the next day in her hand, she comes back with it memorized, ready to go," Neu says. "She's a Broadway performer; we were just incredibly fortunate to be able to have her here for a while." In "Ragtime," Ferrante wears the hats of two characters -- Mrs. Houdini and Brigit, the latter serving as the family's maid, the Baron's assistant and stenographer -- and understudies the role of Emma Goldman. As Mrs. Houdini, "I play this Hungarian, proud mama," she explains, "and then, a little later (in the show, as Brigit), I play this feisty Irish maid," so her characters' brogues change during the performance. "It's a fun challenge; you put on a costume and you change your character. "I like the challenge of playing different characters," she says, "and it's a compliment to my work because (the directors and producers) trust that I can do different things." Working behind the scenes is one of them. "I really enjoy directing and producing and did a lot of that when I was in Las Vegas, and it was very exciting," she says. "Whatever you have to do to get theater across to the people, it really excites me." Ferrante hopes to see more large-scale theatrical works presented to Las Vegas audiences in the future. "I think the theater companies there really believe in theater and they want the people who live there to have theater in their lives," she says. "I really, really hope that all of the theater companies that are working so hard there to make their mark will get that in return." What about her return to Las Vegas someday? "I have no problem coming back and doing a show or directing a show there because I believe in the city." archive