By Johnny Lopez

Harriet Harris, the ubiquitous Tony Award-winner and Desperate Housewives co-star, returns to the stage in the classic musical On the Town.

Harriet Harris may not be a household name yet, but unless you've been living under a rock in a red state, there's no doubt you recognize her from any of her plethora of scene- stealing roles. Whether playing Kelsey Grammer's agent on Frasier, a not-so grieving widow on Six Feet Under or the slavery ring operating Mrs. Meers in her Tony-winning role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, nobody knows how to deliver words, winks, and wigs quite like Harris.

Last season she traded barbs with her neighbors on Desperate Housewives, playing Wisteria Lane's resident evil Felicia Tillman. As the second season is set to premiere, I caught up with Ms. Harris during rehearsals for Reprise! Broadway's Best production of On the Town and found out that, unlike her character, she's anything but desperate!

IN: Did you always know you wanted to be an actress?

Harriet Harris: Actually, my first ambition was to be the governor of Texas! My mother enrolled me in theater school at a young age and I loved it. It gave me something to aspire to. From that day on I knew what I wanted to be. In Fort Worth no one wanted to be an actor so I didn't think it was competitive or that it would be a problem. It wasn't until I got to Julliard that I realized, "Wow, this is cut throat!" But I was lucky because I had a great, supportive class.

Was there culture shock upon arriving at Julliard?

Yes, but I think it had more to do with New York City than Julliard. I was horrified by New York, the closeness of it. I grew to love it and lived there for 18 years and never intended to leave.

What brought you to Los Angeles?

I was doing Jeffrey on Broadway and we came out to do it in L.A. This was right around the time of the Northridge earthquake in '94. It was really scary and I just remember everyone was drinking heavily. I called my friend in New York and told her what it was like here and the first thing she asks is "Are you working?" I say yes and she says "then stay because if you die there it will be a quick death, back here you'll freeze and starve like the rest of us!" So I stayed.

You played all the female roles in Jeffrey. What was that like?

I played eight, sometimes nine, sometimes seven, roles. If there was a different wig I counted it, no matter how small the role. The whole thing was a completely hilarious, joyful experience. There was nothing about it that wasn't really lovely. When Paul Rudnick sent me the play I thought I'd be stupid not to do this. There were so many things in it that I thought I'd never get to say in public without this context. I also thought it was an important thing to be writing about. I was afraid that we'd be unfavorably compared to Angels in America, which had recently premiered on Broadway. When we opened, New York at that time needed these plays. There were people that saw it five, six times. It was what people hungered to see and it made me feel terrific to be a part of it.

Between Jeffrey and shows like the gay family sitcom It's All Relative, you are involved with a lot of groundbreaking projects for the gay community. Has this been a conscious effort?

I don't think there is a way that you can work in the theater and not know and become friends with gay men and women. Secondly, it's an agenda that I believe in. In regards to It's All Relative, I liked the idea of being on the wrong side of it (her character was a salt-of-the-earth Irish Catholic mother from Boston) and thought it would be really fun to play someone so different from what I truly believe.

The gays love their musicals, but was there any trepidation on your part to do Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway?

It was absurd that I got to do it. I grew up thinking that I'd do musical theater, but it never fazed me that I wasn't a singer or a dancer. I had to work so hard just to keep up. These people were trained to do this. I'm not. I'm trained to do certain parts of it, the other stuff I had to figure out how to do.

But then you go and win the Tony for the role. Tell me what that night was like.

I had a lovely Bill Blass gown, Harry Winston jewels, and Manolo Blahnik shoes. Between that and the parties it made me feel like I was a Texas debutante again. I thought it would be great fun since so many of my friends were nominated, but that ultimately it would be a letdown since there was no way I was ever going to win. Then on the way to Radio City Music Hall, the limo gets a flat tire. We couldn't get to the red carpet and had to walk. You really have to pull up in the car. When we walked up it looked like we were crashing the party. It was very weird. Then I look and we're standing on the red carpet behind Liam Neeson and Calista Flockhart. If thereÔs anyone you don't want to arrive after it's them, because after that no one cares! So, we maneuvered through this gauntlet of press that couldn't care less about me and finally got to our seats. The first award was my category. When they called out my name I was so shocked. I never imagined I'd win.

So how did Millie prepare you for On the Town?

Well, I think it was easier for everyone here that I had Millie under my belt because they know I didn't sink that ship and they could trust me to do the work. The cast and crew is so dedicated and they come here to have a party and put on a great show for the audience. I'm really lucky to be able to do a musical again. I really enjoy it and On the Town is such a great show.

You won a Tony and now you're on the number one rated TV show in the country. What can you tell me about working with all those divas on Desperate Housewives?

(Laughs) I'd be happy to divulge if I knew anything scandalous! They're all wonderful and easy to work with. Everyone shows up ready, willing, and able to have fun and work hard. They cast the show extremely well. Marc Cherry is so gifted. He's found this wonderful way to do one-hour television that's really funny and tricky. It's a pretty darn great to be involved in something that has this much popular success. Even people who say they don't watch it, watch it!

Are you getting recognized more? Has being on such a high profile show changed your career?

People either recognize me or they don't. Sometimes they think I'm their old college roommate or that I'm another actress like Cherry Jones. People in Mayfair market know who I a m, people in other markets don't. I'm very surprised when they do know who I am. As far as my career, I don't think anything has changed. I mean, I'm not one of the housewives. I think I got On the Town because of my work in Millie, not Housewives. But if it should change it and allow me to do whatever I wanted, that would be just fabulous!

Reprise! Broadway's Best series production of On the Town runs Sept. 21-Oct. 2 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse in Westwood. For tickets, call (310) 825-2101. The second season of Desperate Housewives premieres Sunday, Sept. 25 on ABC.