L-word: When you write, do you feel like you write for yourself or for others?

SH: When I’m writing a blog I think I’m writing for others but the minute I start it’s all for myself. Being selfish is the greatest thing because when you’re really selfish that’s when you are being truthful, when you really, really trying to describe something. I feel like people don’t do it anymore, people don’t talk anymore. They are not creative anymore, except in their little private places. Even as a mother, I’ll be standing with another mother who I don’t know and that mother says something really personal, and I go “Wow, thank you so much. That is such an insight. You are such a different person than I thought.” That’s how my mind goes. So I think being selfish enough to write for yourself and put it out there and let people just have it, it’s a great gift to other people.

L-word: You mentioned a musical you’ve been working on. Tell me more about this project.

SH: We did the first reading with Kristin (Chenoweth) in New York, she starts as a lead and Kathy Marshall directed the reading. The other musical is about Janis Joplin, which is coming in October. We are working on it. In fact, Gigi and I are only focusing on Janis right now because we have so little time to do such a big, and for us, a personally important show. You can’t slight Janis, you can’t rip her off. You got to do a great show because it’s Janis Joplin. So we only focusing on Janis until the end of October and then everyone will be back in shape for the other one.

L-word: Have you watched the new show “Smash” about making a musical about Marilyn Monroe? Is this musical sort of the same about Janis’s life and career?

SH: No, it’s so different. It’s really creative. Janis is going to be like a messenger with new thoughts. It’s not about the Janis that everybody knows. This is the Janis with new things to say, things you haven’t heard her say before, and a new take on things. A lot of it is going to be channeling Janis because she was very much this way and it’s not something that any performer can do because you have to really sense what Janis might have done in this moment. Because the audience will be so in love with Janis, so wanting to be part of Janis, hopefully they put questions out. There’s even one part where she writes the song with the audience. One of Janis’s most famous songs “Mercedes Benz” was written with the audience so we are going to be doing that too. It’s going to be so fresh every night.

L-word: Are you going from city to city with it?

SH: We are starting here at Macha Theater in West Hollywood on October 4^th and it’s three nights a week.