Ifyougo
"An Evening with Lynda Carter"
When: Tuesday through Sept. 16
Where: Apollo Theatre, 2540 N.Lincoln Ave., Chicago
Cost: $50-$75
Details: Call the box office at (773) 935-6100 or visit Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.
BY MOLLY WOULFE
TIMES FEATURES WRITER
(219) 852-4320
Will wonders never cease. Actress Lynda Carter, best known as TV's "Wonder Woman" (1976-'79), was a jazzbaby before she donned the crown of Miss World-U.S.A. 1972 and the starry short-shorts of one DC heroine. The blue-eyed Phoenix native, 56, brings her cabaret show Tuesday to the Apollo Theater for a six-night run through Sept. 16. Carter, married to lawyer Robert Altman since 1984, called from her hairdresser's chair ("I'm getting my hair colored ... your basic cover-the-gray") for a quick chat with the Times about jazz, Chicago pizza and a certain Amazonian princess.
TIMES: How old were you when you broke into the music business?
CARTER: I was 14. It was at a high school dance in Phoenix. I played a few dances with this group of guys. One day the guitar player didn't have a pick. Someone knew someone, one of those things, brought one over, listened to me and offered me a job in his band. It went like that. I went from band to band and better venues. After I graduated, I went on the road with The Relatives. I was 17. The first time I went to the Catskills Mountains, I was 19 and touring with (Howard) "Speedy" Garfin, the saxophone player.
TIMES: Did you ever play Chicago?
CARTER: Yes. I had pizza at Uno's Pizzeria, the original one. I remember going down to Rush Street and going into clubs on my day off. I was young and it was fun.
TIMES: You have such a smoky voice. Are you a mezzo soprano?
CARTER: I'd say I'm an alto. I span the alto range through I move up and down. I've got quite a good range.
TIMES: Tell us about your cabaret show.
CARTER: It was an opportunity for me to sing whatever I wanted to sing ... what I've wanted to do for a long time, or songs I only did once on a special. I didn't want to do a theme-based show, "Lynda Sings X" or "Lynda Sings Y." I wanted it to be more organic, more of an experience for myself. I take that journey with the audience, walking them through and sharing the music with them. It does something for me. ... you get something like fever. It's just that groove. My favorite songwriters are Irving Berlin, Ira (Gershwin). I also do a song by Willie Nelson and a song by James Taylor. They're poets. That's probably where i tend to land.
TIMES: Your favorite standards to perform?
CARTER: "Always." "Blues in the Night." "As Time Goes By." "Secret O' Life" by James Taylor ... I love Willie Nelson, as many people do. I do "Crazy," the song he wrote for Patsy Cline years ago. ... It's different every night. There's never a song that's sung the same. It's always different because it's live.
TIMES: You still do your share of stage, TV and movie roles. You played a bionic principal in "Sky High." Was your character's Wonder Woman-like spin your idea?
CARTER: I think it was a collaboration. Most things that are very cool are. The director was a blast. We were talking about it and i was up for it.
TIMES: Wonder Woman/Diana Prince was always saving love interest Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) from certain doom. Any memorable rescues stick out in your mind?
CARTER: Oh, certainly. We didn't have all these special effects. We had to jerry-rig things. He used to have his butt on a plank and guys in the crew would be carrying him on the board and make it look like I was carrying him.
TIMES: You were famous for doing your own stunts. Can you recap the Bubba Smith incident?
CARTER: Well, he decided he was not going to be flipped by Wonder Woman. By any woman. And it was part of the script. So the stunt director set everything up, "We'll practice this just once, Bubba, just once." And we were actually filming it. He was pretty surprised when I flipped him. I'm not little -- I'm 5-10. It was just leverage, that's all.
TIMES: If you had a working magic lasso, who would you rope and demand they tell the truth: President Bush, Dick Cheney, your husband, or your two kids?
CARTER: Definitely Dick Cheney.
