STN Entertainment
e Valley
JULIE YOLLES ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
S
PHOTO BY ANN LIMONGE LLO/ABC
uave. Sexy. Stand-up comedian.
To "All My Children" (AMC) fans,
the first two adjectives scream Walt
Willey, who plays Pine Valley's No.
1 lawyer and every woman's dream, Jack-
son Montgomery. For metro Detroiters, the
third descriptor will take center stage when
Willey performs two shows tomorrow night
at Joey's Comedy Club in Dearborn.
"[Comedy club patrons] sure can't expect
Jack," he says from his dressing room in be-
tween tapings at ABC's New York studios.
"There's not much sense in me doing that
... it's not Andrew Dice Clay or Richard Pry-
or, but there are definitely adult themes ... it
is in a nightclub ... [my act's] about life, men
and women, pets ... it's a different take on
things. It's a one-hour-and-ten-minute mono-
logue about life."
And Willey has plenty of life experiences
to extrapolate from these days. In the past
two years alone, he married Marie, "definitely
not an actress"; had a son, Chance Connor;
bought a ranch in Santa Fe, N.M.; renovat-
ed it with his wife into an "eclectic merge be-
tween East and West" bed and breakfast;
and he continues to commute back and forth
to New York for three-week stints, depend-
ing on his "AMC" shooting schedule.
"I took the last year off [from stand-up com-
edy] because of the baby," says the 45-year-
old actor. "As of right now, I average about
13 gigs in two months. I missed [stand-up]
when I wasn't doing it, but now that he's a
grown man at 14 months, I can go out on the
road again," adds Willey, who took a three-
month paternity leave from "AMC" after
Chance was born. "He's the brightest part of
my life."
A sculpture major at Southern Illinois Uni-
versity, Willey's been honing some other art
skills lately. The art of nesting. And we're
talking literally.
"I'm Mr. Feed the Animals. [My wife's]
Mrs. Culinary," he says about their B & B
roles. Besides a Sioux teepee that doubles as
the Willeys' retreat when the B & B is MI,
they've got a petting zoo, with pigs, goats,
chickens, donkeys and hedgehogs. "We had
our first litter of hedgehogs," he boasts. And,
they've added a new child to their brood, Lucy
the Loose Lipped Chicken. "She's not count-
ing or making change or anything, but she's
smart and likes to hang out with the fami-
ly."
But what's in store for the other family
he's been a part of since 1987 when Willey
joined "All My Children," inquiring viewers
want to know. Any upcoming love connec-
tions for Jack in Pine Valley?
"I'm thinking maybe with Myrtle — I like
red hair," he jokes about the sweet of Scot-
tish grandinother-type. "After all,
Myrtle owns a boarding house, and
Jack's been living in a hotel for 10
years. We could consolidate and
save a lot of money." El
fl Walt Willey will perform at 8
and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27,
at Joey's Comedy Club. Tickets
are $15. 5070 Schaefer Road,
Dearborn. (313) 584-8885. For
more information about the Wil-
leys' Crystal Mesa Farm Bed &
Breakfast in Santa Fe, N.M., call
(505) 474-5224.
Above: "If they took me out of Pine Valley in a pine box, I'd be happy. I like this show," says
actor/comedian Walt Willey about his future at "All My Children."
Right: Jack (Walt Willey) consults with Edmund (John Callahan) and Maria (Eva LaRue) about their
problems adopting baby Sam. In the next few weeks, Jack will be busy with the evil Dr. Kinder.
Ice Cream Social
Eaton Nursery's 10th annual
event lets you stroll through
its gardens while eating Ray's
ice cream to benefit the Multi-
ple Sclerosis Society. 5899 W.
Maple, W. Bloomfield.
(810) 851-5440.
Sat.-Sun.,
10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Arianna String
Quartet
The prize-winning youth en-
semble performs a chamber
music concert geared toward
young people. Oakland Univer-
sity's Varner Auditorium,
Rochester. (810) 357-1111.
Sun., 3 p.m.
Tracy Chapman
JET Play Reading
The singer/songwriter will
give you a few good "reasons
to stay." With the Charlie
Hunter Quartet, at the
Meadow Brook Music
Festival. (810) 645-6666.
The Jewish Ensemble Theatre
will present In Vino Veritas and
a companion piece as a part of
Heartlande Theatre's Playscape
'96. At Meadow Brook Theatre.
(810) 337-3300.
Tues., 8 p.m.
Wed., 8 p.m.
Earthfest
Fundraiser
Lots of music and poetry, in -
cluding the Mad Poetics, fea-
turfing M.L. Liebler, the
Motown Mayakovsky Poetry
Band and others. Lili's 21,
2930 Jacob, Hamtramck.
(313) 875-6555.
Wed., 8 p.m.