C3

SUZANNE BARABAS

Richard Zavaglia, at rear,

and Dan Lauria in Laurias
Dinner With the Boys.

Setting
a place for
four friends

hen Lori Loughlin talks about

growing up on
Long Island, it
may as well be an episode of
Full House, the well-remembered family sitcom in
which she played Aunt
Becky to the daughters of
single dad Danny Tanner
(Bob Saget). Honestly, she
says, of her Hauppauge
youth, when I was a kid you
went out in the morning,
found some friends, ran
around all day and you went
home when the streetlights
came on. That was summer.
After Full House ended
its eight-year run in 1995,
Loughlin, 50, went on to star
in ABCs Hudson Street
with Tony Danza; the WB
series Summerland, which
she co-created; and The
CWs 90210, as well as in a
raft of TV-movies including
the Garage Sale Mystery
films. She currently plays
cafe owner Abigail Stanton
in Hallmark Channel series
When Calls the Heart, set
in a small Western Canada
coal-mining town circa 1910.
Season two begins April 25 at
8 p.m.
Loughlin, who lives in
Los Angeles with her
husband fashion-designer Mossimo Giannulli,
their two daughters
and Giannullis son,
Gianni, spoke by
phone with frequent
Newsday contributor
Frank Lovece.

land. Do you have other

family here?
I have a younger brother
his name is Roy. The
whole familys still on Long
Island.

And you have your own

family in Los Angeles. When
Calls the Heart shoots in
Vancouver, so how do you
make that work?
I go up for a week, shoot

[my part in] two episodes

and then I go home for a
week or two. Its not a bad
schedule at all Im really
lucky. I made a deal with the
producer early on: I said I
couldnt do the show unless
they could block-shoot my
stuff and get me out. He said
he would and he has remained true to that since we
started. Thats really the only
way I can make it work for
my family.

On the show, you play a

widow. Is it tough
relating to that?
I think thats
just part of her
character, that
loss, and you
always draw on
your life experiences losses
youve experienced. I lost my
father, and its
not like my mother losing my
father, but it was
a loss. So you
draw on

Just like growing up in Hauppauge!

[Chuckles] I grew up in a
great neighborhood and I
remember that you just
walked out the front door
and you had a ton of friends
to hang out and play with. It
was so different from how
my kids are raised, with
scheduled play dates and
destinations. . . . It was
great. I really have nothing
but really good memories of
growing up in Hauppauge.
Your first movie was Amityville 3-D in 1983. Did you
ever go by the real-life Amityville house, either as research or when you were a
kid?
Just growing up, yeah, we
did, long before I got that
role.

How old were you

when you moved to
Hauppauge?
I was a year old.
Your mom still
lives on Long Is-

Coal Valley [where the show

is set] doesnt seem like the
easiest place to survive.
Yeah, and we started the
show focusing on the hardships of that time. And then
Hallmark wanted to move
away from that this year.
Were still dealing with it,
but not with the same level
of intensity. Now there are
some lighter story lines,
some romance . . . because
they didnt want to keep
dwelling on the tragedy
everyone had suffered [a
deadly coal-mine explosion].
So now everyone is on their
feet again and moving forward. I think the tone this
year is a little bit lighter and
a little bit happier.

GETTY IMAGES / VALERIE MACON

Did it help you in your audition: Hey, I know that

house!
I dont think it did
[laughs], but I definitely
knew the story. And we all
knew where the house was
you had to go drive by the
Amityville house.

NEWSDAY, SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

Its not a Garage Sale

Mystery, but its a
mystery just the same:
Different sources say
you were born either
in Hauppauge
thats on your official
bio or in New York
City. Please, solve the
mystery.
I grew up in Hauppauge, but I was
born in Queens.

things like that, the void that

it leaves. And I think in 1910
people experienced that
same sense of loss but, as
you said, it was a lot more
prevalent and it was just part
of the larger picture, which
is, What are you going to do
to survive?

newsday.com

hen Dan
Lauria
cooked up his
mob comedy
Dinner With the Boys in
2008, he had some very
special friends in mind to
play the Boys.
I wrote it for Charlie
Durning, Dom DeLuise,
Jack Klugman and Peter
Falk, and I even got to do a
reading of it with them,
says the Lindenhurstraised actor. But Dinner
plans changed after
DeLuises death in 2009,
and the subsequent
passings of Falk, in 2011,
and Durning and Klugman,
who died hours apart on
Dec. 24, 2012.
Now audiences can see
Laurias play, which begins
previews Tuesday and
opens May 4 at OffBroadways Acorn
Theater. Lauria, best
known as the crusty dad
on TVs The Wonder
Years, and Richard Zavaglia play wiseguys making
dinner for members of
the family. Lets just say,
the pasta isnt the only
thing in hot water. Ray
Abruzzo also stars in the
show, which was first
presented last fall at New
Jersey Repertory
Company, where it was
well-received.
For Lauria, 68, Dinner
is first and foremost a
tribute to his friends.
Theyd be very happy for
me, he says. And they
were all wonderful actors
who should not be
forgotten. DANIEL BUBBEO

fastchat { Lori Loughlin }

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