Photo of Valerie Perri at her home in Sherman Oaks by Sherman Alford (Sasaphotos)

Valerie Perri

For 45 Years, Her World’s Been a Stage

BY SHERYL ARONSON

Listening to Valerie Perri recall stories of how she landed roles as two of the most iconic female characters in musical theater: Eva Perón (“Evita”) and Golde (“Fiddler on the Roof”), and how she snagged one of the coveted spots as a dancer in the classic musical film “Grease,” it’s as if Perri was destined to be onstage. She has the stellar talent and chutzpah to succeed, as her versatile acting career spans 45 years. Whether it be singing and dancing in musical theater, performing on concert stages and in recording studios or appearing on television shows like “Who’s the Boss,” “Another World” and “ER,” or acting in films like “The Out-of-Towners,” “Dickie Roberts” and “George of the Jungle,” this actress has proven she’s a creative force, entertaining audiences worldwide.

Her other major credits include portraying Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard,” Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” and Emma Goldman in “Ragtime.” She also starred in “If I Forget” at the Fountain Theatre, directed by Jason Alexander, and as Genie Klein in “Beautiful” for McCoy Rigby Entertainment and the Cape Playhouse. She also recently filmed roles in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” “Truth Be Told” and “Criminal Minds.”

As a fledgling actress trying to make her way in the lustrous world of entertainment in Los Angeles, Perri captured the eye of legendary producer and director Hal Prince when she auditioned for Eva Perón in the first national tour of the Broadway production of “Evita.” Due to a scheduling mix-up at the audition, the then-22-year-old actress talked her way past the man admitting actors, then wowed musical supervisor Paul Gemignani with her vocal prowess, earning her a callback. Her success was hers alone due to a brilliant costume change that completely bewildered Prince, who thought she was two different actors: first singing as young Eva, then tackling the title song “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” as the First Lady of Argentina.

This past October, I sat in the “Fiddler on the Roof” audience at the La Mirada Theatre as she transformed into Golde, opposite Jason Alexander’s Tevye. Embodying the sharp tongue and wit of Golde, Perri’s fine-tuned voice belted out sarcastic responses to Tevye’s “Do You Love Me?” Going from her Yiddish/Russian accent to a German accent, Perri also played Fraulein Schneider in “Cabaret” at the Scherr Forum Theatre at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in March this year.

I sat down with her at her home in Sherman Oaks to talk about her award-winning acting career.

Chic Compass: Valerie Perri is an actress in theater, television and film. Tell me, is your passion musical theater?

Valerie Perri: Yes! As a child I was very enamored with Broadway musicals, and I was a big Shirley Temple junkie. As a young girl, I was glued to the TV screen every Saturday morning when her films were broadcast on our local station. My mom was a pianist, and she would play all the Broadway scores in our house and bought me Broadway show albums from the local five-and-dime store.

Chic Compass: Did you grow up in New York?

Valerie Perri: No, I grew up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania called Dallas. I didn’t get to New York until my senior year in high school when my prom date took me to see my first Broadway show, “Pippin.” Upon graduation, I wanted warmer weather, so I went to college at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. I was immediately cast in a production of “Cabaret” as a Kit Kat Girl. Only two freshmen got into the production that year, my pal, Ray Liotta, and I. From then on, I had the theater bug and dropped my second major in speech pathology.

Chic Compass: How did you develop your theatrical voice?

Valerie Perri: I started singing for pure enjoyment, and because my mother played piano, I enjoyed singing with her at the piano. But I never had formal voice training until I was cast in the role of Eva in “Evita.” I realized then I needed to train my voice, knowing I had a rigorous score to sing. I wanted to make sure during the run I was singing correctly so I didn’t lose or damage my voice.

Chic Compass: In Miami, you studied theater and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After that?

Valerie Perri: It was my dream to move to L.A. Again, it was all about the weather, and despite Broadway being on the East Coast, the word “Hollywood” held such magic for me as a kid. At first, I got work as a receptionist at ABC Studios. I also performed in a small theater company called the Young Actors Company, and we did a musical revue at the Zephyr Theatre on Melrose Avenue called “A 5-6-7-8.” Without an agent, I would go to open calls until I landed a plum role and was cast in “Evita.” I didn’t have my Actors’ Equity card yet, so like Eva herself, it was truly a Cinderella story!

