A conversation with Reba McEntire
“Reba,” which airs weekly on The WB, focuses on a divorced woman, Reba Hart, whose relationships with her children, her former husband, Brock Hart (played by “Murphy Brown’s” Christopher Rich), and his second wife, Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman), and other assorted kith and kin provide a perfect definition of what the term “dysfunctional family” is all about. The series also stars Joanna Garcia as Reba and Brock’s daughter, Cheynne, who gave birth to her first child just about the time Barbra Jean, her young stepmom, brought her baby into the world; Mitch Holleman as Brock and Reba’s son, Jake; Scarlette Pomers as their second daughter, Kyra; and Steve Howey as Cheyenne’s husband, Van. Multi-award-winning actor, singer and composer Reba McEntire stars as Reba Hart.
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I chatted with Reba McEntire just a few days before she was to make her third appearance as host of the Annual Academy of Country Music Awards show on CBS.
“I love being part of these shows,” she said. “Whether I’m in the audience or up there on the stage, doesn’t matter. It’s great just to be with a lot of people I care about personally as well as professionally. And all of us get to cheering on our favorite music and the talented folks who make it all happen.”
Earlier this year, Reba McEntire became the first person to receive the newly renamed CMT (Country Music Television) Visionary Award, which will now be called the Johnny Cash Visionary Award in tribute to the “Man in Black.”
McEntire says, “Johnny was an extraordinary human being and a great artist … and I’m honored to receive an award (that was created) in recognition of his many achievements.”
McEntire says being part of the world of country music is like being a member of a big, warm, generous family.
“These are some of the most wonderful folks you could possibly hope to know. When you need friends, they’ll be there for you.”
And, of course, McEntire says the music is special too.
“A lot of people talk about country music going commercial. Well, that may be true to some extent. Making and selling records, and doing concerts — it’s all part of the business end of it. But the music itself still comes from deep inside the person who creates it, sings it and plays it.”
As for the growing popularity of her WB series, “Reba,” McEntire says she always hoped it would catch on. “I thought it was good when it was still on paper. But the fact is you never know about these things until the show is actually on the screen for the audience to find and decide whether they like it enough to keep coming back to it.”
And, obviously, with three seasons of airtime to its credit, viewers keep coming back for more. And why?
“People see Reba and her admittedly dysfunctional family as folks who are trying to cope with life as they find it, and who make mistakes and move on — usually to make more mistakes. And Reba Hart is there to deal not only with her own problems but everyone else’s as well. They also see in Reba a strong sense of love for the people in her life, even when they’re doing some of their most unlovable deeds, often at her expense. And don’t you agree that we all wish we had someone like her to love us when we don’t always love ourselves?”
In Focus
Eric Braeden had compiled a considerable body of work — including theater, films (the cult classic “Colossus: The Forbin Project”) and television (the 1960s series “The Rat Patrol”) — before joining the CBS daytime series “The Young and The Restless” in 1973 as the often manipulative, sometimes villainous, but always charming Victor Newman.
“I am aware that regardless of how much one might do in any medium, it can never compare with the recognition you get from doing a soap opera, especially if you’ve been with it a number of years,” Braeden says, noting that people everywhere seem to know you both as yourself and your character.
That fact was recently brought home to him again in what he describes as a “remarkable” situation.
In March, Braeden, who has devoted himself over the years to bringing greater understanding between Germany and the Jewish community, was attending an event in Jerusalem when an explosion went off just blocks from where he was standing.
“A bus had been blown up by a suicide bomber,” he said, “and many people were killed and many were badly injured. … I was allowed later to visit some of the injured in the hospital and was greeted very warmly by everyone. It appears that Victor Newman is as well known in Israel as in the United States, and these people, who had just escaped death, wanted to talk about Victor and the show. Remarkable.”
As for his reconciliation work, Braeden says, “There are many positive historical links between Germany and its Jewish citizens, and while we cannot, and should not, downplay the horrors of the Holocaust, we also need to work together to make sure such a thing cannot happen again.”
Eric Braeden, who agrees with the timeless words found in Anne Frank’s diary, “I believe that all people are good at heart,” says the challenge for all of us is to prove she was right.