A WITTY GIRL IS LIKE A MELODY

Ana Gasteyer blends satire with song on Saturday Night Live

Sometimes life does imitate art. Last Thanksgiving on Saturday Night Live, Ana Gasteyer -- as her "wordsmith folkist" character, Cinder Calhoun -- sang a satirical song protesting turkey-eating in a duet with real-life singing star Sarah McLachlan. So when Gasteyer was subsequently asked to perform at a Lilith Fair stop in Florida, "it was just the coolest dream come true," she enthuses. "It was like this phenomenal rock-star fantasy. There were 16-year-old girls singing all the words to 'Basted in Blood' along with me." Who knew? Growing up in a musical family in Washington, D.C., Gasteyer thought she would become an opera singer or violinist. The comedian, who also plays NPR's monotonous "Delicious Dish" cohost Margaret Joe and does a dead-on Martha Stewart impersonation, enjoys combining singing with shtick. "Comedy's been really liberating for me because I've been able to sneak the singing part in through the back door."

A onetime voice major (witness her music-teacher character Bobbi Moughan-Culp), Gasteyer did bit parts on Party of Five, NYPD Blue and Seinfeld ("I was admonished by the Soup Nazi") before joining SNL in 1996, the same year she wed graphic artist Charlie McKittrick. In March she makes her movie debut in "The Deedles."

Meanwhile, Gasteyer is working on an impression of Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom she met at a recent Rosie O'Donnell taping. Had the first lady seen her work? "It's always so hard to tell with politicians," Gasteyer answers. "I played Liddy Dole last year and met her as well. From the artful way she phrased it, I still don't know if she had actually seen me play her. She made it sound like it was good, but that's just a gift they have."

-- Annabel Vered (TV Guide)