New England Patriot*
*Desperate Housewives' Marcia Cross is thankful for many
things in life, including return trips to
Boston.
. Photograph by Robert Ascroft.
WHO CAN FORGET the moment Marcia Cross, as Bree Van De Kamp,
burst onto the screen of
Desperate Housewives? There she
was, a seemingly perfect Stepford wife, toting a basket of muffins
and her just as seemingly perfect family to a wake for a suicidal
neighbor on Wisteria Lane. But, as they say, "Who knows what
secrets are hiding in the dark?" And Bree's secrets always come to
light. By the end of the first episode alone, she'd (accidentally?)
tried to poison her first husband, Rex, with onions - to which he
was allergic - from a salad bar after he told her that he wanted a
divorce. Since then, it's been a slow and steady downward spiral
for Bree, whose kids hate her, whose relationships are usually
fatal (at least two corpses in her path thus far), and who's passed
out drunk on her perfectly manicured front lawn, all from the
pressures of trying to be perfect. The more Bree flames out,
though, the more Marcia Cross rises.
Cross grew up in Marlborough,
Massachusetts, a town 45 minutes
outside of Boston, far from the affairs, psychoses, back stabbings,
and municipal meltdowns of Wisteria Lane. "I really lived in an
incredible neighborhood, with tons of kids of friends of my parents
who have known each other for 46 years," Cross says. "I had a
really incredible time as a kid there." She left this idyllic glen
for the less tranquil world of acting, first in New York, where,
after graduating from Juilliard, she went from the stage to soaps
(
The Edge of Night, One Life to Live). Then it was on to Los
Angeles, where she worked in episodic television (as Kirstie
Alley's sultry sister on
Cheers and an obsessive former
girlfriend on
Knots Landing, among other parts) before
winning a role on
Melrose Place as Dr. Kimberly Shaw, whose
psychotic résumé included forays into kidnapping and wanton
destruction. When
Melrose Place went off the air, Cross
earned her master's degree in psychology at Antioch College before
returning to acting and landing a steady stream of TV and film
roles that culminated in 2004, when she was tapped for
Desperate
Housewives.
Today, she lives in L.A. with her husband, stockbroker Tom Mahoney,
and they are expecting twins. But here Cross takes us back to
Boston, the big, diverse, and historic city where she first saw her
future, and where Marcia Cross and
Bree Van De Kamp can both feel
quite at home.
Where would Bree Van De Kamp go in Boston?
She would go to Filene's Basement. She would be more in the upscale
parts of the town. Maybe she would live on
Beacon Hill, a beautiful
street that runs along the
Back Bay. It has gorgeous brownstones
and is a very coveted place to live. I'm thinking that would be a
good place for her, yes. She could afford to shop on Newbury
Street, where, when I was younger, I couldn't. She'd also be at
Copley Place, which has
Neiman Marcus and very high-end shops.
There is a Restoration Hardware, which she would be crazy about. If
you're into antiques, you have to walk along both sides of Charles
Street and over to River Street. That's the antiques district, and
you'll find everything. Bree would buy things for her home there.
She would meet her girlfriends for tea at the
Bristol, just off the
lobby of the Four Seasons. If she were drinking, she would go to
the Ritz Bar, which has great martinis.
You grew up in Marlborough. When did you first see Boston,
and what were your impressions?
When I was a kid, Boston might as well have been New York. We just
really weren't the kind of family that - on a moment's notice -
drove to the city. So it was like the big city, but it was really
not that far away from Marlborough. On field trips, we would go to
the
New England Aquarium, which was fantastic, and the Boston
Museum of Science. Then, as I got older and became interested in
theater, our drama teacher took us to see
A Chorus Line.
That was probably one of the greatest highlights of my life.
Actually, I should talk about my mother taking us to Fenway Park;
that's better.
Okay, tell me about Fenway Park.
My mother and father are huge sports fans:
baseball, football,
hockey - just all of it. My mother took us to
Fenway Park to see a
baseball game, and that was fantastic. I mean, what a great
stadium! That's a huge Boston highlight. I don't think my dad was
there; he was probably working or something.
Faneuil Hall is the
market there, which is actually even more of a highlight than the
aquarium. I feel like I went there when it was brand-new. I mean,
you come from running around in the woods and having a quiet life,
and you go in there, and there are three huge aisles of food from
everywhere you can imagine and, of course, tons of things that you
want to buy. Just off the market is Durgin-Park, which is a
must-visit restaurant that goes back to Revolutionary days. It's
famous for New England cooking: chowder, Boston baked beans, and
Indian pudding.
I guess Bree, being perfect, would take her kids on the
Freedom Trail, right?
