Questions for Fran Brill?

[stephenjlizard]

Hey all,

I'll be talking with Fran Brill in a week or so for the podcast, and I wanted to extend the invitation to everyone to list some questions you'd like me to ask her. So if you think of anything, post it here, and I'll try to fit your question(s) into the interview! Thanks!

[minor muppetz]

Okay, here are some:
Jim Henson had performed Little Bird in a few skits from the first season, before Fran Brill did. Was there any reason (known to Fran) why Fran Brill took over, and why didn't the character last very long on the show?
Watching the credit crawls on the Sesame Street: Old School sets, I noticed that Fran Brill was credited in the second season, and then was not in the credits for many years, though I'm sure she's currently in the credits. Why is this?
What was it like performing on The Cosby Show when the Muppets appeared?
How did she like performing in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence?
What was it like performing on The Jim Henson Hour?
I'd also like to hear her talk about her experiences in the various Sesame Street anniversary specials.

[MrsPepper]

Coming from someone who pretty much WAS Prairie Dawn as a child (right down to the piano-playing and slight bossiness! ;) ), I would like to ask Fran:

How does it feel to be a female muppeteer and know that so many little girls have grown up watching Sesame Street, and have been able to identify with your female characters?

[minor muppetz]

I have another question, that I've been wondering for a long time, and if you ask her this then I don't care if you don't ask any of the other questions that I've asked.

On The Jim Henson Hour, Fran Brill performed the female drumer for the Solid Foam band. I want to know if she had an official name, and if Fran can remember her name, what the name was.

[stephenjlizard]

These are great questions, minor_muppetz and MrsPepper! Everybody, keep 'em coming! We have time; she won't be on the show for at least a couple weeks.

[BEAR]

Oh how wonderful you are getting to talk to Fran Brill, Steve! I've been waiting for an audio or video interview with her for some time now. She seems like such a wonderful person and I think she is one of the most underrated Muppet performers today. I have several questions for her, but I'll start with this one because it's been driving me nuts and the question must be answered here at MC once and for all...:

Is Little Bird and male or a female?

I've heard the character be referred to as either on a number of occassions.

Thanks, Steve! I definitely will have more coming. I am especially excited about this interview! She is one of my favorite of the Muppeteers!

[matleo]

Hey Steve,

I'd like to know what it was like working on Dog City and the tv series that followed, The original special is, I think, one of the best projects Henson ever did.

Also, delving into her non-Muppet career a bit, what was it like working with Frank Oz on "What about Bob"? Was that something he asked her to do? Did he mention the project to her and then she auditioned for it? How was it different from working with him on Muppets?

--matleo

[MrsPepper]

what was it like working with Frank Oz on "What about Bob"? Was that something he asked her to do? Did he mention the project to her and then she auditioned for it? How was it different from working with him on Muppets?

Good question, matleo! I hope it gets answered, I really love that movie. :p

[stephenjlizard]

Any more questions for Ms. Brill? We're doing the interview on Wednesday night, so get all your last-minute questions in now!

[heralde]

I would be interested if she has any memories of The Great Santa Claus Switch. Also, that little song that Praire Dawn always plays during the Sesame Street paegents, does she recall how that came about? Also, did she ever do the voice of Little Bird for a straight-to-video Sesame Street cartoon?

And since we already got a lot of Richard stories from other performers, maybe you could ask her as well? I know they they were chosen to be with the Muppets from the same workshop, which lead to The Great Santa Claus Switch.

[minor muppetz]

Ithink it would be interesting to know why she didn't perform in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street or Follow That Bird. Not as important as other questions that have been suggested here, but would still be interesting.

And maybe you can ask her what it was like performing in Elmo in Grouchland.

[minor muppetz]

I don't knwo fi this is the right palce to ask or not, but I have noticed that you've been able to arrange interviews with people invovled with the Mupets, including performers and crew members. Have you ever thought about arranging interviews with members of the Sesame Street human cast or Muppet Babies voice actors? I guess it would be easier to get interviews with human cast members (as most of the performers you have interviewed are still active on Sesame Street).

[dwmckim]

Fran is one of my all time fave Muppet performers and i had the good fortune of attending one of her presentations when she was here in AZ in conjunction with Jim Henson's Fantastic Worlds. I had a whole bunch of questions i had wanted to ask and most of them did get answered but i also held back since i didn't want to monopolize the panel with my questions - so here's some leftover questions which maybe she cover this time around...

-- Is there a particular performance that stands out in her mind as one that she's the most proud of with the Muppets - then the same question in terms of her acting career outside the Muppets

-- I really hope you're able to ask her/get her to talk about her acting career outside the Muppets - almost every rare interview she does is totally focused on her Muppeteer experience but i'm sure many of us would love to hear her also talk about her non-Muppet work. Would especially like to hear her talk about her experiences as a soap star.

[stephenjlizard]

minor_muppetz: about that last question, I'm working on that too.

[dwayne1115]

Steve Talk to Greg over at the Muppet Newsflash We did a real good interview with Alan, and he might want to come on the show.

[stephenjlizard]

I just got off the phone with her. She was wonderful, but she didn't have very long. Zoe and Prarie Dawn made an appearance, and while we didn't have time for an extremely long talk, she was gracious enough to say she'll email me and answer some of the other questions I didn't get to ask her in person. Fun times!

[SesameStMuppets]

Steve,

I think this is so great that you have this opportunity to speak with Ms. Brill. I'm sorry if this post is too late... Nevertheless:

Throughout all the "big time" performers for the Muppets, special relationships have developed from working together that allow for a strong chemistry in the characters' performances (i.e.- Jim and Frank, Steve and Dave, Jerry and Richard). Is there anyone in particular who she has become close with? Possibly Caroll Spinney, as she and him are the primary Sesame vetrans (plus, now I guess Kevin Clash has risen to that status), and the now added 'bonus' of Big Bird being Zoe's idol.

Good luck with the interview! I hope your time with her is something special. I can't wait to hear the podcast!

[SesameStMuppets]

Wow! That timing couldn't have been more planned if I was making the podcast myself! Sorry about that Steve, I literally started writing one minute before you posted that you finished the interview... Oh well! Maybe you can forward the question in the e-mail to her. Or maybe I can make sure to get questions in on time! :o