Monday, April 13, 1998
After years of tragedy, Lisa Carroll fights back
THEATER: Car accidents haven’t stopped talented singer, actress
from realizing dreams of show biz
By Sam Toussi
Daily Bruin Contributor
The show must go on.
It’s a cliche, but cliches become cliches for a reason, as Lisa
Carroll’s story seems to prove.
Now, Carroll has returned to Los Angeles with a one-woman show
at the CineGrill of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. After her show
concludes its one week run on April 19, Carroll will be at UCLA’s
career day on April 20.
Carroll grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota, where she discovered
her love for acting very early in life. At the age of 5 she was
winning prestigious competitions in acting and singing.
"In one contest I won a trophy and a Christmas tree," she
laughs.
But while she was in an entertainment wilderness, it wasn’t a
surprise that she loved acting and singing, given her
bloodlines.
"My father always wanted to be an opera singer," she explains.
"I once walked by the shower and heard the most beautiful singing,
and I went to the radio to turn it louder but it was my father
singing in the shower. Later in life I also learned that when I was
four, my mother drove to Hollywood by herself and tried to get in
pictures."
Carroll went on to pursue a career in opera singing, but first
she came to UCLA to take part in the music and drama department.
She was in numerous shows, including one in which she played a lion
tamer.
"I must have been convincing, but I didn’t even understand some
of my lines," she muses. "One was, ‘Why don’t my lions love me?’ I
didn’t even know about life yet, let alone bestiality."
Deviant theater aside, Carroll remembers her time at UCLA
fondly.
"It was the happiest time of my life," she says. "When I was
here, Melnitz wasn’t a hall, he was a funny German man who we’d
make fun of because, you know, we had a tough time understanding
him."
Yet when opportunities began to present themselves to Carroll,
she left UCLA.
"I never finished my degree because I got an offer to be in
pictures and I was in a play at the Pasadena playhouse," she
explains. "I really want to be in this profession. When opportunity
knocked, you go through the door and don’t say ‘it’ll come to me
later.’"
After singing at the Hollywood Bowl, Carroll was offered an
audition with the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Here, Carroll’s story turns tragic before becoming triumphant.
On the way to the audition, she and her mother were involved in a
car accident in which six people died. Luckily, Carroll and her
mother survived, but Carroll was paralyzed on her left side. She
was told that she would never walk or even talk again.
‘(The first thing that ran through my mind) was ‘How could God
be so cruel?’"
Yet Carroll kept the faith. Along with much support from family
and friends, she found the will to rehabilitate.
"Everybody rallied around me. Charlie Chaplin’s son would get me
to laugh, entertain me in the hospital by doing imitations of his
father. When visiting hours ended, he would hide in the closet and
entertain me some more."
Thanks to youth, incredible drive and ambition, she worked her
way back. However, along the way she was told that she could never
perform opera again.
"I was crushed. I didn’t think of anything but opera as art, but
I came to understand that you could be an artist in anything."
She began a career in cabaret and musical theater. She landed a
part as Carol Channing’s understudy in "Hello Dolly."
"That’s her claim to fame," says former LA Times editor Charles
Champlin. "Of course, Ms. Channing would have been taken on stage
with an iron lung before she missed a performance."
Carroll grew tired of waiting in the wings. After grabbing
headlines in San Francisco as a talented newcomer, she left the
touring production. She went back to New York only to find herself
blackballed by her former "Hello Dolly" producer.
She left for England, paying her way by performing on the cruise
ship that took her there. In England, she hosted the BBC’s "Night
Ride" for three years and recorded for CBS records in that
time.
In 1993, tragedy struck again. Carroll was hospitalized after
yet another car accident. By this time Carroll had grown tired of
opera and pop and began to listen to rap music.
"I would keep a diary of words because I found the rap music
absolutely fascinating. I would use those words with some of my
nurses, and they thought I was just a riot. But I got pretty good
at it."
Carroll got so good at it that she was able to record "Rapping
with Dr. Wruth" and "Rappin Roofus." "Rappin Roofus" was a
children’s album which will yield a line of toys due out next
Christmas.
Carroll also made an astonishing, critically-acclaimed comeback
at the Tavern on the Green in New York.
Her current show in Los Angeles seeks to continue that cabaret
tradition. The performance features a variety of songs with
anecdotes from Carroll’s own life, from an amusing story about
Lucille Ball to a dig at Carol Channing.
"(Carroll) certainly has a great deal of verve," Champlin says.
"She’s a survivor of a very long cabaret tradition, which is
getting harder and harder to see, even on television."
Jackie Mason has said that she has "flair for comedy" and the
Hollywood Reporter said she has "a rich, simmering voice."
While all these assessments may be true, it’s Champlin’s
description that fits best: she’s a survivor.
The CineGrill of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will present Lisa
Carroll from April 13 to April 19. Tickets are $15 with a $10 drink
minimum. Call (213) 466-7000 for more information. Carroll will be
at UCLA on April 20 for Career Week.Fay Morely Productions
Lisa Carroll is returning to the theater after recovering from a
car accident.