Oh, absolutely. Especially now, if you're in
California, you
realize that L.A. does not have that kind of history, and you
realize how important Massachusetts was and the historic value of
the state. That's a fantastic thing to do - to take that tour and
then wind your way over to Faneuil Hall. Don't miss the Old State
House - lots of treasures inside, including tea from the Boston Tea
Party. And the
Old North Church is where Robert Newman climbed the
steeple and hung two lanterns, as arranged by
Paul Revere, to
signal the start of the Revolutionary War. The Paul Revere House is
where Paul Revere was living when he set out for Lexington in 1775.
It's on the
Freedom Trail, and it's the oldest house in downtown
Boston, built around 1680. I really do think if you are going to
Boston, that's the stuff to see. You know, shopping and whatever is
great, but the historic stuff is really fantastic. For example, you
have to see the Gibson House Museum, a totally intact
nineteenth-century town house, one of the first houses built in
Back Bay. It tells the story of nineteenth-century Boston and how
people really lived.
Let's talk in contemporary terms. Where do you stay when you
go back now?
I generally stay with my sister, although with my husband, I've
stayed at the Four Seasons. It's right on Boston Common, the great
park that dates back to 1634, when the town fathers paid a reverend
30 pounds for the property. It's 45 or so acres, and it's one of
the country's oldest public parks. The park is gorgeous, but not
necessarily in the winter. They have the Swan Boats, on which you
can go out on the lake. Very picturesque and quintessentially
Boston. I love to go to the North End. My girlfriend used to live
down there, and we would always just take a walk and wind up in
some incredible Italian café, having cappuccino and pastries. You
know, you can't go wrong there.
Bree would, of course, go shopping. Where?
Newbury Street, of course. Fanny and Delphine is a great new
clothing store that carries interesting designers for women in
Kenmore Square. But we grew up on Filene's Basement. Oh my gosh,
that's where you could get a bargain. Everything was about a
bargain when I was growing up. My mother loves a bargain. So you
could go in there, and whatever thing was top-of-the-line, you
could find it at a reduced price. Shopping at one was always a
little bit crazy - the one in Boston probably being the most
hectic. You are elbow to elbow with people, especially around the
holidays. Everybody is there, excited and trying to scoop up some
fabulous piece of clothing, and usually you are pretty successful.
After you're done shopping and people-watching on Newbury Street,
you can relax at the Trident Booksellers & Café, a fantastic
bookstore and newsstand with great
healthy food. And you can get
frozen yogurt next door at J.P. Licks; it's a local favorite. The
North End is where you get your cannoli and cappuccino. My friend's
cousin travels on the Mass Pike from the burbs to the North End
every
Christmas morning to pick up cannoli from Mike's on Hanover
Street.
Where should we sample the best local fare?
Pizzeria Regina is the famous one, with red-and-white-checked
tablecloths. The Flour Bakery & Café is great; it's in the
South End. For great Boston clam chowder and other seafood dishes,
go to Legal Sea Foods. It's now a chain, but it started in Boston.
I love Boston clam chowder. I can't eat that Manhattan stuff.
Manhattan clam chowder is red, tomato-based. Boston clam chowder is
more creamy and milky. It's fantastic with some oyster crackers.
You can get it all over Boston, at Legal Sea Foods, or Durgin-Park,
or, even more atmospheric, at Union Oyster House. They shuck the
oysters and clams right there. It's been there for nearly two
centuries. You can send lobsters from James Hook & Co. and
Legal Sea Foods to your family and friends back home by mail.
What are some good neighborhoods to stroll through when you
want to walk off all of that delicious chowder and Indian pudding
you just ate?
You have to see the South End. There's great food, new boutiques,
great architecture. And, of course,
Harvard Square is fantastic.
Actually, my sister lives right near Harvard Square in Watertown.
Harvard Square is just ... you know what's great about it? It feels
really smart. ART, the
America Repertory Theatre, is right there.
They have fantastic plays. You have the campus of Harvard right
next door. Then you have fantastic little boutiques and great
bookshops like the
Harvard Book Store, and people are sitting
outside, and it's quaint and quintessentially Boston. Walking
through Harvard Yard is always inspiring. You know, some things
sort of don't match up to the fantasy, but that one does. It is
actually picturesque and romantic, and I always wonder what is
going on behind the brick walls, with all of the bright young
students.
By this point, we might require some culture. Where are the
best places in Boston to
find that?
The Boston Children's Museum is where kids rule. As a parent or an
auntie, you never have to say no. The displays are all for the kids
to touch and climb and play on. Interaction is the rule, not the
exception. The
Museum of Fine Arts has it all. A great collection,
a beautiful building, a wonderful café, and a music and film
series. Don't forget about the smaller, intimate Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum just a few steps away. She was kind of a queen of
Boston society. She lived in this Venetian-style palace that's now
known as one of the great small art museums of the world.
Any place for exercise?
