PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Dee Hoty

By Ernio Hernandez
27 Oct 2009

Dee Hoty
Dee Hoty

Dee Hoty, currently playing Mrs. MacAfee in Broadway's revival of the musical Bye Bye Birdie, fills out Playbill.com's offbeat pop culture questionnaire.


Full given name: Dorothy Marie Hoty (for my mother!) There is a "Junior" on my birth certificate!
Hometown: Lakewood, OH (suburb of Cleveland)
Zodiac sign: Leo
Audition song: Audition with standards & lesser-known classics: Noel Coward, Jerome Kern, etc.
Special skills: I learned to juggle when I did Barnum, but I don't practice much!
First Broadway show ever saw: The original cast of Promises, Promises w/ Jerry Orbach!
If you could go back in time and catch any Broadway show, what would it be? Hmm...Follies, Music Man, Angela Lansbury in Mame, Oklahoma!, Opening Night of the original A Chorus Line!
Current show you have been recommending to friends: Toxic Avenger (you gotta see Nancy Opel!), and toss-up between West Side Story, Next To Normal and Shrek
Favorite showtune: Hmm, odd as it may sound, I love the score to The Fantasticks
MAC or PC? I have a PC, but it's so old ('03 — I KNOW!) and I'd like to get a Mac.
Most played song on your iPod: I don't own an iPod; I have a small mp3 player that records, so I use it for rehearsals, and it holds about 10 albums — usually something I'm learning, or dressing room music (I have speakers!)
Web obsession: Listen, it's all I can do to wade through my email, or God help me, the Facebook, but I am a sucker for clearing house/ clothing/ shoe/ sale/ shopping places
Last book you read: "The Cradle." Short & dear, loved it.
Favorite board/card game: Monopoly, some Trivial Pursuit, progressive gin like "Shanghai" as we call it, or dominoes
Performer you would drop everything to go see: Tommy Tune
Pop culture guilty pleasure: Umm, do cupcakes count? Does "Nightline"?
First stage kiss: Yikes! This is when you know you're getting old; not sure I remember. There are perks to being a Leading Lady & that's certainly one of them. Some of my favorites, though? James Naughton in City of Angels (He's so yummy!) And, back in the day, Keith Carradine in Will Rogers Follies. All the "Sams" in Mamma Mia! See what I mean? An embarrassment of riches there. Sadly, no Bill Irwin kiss in Bye Bye Birdie - not sure how Mr. & Mrs. MacAfee got those 2 kids! 
Favorite pre-show meal: A little protein, some salad/veggies, not too much, but enough to stoke the furnace.
How you got your Equity card: I got my Equity Card after playing 2 seasons as a paid apprentice/fellow at the Cleveland Play House. I'm very proud of that. Jack Lee was putting up The Cat and the Fiddle & they needed actors who sang. Thank you to the late Richard Oberlin.
Worst onstage mishap: Getting stuck "on the moon" in Will Rogers Follies (the winch broke!) & having to be hand-cranked down while I sang "My Unknown Someone." Also got stuck upstage on the Alaura Kingsley bed in City of Angels Fun, fun, fun! Never heard the band do so many repeats of the same 4-measure vamp. Hilarious!
Who have you played on "Law & Order"? Which edition? I've played "mean Mommy" on "CI", and repeated as Judge Harriet Kepner on the original. (it was meant to be "Harold" but they liked me & Judith Light was still in L.A.)
Worst costume ever: Also became on of my favorites: the "Diva" gown Willa Kim designed for me for WRF. It began as a disaster — had to be literally taped on me the first night, but was re-thought, & ended up a truly amazing Erte-style jewel green velvet wonder. I also loved my clothes in Dolittle (tour) and Flo Klotz's designs for City of Angels, and my beloved Bob Mackie's for Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public; Man, those were HOT! Bob GETS women's bodies/style!
Pet's name? My year old rescue Pomeranian (from B'way Barks this July!) is Sophie. She has only 3 legs & gets around better than I do on two!
Worst job you ever had: Making a filmed industrial for Kirby vacuum cleaners (back in Cleveland — how I got my SAG card). Here was my line, as I demo'd the sweeper on my carpet: "My! The Kirby really DOES suck!" I'm not kidding…! (I think they changed it later.)
Leading lady role you've been dying to play: Anna in King & I, Margo in Applause, and Regina in The Little Foxes. And Beatrice in Much Ado, before I "hag" out completely!
What musicals should be revived soon on Broadway? 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Rex and, yes, Whorehouse Goes Public, in rep with the first Whorehouse. THAT would be swell. Like the Chicago rediscovery, I believe someone will put that show up & really nail it.