Interview with Patricia Resnick

AE: Dolly has a few rumors, but I think it's more wishful thinking.
PR: That's what she was joking about because everybody's always said her best friend and assistant, Judy, and she are together. And she said now she can retire that rumor and start [a new] one.

AE: No, I think they've moved on to the other BFF's, Oprah and Gayle.
PR: Right, right.

AE: Have Lily Tomlin or Jane Fonda seen the play yet?
PR: Lily, and Jane, and Dabney Coleman all came to opening night. It was great, wonderful. Jane cried; they all got kind of teary afterwards. They said wonderful things and seemed to really like it.

L to R: Resnick, Dabney Coleman, Allison Janney, Lily Tomlin, Megan Hilty, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Stephanie Block, Marc Kudisch

Photo credit: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

AE: Get ready to be famous all over again, Pat.
PR: This is the first time this has ever happened to me: I started coming out the stage door and people would recognize me and ask for my autograph. And it was the weirdest … The first thing I thought was, "Do they have a check under there and is it going to bleed through?"

AE: That's the reach of the internet: There are more images, more access to interviews you may have done. And now, they come to the show and say, "There she is." That didn't happen in 1979.
PR: No, absolutely not. I finally got used to it in the last couple of months. But the first couple of times, it was very strange.

AE: Enjoy it. You deserve it.
PR: Well, thank you.

AE: When we blogged about the play going to Broadway, a few readers commented they plan on making a trip to New York, just to see it.
PR: And just so you know, we have a publicist of some sort for the show that gets internet clips of everything that mentions the show, so your blog went out to the entire cast and crew, as will this interview.

AE: Really? Did I mention that I love Allison Janney and she should call me?
PR: Everybody's totally in love with Allison Janney on the show.

AE: And Stephanie Block and Megan Hilty are tremendous musical theater talents. The show is so lucky to have them.
PR: I love our whole cast. And we're keeping everybody. We're all going to Broadway together.

Resnick with cast members Megan Hilty (left) and Stephanie Block

Photo credit: Ryan Miller/Getty Images