EMILY KWONG, HOST:
The actress and comedian Catherine O'Hara died last week at the age of 71. O'Hara gained a cult following with her roles in films like "Beetlejuice," "Home Alone" and, of course, the mockumentary "Waiting For Guffman."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAITING FOR GUFFMAN")
FRED WILLARD: (As Ron Albertson) Miami.
CATHERINE O'HARA: (As Sheila Albertson) We're talking about China now.
WILLARD: (As Ron Albertson) I'm talking about going to Miami.
O'HARA: (As Sheila Albertson) Miami.
WILLARD: (As Ron Albertson) That's the only thing...
O'HARA: (As Sheila Albertson) We're talking about Miami now.
WILLARD: (As Ron Albertson) Dear, why don't...
KWONG: That is O'Hara as Sheila Albertson, travel agent and amateur performer in Blaine, Missouri.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAITING FOR GUFFMAN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #1: (As characters, singing) Nothing ever happens in Blaine.
KWONG: The film centers on a musical, "Red, White And Blaine," staged at the local community theater for the town's 150th anniversary.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAITING FOR GUFFMAN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As characters, singing) The teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, singing) And the farmer.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) And the soda jerk.
KWONG: And in 2014, art imitated art imitating life. "Red, White And Blaine" played at the Chicago Improv Theater iO. It was a real stage tribute to the spoof movie "Waiting For Guffman."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAITING FOR GUFFMAN")
O'HARA: (As Sheila Albertson) Would you like to come in for coffee?
(As Sheila Albertson, singing) You don't need to answer.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRI FITZPATRICK: (As Sheila Albertson, singing) You don't have to answer. You don't have to speak.
Hi, I'm Bri Fitzpatrick, and I played the role of Sheila Albertson in iO Theater's production of "Red, White And Blaine."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRI FITZPATRICK AND UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Ron and Sheila Albertson, singing) Midnight at the oasis.
FITZPATRICK: I think one of the things that makes Catherine O'Hara's performance in "Waiting For Guffman" so beloved is O'Hara's background in Improv. When Sheila Albertson treads the boards, she is always giving it 110%. She enunciates like nobody's business. And I think my proudest moment came after The New York Times complimented - question mark - my overwrought facial expressions.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
JEFF GRIGGS: My name is Jeff Griggs, and I directed the stage production of "Red, White And Blaine." She talks about how she's trying a new sort of technique where she looks at someone but closes her eyes.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAITING FOR GUFFMAN")
O'HARA: (As Sheila Albertson) I mean, you open your eyes when you're looking away, but then when you talk to the person, you go like that.
GRIGGS: It's the type of thing that she brings to every character, where you see the eccentricities that only she could bring.
FITZPATRICK: Every character she plays, while absolutely ridiculous, over the top, delusional characters, they still are rooted in heart. Catherine does a really incredible job of both being fine with making herself the fool but also coming to her characters with a lot of love and a lot of respect.
GRIGGS: For us, Catherine O'Hara - she's our Meryl Streep. She's our Judi Dench. Like, she is this grand actress who everybody idolizes and everybody wants to be.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
KWONG: That was Jeff Griggs and Bri Fitzpatrick remembering Catherine O'Hara. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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