I'd go to the Larz Anderson Skating Rink in Brookline, just a
little bit outside of Boston. My father was a really wonderful
skater, so he would always take us skating.
Dinner is always important for Bree. Where could she go if
she wanted to reveal her latest misadventures over great food, a
bottle of wine, and atmospheric surroundings?
Chez Henri is a fantastic French/Cuban bistro in
Cambridge that is
always on the "Best of Boston" lists. The Butcher Shop, located in
the South End, is a wine bar and shop with great food. Very hip.
Teatro is a beautiful room that overlooks Boston Common and has
great food. The Eastern Standard is really hip right now - it has a
fun atmosphere and delicious food that's reasonably priced. It's
very hot and is located in Kenmore Square. The Blue Room in
Cambridge is great. Grotto is on the far side of Beacon Hill on
Bowdoin Street. It's an out-of-the-way romantic spot in the
basement of a town house. The Beacon Hill Bistro is a good
neighborhood spot in the
Beacon Hill Hotel. Casa Romero - if you
want Mexican - is on Gloucester; it's a hidden, romantic spot.
L'Espalier, in an 1880 town house on
Gloucester Street in Back Bay,
is the ultimate special-occasion restaurant. Gordon and Fiona
Hamersley own Hamersley's Bistro, and they prepare a New
England-inspired cuisine that's so great. Anthony's Pier 4 is the
old famous one, right on the water, overlooking
Boston Harbor. And
Clio is chic, expensive, and French, in the Eliot Hotel.
Where would you send us at night?
For the Boston music scene, you need to follow the
Charles River to
Cambridge, where you'll find local and national acts playing every
night. Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center in Harvard Square is
a legendary folk-singer-songwriter venue where people like Joan
Baez, Tom Rush, and
Shawn Colvin have played. Toad, up
Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square, is a small bar with great
music every night for free. And the Lizard Lounge is this cool,
red-drenched, downstairs lounge where you never know what will
happen. Great bar and food too. The original Cheers bar is there. I
have eaten there. I wouldn't say it's historic or anything - just
more for fun. The Orpheum Theater is very dear to me because my
younger sister was a musician and opened there for Shawn Colvin
many years ago. I have very fond memories of that place. It's a
beautiful theater, built in 1926 as a silent movie theater. It's
dripping with history, and they have fantastic musicians and shows.
One Illuminating Night in Boston
I was in high school when the drama teacher took our class to see
A Chorus Line at the Shubert Theatre. I don't think I had
been to Boston to see a play. I'm sure I had seen one in my local
town, but not in the big city. I was blown away, and I wept
uncontrollably for hours because I wanted too much to be an
actress, and it just struck my heart so deeply. As a young girl
wanting very much to go to New York and be an actress, here I was
at a show about people wanting to be actors. So all the music and
all the songs and everything are about that desire and about the
business. To my young mind and heart - it just spoke to me. It's
coming out in revival, so I'm tempted to go see it again. Oh, I was
pretty much crying from the time the curtain went up. It was just
an exciting experience. Obviously, I still have the bug. My drama
teacher was very important in my life, and I was very grateful that
she had taken us to see it. It's, you know, one of those fantastic
memories.
She Said...
What crosses Marcia's mind in Boston
Lodging
Four Seasons, very expensive, (617) 338-4400,
www.fourseasons.com/boston
Dining
Anthony's Pier 4, seafood, expensive, (617) 482-6262,
www.pier4.com
The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton, eclectic, expensive, (617)
426-1234,
www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/boston
The Beacon Hill Bistro, French bistro, moderate to
expensive, (617) 723-1133,
www.beaconhillhotel.com/bistro.html
The Blue Room, eclectic, expensive, (617) 494-9034,
www.theblueroom.net
The Bristol Lounge, eclectic, expensive, (617) 351-2037,
www.fourseasons.com/boston/dining/the_bristol_lounge.htm
l
The Butcher Shop, wine bar, moderate, (617) 423-4800,
www.thebutchershopboston.com
Casa Romero, Mexican, moderate, (617) 536-4341,
www.casaromero.com
Chez Henri, French/Cuban, expensive, (617) 354-8980,
www.chezhenri.com
Clio, French, very expensive, (617) 536-7200,
www.cliorestaurant.com
Durgin-Park, New England, moderate, (617) 227-2038,
www.durgin-park.com
Eastern Standard, eclectic, moderate to expensive, (617)
532-9100
