Paige Davis
Your portrayal of Roxie has an innocent, even naïve, quality. How do you see the character?
She's desperate for love and even more desperate for validation. She wants to know she's something special, which is a feeling everyone can relate to. Even when she's doing these horrible things--not just the murder but the lying and manipulation and the way she treats Amos--the audience still feels for her because they can identify with those basic needs. When I'm Roxie, I feel both strong and vulnerable.
Given your sweet and sunny reputation, did you have any hesitation about playing this particular role on Broadway?
Sure--what are people going to say when they see Paige Davis shoot her lover? [laughs] But my friends and family tell me that when they watch the show, they see me at first but then quickly forget that it's me and just see Roxie. That's means I'm doing my job, and hopefully the fans are making that distinction, too.
The audience at the performance I saw seemed packed with your fans.
Last night was the biggest group ever--I felt like a rock star! It was a wonderful performance and it seemed like all of them stayed afterward. I was so touched, because it takes 15 minutes or more before I leave the theater because I often have guests in my dressing room after the show. But the security guard tells them that I will come down and I'll stay [to greet fans], and they all wait.
Do you get the feeling that this is the first Broadway show some of these folks have ever seen?
Oh, I know that to be a fact because people tell me.
It's sort of amusing that this would be their first--Chicago ain't 42nd Street!
No, but it's a good show and they seem to love it. Hey, if my name from a television show can get people to come and see theater, so be it. And my response when they say "This is my first Broadway show" is always "I hope it won't be your last."
How difficult was it to get back in shape for doing eight shows a week?
It was hard. I was able to squeeze in one dance class last year when I was in New York and my teacher said, "TV's made you soft." [laughs] I'm not the same body I had three years ago, that's for sure, because I haven't been dancing every day, but I've managed to keep up the stamina; so much of it is adrenaline, and I'm having the time of my life.
And your castmates know that you really do have a theater background.
I already knew almost everyone. I have a long association with Chicago; I did the national tour, I did the Broadway company for a brief time, and I did the production that was in Lisbon. The current Broadway company is just a big conglomeration of people from all those different companies. It felt like coming home.
Did you ever expect this level of fame from Trading Spaces?
Never. I hoped that it would further my career, which is an elusive, potentially unattainable goal. I had to fight hard for the audition because I didn't have any television experience. But in addition to feeling that the show would be a blast because the concept is such a hoot, I thought it would be a chance to cut my chops in television on a show that's further down the dial. Little did I know that I would be cutting my chops in front of 18 million people a week! It's been pretty intense.
How many episodes do you do in a season?
Last year we did 72. I'm always away from home. Each episode takes three days of production--there's a setup day, which we call day zero, and then there's day one and two of the actual challenge.
That much travel might be a shock to someone who had never been on the road.
I moved around a lot as a kid, and that prepared me for my initial gypsy life of touring in Broadway shows and regional theater. It's funny that I had to fight so hard for the [Trading Spaces] audition; they had no idea how much experience I was bringing to the table in terms of getting a show up quickly.
Were you a home improvement junkie before joining Trading Spaces?
No, and I'm still not. [laughs] That's a little-known secret: I hate home improvement. I love decorating; my mom studied interior design and I was thrilled to do stuff on the house with her, but I don't like all the [nitty-gritty] work. I'm very physical when I'm dancing, but I don't have patience to work on anything that's tedious.
I find the premise of Trading Spaces fascinating because I would never let someone come in and mess with my home.
It's amazing what people will do to be on TV! But audiences really get seduced by it, and 99 percent of the time, the homeowners are thrilled. We see tears of joy all the time. Nobody thinks they're going to come home and see a room they don't like.
Do you usually like the result, or do you have to fake it?
Obviously some are more to my taste than others, but I love most of the rooms. This is going to sound really Pollyanna, but when you watch a team--a designer and carpenter and two neighbors--kicking their butts to put together a room, it's hard not to like it when it's finished. There's blood, sweat, and tears, arguments and joy and energy and everything else, and when they get in done on time and on budget [$1,000 per room], it's impossible not to appreciate it. I'm really nerdy that way; I get really enthusiastic about everything I do.
Do you feel any frustration in being known as a TV host rather than as an actress?
It's definitely starting to get out there that acting is in my background. I've been given offers to do guest appearances on sitcoms. Look, I'm starring on Broadway!
I understand that you met your husband, Patrick Page, on tour.
Yes, I was playing Babette and he was playing Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast. We were joined at the hip as close friends right away, and that was eight and a half years ago. Everybody jokes about "showmances," so I guess we were the showmance that lasted. We're living the dream big time right now.
You're the well-known half of the couple; how do you avoid competition?
Patrick has always been tremendously supportive. The only thing he's jealous of is my cell phone because I'm always on it. He's been an absolute support, both emotionally and just in getting things done. When we moved, he accomplished the whole task by himself--the closing on the apartment, the moving, everything.
And he's been a good sport about having your wedding and your apartment featured on TV.
The wedding show was really a pleasurable experience, and it was good for the fans because I had just replaced the host from the first season and it was a chance for them to see me in another way than just this annoying, perky, nagging time-cruncher and budget buster. And we have the greatest wedding tape ever!
I'm sure The Learning Channel will eventually want to run a special on Paige and Patrick having a baby.
I'm sure they'll ask but I won't do it! [laughs]
Were you surprised by the controversy generated by your appearance at Broadway Bares? [Under the headline "Paige Davis: Girl Gone Wild!" Star ran suggestive photos of Davis being ogled by patrons at the popular fund-raiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.]
It's such a wonderful event, and they raise so much money, but it's definitely raucous and risqué. If the coverage of it caused any difficulty for my fans who don't understand the nature of the event, I'm really sorry. I would hate to think that someone would have an incorrect opinion about my motivation for being there. I was honored to be asked to give the thank-yous for the event and introduce Jerry Mitchell, but if I had the decision to make again, I would make a different choice.
Do you mean you wouldn't go?
No, I would certainly go, but I wouldn't have participated in the rotation to try to raise more money.
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Hopefully with a baby! Who knows--the thing is, my life has changed so radically in the last three years, I can't even imagine what I will be doing five years from now. I have the same aspirations everybody has; I would love to do a sitcom or a dramedy, and one day I'd like to do film. I don't want to have to choose television over stage or choose career over family. Given the different time frames in my life, I will have to focus on different things, but I hope that over time I can have a balance of everything.