Chic Compass: How did you land the part?

Valerie Perri: When I first got the call to go in, they asked me to prepare both the roles of Evita and the Mistress because they thought, age-wise, I fell in the cracks. I wasn’t old enough to play Evita and a little old to play the Mistress.

There was a mix-up when I went to the audition, and my name wasn’t on the list. Even though they couldn’t find my name, I was still able to audition. I waited and finally was told to go downstairs to the stage. I walked onto the Shubert stage in Century City, and there were two people there, the pianist and Paul Gemignani, the musical supervisor.

He asked me, “What are you going to sing?” and I said, “I’ve prepared the material for Evita and the Mistress.” He told me I could only sing one of them. I thought to myself, “Welcome to the big leagues.” So I took a big breath and said, “Evita!”

After I finished, he came up to the stage and said, “You’re quite marvelous. You’re the first person who came in today that I wasn’t afraid was going to lose her voice singing this material.” He told me to work on the score and that he was calling me back next week to sing for Hal Prince.

The following week, I sang for him, and he asked me to come back again the following day. I thought, my goodness, how long will I have to go through all these auditions?

I didn’t know that there were two Evita cast members—one who heads the company for all the evening performances and one who performs at the matinees. He wasn’t sure which actress he would assign to which schedule. Only two of us were called back to sing for the role the following day.

The night before the second callback, I went home and thought, how can I stand out? I saw the girls who had been there that day; they’d been on Broadway or in a television series.

The next day, I brought a change of clothes with me. When I first walked out there to sing “What’s New, Buenos Aires?” I wore a black leotard and a dance skirt, and my hair was down. I finished the song, and Hal came up and said, “That’s great, honey … can you sing ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina?'” I told him of course, but did he mind if I changed my clothes?

He said, “Sure, go ahead.” I ducked into a quick-change dressing room on stage right. I wore a white Dior suit, red lipstick, high heels and earrings. I looked different. I walked back out onto the stage and stood there.

He asked, “Who is that? What happened to that Perri girl?” His assistant, Ruth Mitchell, said, “Hal, that is the Perri girl.” He said, “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t recognize you.” I thought, bingo. That’s what I was hoping for.

I sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” then took off my suit jacket and sang “Rainbow High.” He asked me to wait backstage. He returned and told me and another wonderful Broadway actress, Loni Ackerman, that we both got the part. She would do the evening shows, and I would be her alternate and do the matinees, plus any evening performances she couldn’t do. It was a wonderful pairing, as Loni is still one of my best friends today.

I had been in L.A. for six months when Hal came back and said he wanted me to head my own company in Chicago. I was flown to New York City and put up at the famous Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue and Central Park. Designer Barbara Matera fitted me for costumes, shoes were custom-made for my feet and my head was measured for wigs. I was to meet Patti LuPone after her Broadway show for an Associated Press photo shoot. It was absolutely thrilling!

Chic Compass: Quite a story! You certainly got your big break early on! How did this opportunity change your career?

Valerie Perri: Hal once said doing “Evita” is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a magnificent role, but where do you go from there? I started auditioning for other shows, but nothing matched the magnitude of “Evita.” Also, playing such a strong character made certain casting directors pigeonhole me. They wouldn’t see me for softer, more vulnerable roles.

I stayed in New York City and did some off-Broadway shows, industrials and the daytime series “Another World.” I was doing the musical “Diamonds” at Circle in the Square, also directed by Harold, when I met my future husband, Cliff Lipson. We married in 1988 after a matinee of a production of “Gypsy” I did at the San Jose Civic Light Opera, playing the title character of Gypsy Rose Lee.

I then got an offer to do two shows in repertory at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, “Lies and Legends: The Musical Stories of Harry Chapin” and “Jacques Brel” with Amanda McBroom and George Ball. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it was “Jacques Brel,” and Wednesdays and Fridays, it was “Lies and Legends.” We alternated on weekends.