www.hotelcommonwealth.com/dining/eastern-standard.html
Flour Bakery & Café, moderate, (617) 267-4300,
www.flourbakery.com
Grotto, Italian, moderate to expensive, (617) 227-3434,
www.grottorestaurant.com
Hamersley's Bistro, moderate to expensive, (617) 423-2700,
www.hamersleysbistro.com
J.P. Licks, ice cream, inexpensive, (617) 236-1666,
www.jplicks.com
Legal Sea Foods, moderate, (617) 226-6800,
www.legalseafoods.com
L'Espalier, continental, expensive, (617) 262-3023,
www.lespalier.com
Mike's Pastry, Italian pastries, inexpensive, (617)
742-3050,
www.mikespastry.com
Pizzeria Regina, Italian, (617) 742-1713,
www.polcaris.com/pizzeriaregina.htm
Teatro, Italian, expensive, (617) 778-6841,
www.teatroboston.com
Trident Booksellers & Café, (617) 267-8688,
www.tridentbookscafe.com
Union Oyster House, seafood, moderate, (617) 227-2750,
www.unionoysterhouse.com
Shopping
Copley Place, (617) 369-5000
Faneuil Hall Marketplace, (617) 523-1300,
www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com
Fanny and Delphine, (617) 266-2006,
www.fannyanddelphine.com
Filene's Basement, (888) 843-8474,
www.filenesbasement.com
Harvard Book Store, (800) 542-7323,
www.harvard.com
James Hook & Co., (617) 423-5500,
www.jameshooklobster.com
Neiman Marcus, (617) 536-3660,
www.neimanmarcus.com
Restoration Hardware, (617) 578-0088,
www.restorationhardware.com
Sites
American Repertory Theatre, (617) 547-8300,
www.amrep.org
Boston Children's Museum, (617) 426-8855,
www.bostonkids.org
Boston Museum of Science, (617) 723-2500,
www.mos.org
Fenway Park, (617) 421-0125
Freedom Trail, (617) 357-8300,
www.thefreedomtrail.org
Gibson House Museum, (617) 267-6338,
www.thegibsonhouse.org
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, (617) 566-1401,
www.gardnermuseum.org
Larz Anderson Skating Rink, (617) 739-7518,
www.townofbrooklinemass.com/recreation/larzanderson.html
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, (617) 267-9300,
www.mfa.org
New England Aquarium, (617) 973-5200,
www.neaq.org
Old North Church, (617) 523-6676,
www.oldnorth.com
Old State House, (617) 720-1713, ext. 21,
www.thefreedomtrail.org/visitor/old-state-house.html
Paul Revere House, (617) 523-2338,
www.paulreverehouse.org
Shubert Theatre, (617) 482-9393,
www.wangcenter.org
Nightlife
Lizard Lounge, (617) 547-0759,
www.lizardloungeclub.com
Orpheum Theater, (617) 482-0650
Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center, (617) 492-7679,
www.clubpassim.org
Toad, (617) 497-4950,
www.toadcambridge.com
We Said…What crosses our mind in Boston
Lodging
Bulfinch Hotel, expensive, (617) 624-0202,
www.bulfinchhotel.com. It's true that the rooms at
this year-old boutique hotel in an old flatiron-shaped warehouse
aren't what you'd call spacious, but with the North End, the State
House, and other area landmarks less than a 10-minute walk away,
we're guessing you won't be spending much time there, anyway. Plus,
the rates go down this time of year.
Copley House, moderate, (617) 236-8300,
www.copleyhouse.com. “A great value” is the phrase most often used to describe these Queen Anne–style apartments. Combine comfy accommodations, friendly staffers, and affordable prices, all in a cozy Back Bay neighborhood, and you can’t go wrong.
Dining
Kookoo, inexpensive to moderate, (617) 730-5525,
www.kookoocafe.com. When we travel, we always like to find a nice little coffee shop where we can write postcards, catch up on some reading, or simply scope out the locals. This brand-new one in Brookline Village looks like it will fit the bill nicely.
Sauciety, moderate to expensive, (617) 532-4670,
www.sauciety.com. Donuts in coffee, french fries in ketchup — everyone loves to dip. So who wouldn’t love a restaurant that serves a surplus of sauces with every dish? In fact, with varieties like lobster vanilla foam, amber ale caramelized onion, and green-pepper black trumpet mushroom, who needs plain-Jane entrées?
Nightlife
Red Sky Restaurant and Lounge, (617) 742-3333,
www.redskyboston.com. The vibe is classy and chic (but not overly so) at this new bar/restaurant in the popular Faneuil Hall area, and you can grab a cocktail until two a.m. (The kitchen closes at one.) On Wednesday nights, they bring in a swingin’ Sinatra impersonator.
Shopping
Johnny Cupcakes, (617) 375-0100,
www.johnnycupcakes.com. If you love cupcakes but are worried about carbs and/or calories, check out the tasty treats at this whimsical boutique. Here, cupcake motifs sweeten everything from belts to bags, not to mention an exhaustive line of T-shirts. And on weekends, this new outpost, on trendy
Newbury Street, doles out free cupcakes (the edible kind) with every purchase.