Dale Soules: From Broadway to Behind Bars and Back Again

For over four decades, long before her stint in Litchfield Penitentiary as aging neck-tattooed inmate Frieda in Netflix's "Orange is the New Black," actress Dale Soules has been a fixture in New York's theater scene.

With notable roles under her belt in the original Broadway productions of "Hair," "The Magic Show," and "Hands on a Hardbody," Soules is currently turning in one of the finest performances of her career as lesbian stage manager/actress Sid in Douglas Carter Beane's autobiographically-inspired comedy "Shows for Days" at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theatre.

While the part is based on a real woman named Ric, who was the stage manager at Pennysylvania's Genesius Theatre Company in the 1970s, Soules says Beane's script did a lot of the work for her in crafting her character. "There's a line where she's says 'you don't have to say that twice to me as a bull dyke, and that said a lot," says Soules, who is a lesbian. "While she is also an amalgam of people I've known over the years, I've met people from Genesisus who knew Ric and who saw this play, and they told me I was doing her justice. I have to say Douglas did a lot of work during previews, and script has changed appreciably in content and color since our first preview. Balancing the seriousness of the piece with the comedy is what was so difficult to get right."

As much as she loves the role, Soules says her greatest joy in doing the show is getting to work with Patti LuPone, who plays local theatre grand dame Irene, and Michael Urie, who plays Car (the character inspired by the teenaged Beane). "I've known Patti for years; I think since I did 'The Magic Show.' We have always been friends, and always admired each other, but this is our first chance to work together. She is an absolute joy on stage and off. She's the queen of our show and my queen in real life." says Soules. "And Michael is such a sweet, friendly, charming guy. One night during previews I needed to stay at his place on short notice -- something he had offered the first time we met -- and I had great time that night with him and his partner, Ryan."

Soules has been on a career roll recently. Earlier this year, she co-starred in Doug Wright's "Posterity" as the housekeeper of the Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland -- a role Wright penned just for her -- and which required her to be completely nude in numerous scenes. "After I agreed to do it, I realized the last time I was nude on stage -- and the first time -- was during 'Hair,'" she recalls. "I wish I could say I didn't care about my vanity, but I did go to Weight Watchers, and while I didn't become svelte, I lost about 25 pounds. But I would do anything for Doug. He's my prince, having performed in his shows, 'Grey Gardens,' 'Hands on a Hardbody' and then 'Posterity.'"

The actress also proved not long ago she would do anything for composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who was responsible for her big break in "The Magic Show." As she recalls, "Jim Brochu did an evening at 54 Below for Stephen, and he asked me to be the surprise guest for Stephen and to do 'Lion Tamer.' I had just done 'Billy Elliot' in Ogunquit, so I originally said no. But then I changed my mind, and I wanted it to be good. So I re-learned the song, complete with the whole intro, and Stephen was really surprised. Then he got on stage and played 'West End Avenue' and he convinced me to sing the end of the song with him."

As if working on "Shows for Days" wasn't enough, Soules is simultaneously shooting the fourth season of the cable sensation "Orange Is the New Black," on which she plays Frieda Berlin "It is exhausting, but it's a happy exhaustion to have," she admits. "I love that it's giving me new visibility, but what I really admire is the diversity of all sorts on our set. Not many shows deals with ageism, and the show proves that the older inmates are a force to be reckoned with. But I equally love that we see the lives of administrators and guards and that everyone has problems and successes. I really could not be happier."

Soules isn't sure what her next acting gig will be, but it's possible it could be something she penned herself. "I am writing a piece about my family, although I am not sure if it will be a book or play or solo show," she says. "My family has a lot of secrets, including the fact that my grandmother, who worked for Ethel Waters, had been married to a man who was a member of the KKK. But I think it's time to tell them, and I'm the only one around who has the time to tell these stories, which have something to say about economics and race in America."

And while she has her own stories about coming out, that chapter is being written yet. But she's happy to talk to about her journey, which began in the 1960s." I have to admit that theater saved my life. It was where it became clear to me that I was not the only gay person in the world, I was not ill, I did not suffer from arrested development. I could be liked socially and respectably, and people accepted me for who and what it I was," she says. "I tell young people today, it does get better, but you still need people around to help you along."