Roseanne returns to stand-up roots

After nine seasons starring in one of television's most acclaimed sitcoms, and 20 years as a pop-culture icon, what is Roseanne Barr up to next?

Headlining a show at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, that's what.

Returning to her stand-up roots, Barr is back on stage, riffing on politics ("We need a president to lead our country, not bleed our country"), being a grandmother ("I love being able to use those little children to get even with my daughter"), and growing up Jewish in Utah ("There were a lot of Jews in Utah but they were all Catholic").

Though always openly and proudly Jewish, Barr has never performed at a JCC before and, presumably, in front of a predominantly Jewish audience. She'll appear 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, in Kanbar Hall.

"I have no idea or expectations about what it will be like," said Barr by phone from her Los Angeles home. "My act was always very working class and political and feminist."

That may have sprung from her working-class upbringing. Her grandparents actively sponsored Jewish refugees from overseas, helping them settle in the United States. But living a Jewish life wasn't easy in the heart of Mormonism.

"I had weird religious content," said Barr. "My parents were kind of scared to be identified as Jews in Salt Lake City, so we went to the Mormon church and passed. My father was an atheist socialist. I always had Judaism, but it was negative until I began to change it into more of a positive. Probably around age 12, I started to not want to hide away, be ashamed and lie to people."

It was after marriage and motherhood that Barr developed her original "domestic goddess" comedy that catapulted her to the top of the stand-up world. Her on-stage persona fueled the development of a sitcom about a typically dysfunctional American family, the Connors. In 1988, "Roseanne" premiered and remained a Top-10 hit for most of its nine seasons.

It remains popular in reruns and is an achievement about which Barr couldn't be prouder. "There will never be another show like it," she said.

The comic stirred controversy, not only with her fictional TV family and its working-class outlook, but her real-life choices as well. From mangling the national anthem at a ball game to marrying and divorcing three times, Barr was often gossip-magazine fodder. Neither she nor the show was ever nominated for a best-comedy Emmy.

Barr is relieved to be out of that kind of media glare, and remains defiant about her artistic choices. "Everything I ever said, I said from a working-class point of view. I always stood for something, and it was a few years until people realized what I did stand for, and then they didn't like it. They didn't want any feminism or any working class on [television]."

She quickly added, "and as you can see, the working class is almost completely decimated in this country."

Having appeared on stage alongside liberal politicians, it's no secret where here political leanings lie. On the subject of working-class people voting Republican, Barr says, "That's like getting chickens to vote for Colonel Sanders."

With five children, ranging in age from 11 to 35, and grandchildren as well, family is still the central organizing principle of Barr's life. But work ranks high, with the JCC appearance serving as a warm-up for her Nov. 4 HBO comedy special, "Roseanne Barr: Blonde and Bitchin'."

Going back on the road after a 14-year absence wasn't easy for Barr. "It's not like riding a bike," she said of the art of standup. But she's very pleased with her new comedy.

"It took a long time to craft it," she said, "I had to bust my butt, but I finally got it to work just in the nick of time."

Barr is eager to launch the next chapter of her life. Whatever shape it may take, she is sure it will be accompanied by plenty of laughter.

"This is the next step in standup for me," she says of her new material. "People are really liking this act. I feel I got my voice."




Roseanne Barr performs 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at Kanbar Hall in the JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. Tickets: $60-$65. Information: (415) 292-1233 or online at www.jccsf.org/arts.