I kept getting work in television and theater. When I was cast in “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” national tour, we played the Shubert Theatre in Century City for nine months, and I decided L.A. would be home. I wanted more than work. I wanted a family.

Six weeks after my twins were born, I did another national tour of “Evita,” bringing my husband, a nanny and our boys. We toured for a year until they started walking. Around then, my husband was hired as a staff photographer for the publicity department for CBS Studios, and I stepped back from theater to raise our sons.

I later did some TV acting on “Who’s the Boss,” then “Criminal Minds” and recently “Truth Be Told” with Octavia Spencer, a series on Apple TV+. I also did “Monsters,” a Netflix series. Now that my sons are grown, I go back and forth from the West Coast to the East Coast, depending on available work.

Chic Compass: How did the role in “Grease” come about?

Valerie Perri: When I was in college at the University of Miami, I met Pat Birch, the choreographer for “Grease.” She came to Miami to direct a “Diamond Studs” production at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. She called the university looking for dancers. My professor asked me and another student to audition. We got the job.

Two years later, I’m in California and see a casting notice for “Grease.” I went to an open call at Paramount Studios, wearing a poodle skirt and bobby socks. She was the choreographer. I told her I’d danced in “Diamond Studs,” and I got two weeks of work on “Grease.”

Chic Compass: And when did you finally get an agent?

Valerie Perri: After I left “Evita.” I interviewed at The Gage Group in New York and signed with them. I met Martin Gage later when I moved to L.A. I stayed with them until he merged the agency. Two L.A. agents, Arthur Toretsky and Gerry Koch, formed AMT Artists, and I stayed with them.

Chic Compass: Let’s talk about Jason Alexander.

Valerie Perri: During the pandemic, I saw “If I Forget” being cast at the Fountain Theatre, directed by him. They weren’t seeing people in person, so I submitted a self-tape and got a callback to read for him. It was a powerful play and a beautiful experience. He is always the smartest guy in the room. As a director, he brings things out of you with kindness and space.

Chic Compass: Talk more about working with him. You got to play Golde to his Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” at the La Mirada Theatre this past fall.

Valerie Perri: It’s funny how TV makes you a celebrity. He was a Tony Award winner before “Seinfeld.” What makes him special is that he’s what we call in Yiddish, a mensch. No ego. Whether it’s Broadway or the La Mirada Theatre, he’s focused on creating good work.

When he decided to do “Fiddler on the Roof,” I was determined to audition to play Golde. I already knew him as a director and wanted to share the stage with him.

Chic Compass: How did you get the role?

Valerie Perri: A year after we did “If I Forget,” I performed in “Beautiful” at the La Mirada Theatre. Tom McCoy stopped by and said, “I want to do a production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ You’re friends with Jason Alexander?” I said, “Yes,” and he said, “Tell him that he needs to do it!” Later, I saw a casting notice confirming Jason was starring.

I emailed him and asked to audition. He said Lonny Price was directing and would be handling casting. I contacted Lonny and told him I’d been called back for his projects before and that I was rehearsing “Beautiful” in New York. He graciously made time to see me. We met at his apartment, and I felt like I’d known him forever.

We read the role, and he said, “You know this woman.” I replied, “Yeah, it’s my mother and every one of my ancestors.” He said auditions were still happening in L.A., but I’d hear by the end of July. I got the part!

We started rehearsals in October 2024. It felt like a long wait, but it was worth it.

Chic Compass: What are you working on now?

Valerie Perri: This summer, I’ll play the Dowager Empress in “Anastasia” at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, California. I also perform a cabaret show, “All in the Family,” with my twin sons. Jack is the music director and pianist, and Benny plays bass. It’s been such a joy to share the stage with them.

Chic Compass: Such an incredible career. Who else would you like to play in a musical role?

Valerie Perri: I was obsessed with “Gypsy” as a kid and once dreamed of playing Rose. But now, it’s not about what I’m doing but who I’m doing it with. I want to work with good, talented people who care deeply. Theater is magical. I feel like I’m entering a new time in life, playing older character roles, and to that I say, “Bring it on!”