Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509070010
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CULVER CITY, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
This is Dorothy Lyman's new home. For the first 13 episodes of CBS' ``The Nanny'' this season, she will preside as benevolent ruler of the control room, calling instructions to the four cameras taping the hit show starring Fran Drescher.
It is the morning after the dress rehearsal for the season's first episode, which includes a food fight involving 50 teen-agers and adults.
``I love shot No. 9,'' she says to a technician, who beams under her approval. She issues a few other comments about the previous night's rehearsal, then walks downstairs to show the sets to a visitor.
``Nanny'' is taped in one of the big sound stages at Culver Studio, a newly modernized lot where ``Gone with the Wind'' was filmed. Rows of bleachers face the sets where the actors perform.
And not just two sets, as in the ``I Love Lucy'' days. There are half a dozen scenes for the family home, along with two ``swing'' sets at each end of the bleachers. These are out of view of the audience, but can be seen on monitors.
``At 6 o'clock, we get a big band in here, a 15-piece orchestra,'' she remarks. ``There'll be 300 people sitting up there. It's rockin' and rollin' in here on tape night. The energy is extraordinary.''
So is Dorothy Lyman's. Aside from her long days on ``Nanny,'' she appears on weekends at the Geo theater in Hollywood in her own play, ``A Rage in Tenure.'' It has been running since June to critical acclaim.
``This is the first play I've ever written,'' she says. ``It's the largest expression as an artist I've ever had. The great joy is to act in it, because I've never had a part this good.''
As if all this is not enough, Lyman has a recurring role as Cynthia Stevenson's mother on ``Hope and Gloria,'' which proved a midseason hit for NBC.
``We work three weeks on `Nanny,' then take a week off,'' she comments. ``So if they want me back, I can do it.''
Meanwhile Lyman has her own family to maintain. Her husband is Vincent Malle, producer for his brother, famed French director Louis Malle. There are three children: a daughter, 24, a ``Nanny'' production assistant; son, 21, an actor on TV's syndicated ``Weird Science''; a son, 10, who goes to school nearby and hangs out on the ``Nanny'' set in the afternoon.
How does she manage all these activities?
``I've always had a lot of energy,'' she explains, ``I've always been able to juggle a number of balls. Anybody who has ever been a mother has to know how to do more than one thing at once.''
Dorothy Lyman is a tall 48-year-old with an expressive face. She listens attentively to inquiries from personnel and delivers her responses immediately. She credits her soap opera years for helping her cope with the sitcom world.
``I really made my reputation as an actress in the soaps,'' she declares. ``I spent 15 years in New York doing them, and I won two Emmys for a part I played on `All My Children.'
``I know that soaps take in one day what sitcoms take a week to do. When I wanted to learn and get into the [directing] game, I sought out soaps to do it on. You learn so much faster there.''
She spent four months observing on the soaper ``Generations.'' She had also studied the director's trade during her eight years as an actress on ``Mama's Family.''
Lyman has been directing in the theater since 1980, when she staged the successful ``A Couple of White Chicks Sitting Around Talking'' in New York.
Lyman directed three ``Nanny'' shows last season and has been signed for the first 13 this season, with an option that could go the full 26 weeks.
``I hope it happens, because I've had a great time,'' she says. ``The only problem is: I've got to get some more comfortable shoes. I'm on my feet 12 hours a day.
``Fashion is out of the question. Now I know why directors wear basketball shoes. I'll have to spend some time this weekend at the Beverly Center mall.''
by CNB