i ts

DAME

Entertainment

from page 67

Dame Edna wants everyone to know about her
ner new-
found" religion: Yudaism and its many wonderful aspects."

One important difference is that Dame Edna is
"part Jewish" and Humphries is not. "I found out by
tracing my family tree that my great-great-great
grandmother Rebecca was Jewish. She was a feminist
and an activist before her time, sort of a modern
oldster," Edna beams.
Edna says since she's not Orthodox, she doesn't
observe Jewish laws, but "during the High Holidays,
I feel twinges of guilt because I know I should be
doing something more.
"I don't fast on Yom Kippur, so that makes me feel
sort of piggish. But I want to point out that I never
eat pork. Because of my hectic schedule, it's difficult
for me to attend a synagogue."
She wishes she would have learned about her
Jewish identity long ago so that her children "could
have had bar and bat mitzvahs," and her family
could have become well versed in Jewish culture.
"But I'm proud of Rebecca and my Jewish roots, and
I want everyone to know it," she says.
Edna is a jet-setter, flitting around the globe to visit
world leaders, and dividing her time between her
homes in Sydney, London, Switzerland and Malibu.
One of her favorite things to do is have tea with
Stephen Hawking, the brilliant British physicist.
She is convinced she's somehow related to former
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, but
Edna's not sure how.
Albright also learned not too long ago that she has
Jewish roots. "Maybe that's . why I feel we're kin,"

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2001

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Edna says. "It seems that my Jewishness connects me
with a lot of people around the world. Maybe this
will someday help me write an agony column for
Vanity Fair magazine."
Dame Edna proudly stresses the heavy Jewish fla-
voring of the Royal Tour: Producers Leonard
Soloway, Chase Mishkin, Steven Levy and Jonathan
Reinis; associate producers Adam Friedson, David
Friedson, Allen Spivak and Larry Magid; and light-
ing designer Jason Kantrowitz all are Jewish.
"The ganseh mishpachah is here," Edna quips. "It's
a real kosher production. And I try to apply a Jewish
brand of humor to my act in the true tradition of
the wonderful Jewish comedy stars of history"
Dame Edna's "Royal Tour" is billed as an interac-
tive, stand-up comedy musical revue, but she calls it
a "sit-down comedy act with a lot of byplay with the
audience."
She's accompanied. by two "gorgeous Ednaettes."
She'll share her wisdom and beauty tips with her
"adoring possums in Detroit" so they can experience
"my hands-on magic for themselves and their wives,
children, significant others and same-sex partners. I
sing, dance, tour the stage and trawl the auditorium."
The most common misconception about Dame Edna
is that her show is just a drag or cross-dressing act.
"That's a slur," she bristles with feigned irritation.
"Would you say that about Barbra Streisand or Lily
Tomlin? Of course not. That infers that I'm just a
man dressed up as a woman.

"Now I know how former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher felt. She was accused of being a
man. I'm definitely a liberated woman. We just let
the audiences decide on their own."
During her typical act, she tells an overweight
woman in the audience, "I love that fabric. ... You
were lucky to find so much of it." If an audience
member informs her she's from the suburbs, Edna
says, "Oh, you live in the country. On a dirt road?
And you put your makeup on in the car, didn't you?"
Edna admits that while many actresses are close to
their psychics, she talks to her gynecologist daily "I
have an exploratory every night before I go on
stage," she muses.
Because her late husband suffered from prostate
problems, she founded the "Friends of the Prostate,"
which holds regular meetings to discuss prostate
issues. "My dream is to build a 'Prostate World'
theme park in Florida," she intones. "It should be a
great urological adventure."
Dame Edna has had an affinity for Detroit since her
years in England, when her car "used to be mended at
a garage called Detroit Motors. I always envisioned
Detroit as a beautiful city with tree-lined streets and
quaint shops," she explained. "So I've looked forward
to exploring the city and performing there."
The Dame seems to delight in overshadowing
Humphries, whose 50-year show business career has
spanned Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and
the United States. He has won numerous awards,