Broadway's Best June 14, 2003 WPIX - New York

Many Thanks to my transcriber!

Toni Senecal:  …And for all you Trekkies out there, Captain Janeway of Voyager, Kate Mulgrew to us mere mortals, has landed in "Tea at Five", a one-woman show about Katharine Hepburn. Live long and prosper!

(Note: The entire interview is interspersed with various clips from the first act of "Tea at Five")

Kate Mulgrew:  Indeed it is daunting to play the life of such an extraordinary person as Miss Hepburn is, but the play was written and conceived for me by the very talented Matthew Lombardo, and with that exclusivity in mind, I have to tell you that it was a sort of exalting feeling, initially.  And then developed into what I can only describe as a love affair in the rehearsal process.  So what was initially daunting evolved into something quite marvelous.

In my own mind, I'm just an actress.  I've been an actress for thirty years.  But I find now, in retrospect, that I've played iconic roles.  Mary Ryan, on Ryan's Hope – which still gets recognition – bizarrely!  Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, and now the great Kate Hepburn.

Kathryn Janeway was an extraordinary woman.  A noble woman.  And not without her flaws.  As is Miss Hepburn.  And certainly Mary Ryan.  So I hope that what I'm doing is representing women who have overcome great peril in both their professional and private lives by owning up to the maverick spirit which truly drives them.