Cecily Strong revered Lily Tomlin’s one-woman show 'The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe' when she was growing up. Now the 'SNL' veteran is reviving it at the Taper.
If you’re used to seeing someone in the two-dimensional flatness of a Zoom box, it can be magical when you finally meet in person. And on a recent Friday afternoon in the Valley, that transpired when Cecily Strong and Leigh Silverman first wrapped arms around Jane Wagner, the doyenne of comedy writing who penned ”The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” — the play that Strong currently stars in, and Silverman directs,“We quote you all day,” says Strong.
“Your writing is so revelatory, every line,” Strong says to Wagner. “In the audience, some people are laughing nervously while other people are crying. You left it open, so everyone is going to have their own experience while watching this show.” Like almost everything in Tomlin and Wagner’s life, Edith Ann crystallized as the result of a fruitful collaboration that began in the early 1970s and continues to this day. Wagner entertains her guests solo — Tomlin having passed on an interview in a humble attempt to not steal the limelight from those who have taken up the torch she has passed.
“I don’t know who else she would have liked to have done it,” says Wagner. “She’s very protective in a way.”
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Cecily Strong revered Lily Tomlin's one-woman show growing up. Why she's reviving it nowCecily Strong revered Lily Tomlin’s one-woman show 'The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe' when she was growing up. Now the 'SNL' veteran is reviving it at the Taper.
Read more »