Cantone took time recently to talk by phone from New York about his career, his current touring show and his love of Northern California:
Q: You spend quite a bit of time in Sonoma County, don't you? There have been sightings in Healdsburg.
A: Sightings, yes, at Flying Goat Coffee and the Downtown Bakery. I'm there a lot. I used to go to Napa a lot with my husband. I knew (celebrity chef and restaurateur) Charlie Palmer from Dry Creek Kitchen, and I met his wife (Lisa) at a dinner. She said, "You've got to come to Healdsburg."
Q: How long have been coming to Sonoma County?
A: We started going to Napa in the early '90s, but I would say we started going to Healdsburg in about 2008.
Q: That's a long trip from New York.
A: When we come to Northern California, it's like flying to Amsterdam. It's so long. I swear to God, it's like they slow down the planes to save gas. They say they're not, but I say, "Yes you are! I could be in Paris by now!"
Q: You'd better watch out for the sky marshals.
A: They know me. There's always a handsome, buff man sitting next to me, and I say, "I know you're a sky marshal!"
Q: Are you coming to Sonoma County alone this time?
A: My husband, Jerry, is on Broadway right now in a show called "If Then" with Idina Menzel. Now I call myself Mary Noble, Backstage Wife. I just make cookies for the cast and deliver them to the stage door.
Q: What can your fans expect to see tonight?
A: I've been touring around a little bit with my new one-man show, and this is my pre-Broadway mini-tour before I get it there. The first show was more autobiographical. In this one, there's not so much of that. This one has six musical numbers in it.
Q: Most people know you from "Sex and the City." Do they expect to see you play that character onstage?
A: No, they don't, because they know me from that, but also "The View," which is that same female audience.
Q: How long have you been appearing on "The View"?
A: I've been doing it for 17 years. I've been co-hosting a lot. But when I'm on there, and it's my segment, I get a chance to give people a taste of what I do in a one-man show.
Q: How did you get started in show business?
A: I started doing stand-up in the '80s in mainstream comedy rooms in New York like the Improv and Catch a Rising Star with Ray Romano (of "Everybody Loves Raymond"), and a lot of great ones. It just kind of went from there. My first Broadway show was in 1995. That was "Love! Valour! Compassion!" Then I did five Broadway shows. I did two in row, and then 10 years later, I did three in a row. Weird.
Q: Are you working on a new TV project?
A: I just did a pilot called "Hindsight" for VH1. It's a scripted show that just got picked up, so we start shooting that in August either there or in New York or Atlanta. It's about a girl in the present who goes back to 1995 and tries to fix her life. I play her movie-producing boss in both periods of her life. It's a recurring role.
Q: Sounds like you're busy.
A: It's sporadic, but I like it that way. It's good. I like my down time. I'm not a workaholic. I'd rather be roaming around Northern California, drinking wine.
Q: Is there something on your list you haven't done?
A: Yes, stardom and a lovely movie career. Every TV series I've done, I've always been a recurring character. I've never been a regular, which means more money. But with the recurring roles, you have more freedom, which is a good thing. I go do my concerts.
You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. See his ARTS blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.
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