What’s family life like for Tina Fey? We got a small taste last night, at the opening of Theatreworks USA’s free summer theater program, which Tina Fey and her husband, composer Jeff Richmond, co-chair. There are the sensitive subjects — for instance, the inspiration for Fey’s most classic SNL skit, Sarah Palin. Or more specifically, her daughter Bristol. When we told the couple that the younger Palin had just announced her engagement to baby daddy Levi Johnston, Richmond, who had gotten wind of the news, offered that it was “pretty crazy.†“I didn’t hear about that,†replied Fey — who then glared at her husband and firmly shook her head no. Richmond quickly backpedaled: “I have no reaction except, wow, love!â€
And then there is the issue of who’s funniest at home. “I’m a distant third in the house, behind [4-year-old daughter] Alice and Jeff,†Fey admitted. Offered Richmond: “You’re good at doing it on a professional level, but … †She’s serious at home? “Around the house, [I’m] the worst.†“Bossy,†added Richmond. But Alice? “She has seventeen distinct sketch characters and twenty accurate impressions,†Fey says. “I’m teaching her a Drew Barrymore impression. And she has a solid cockney accent.†“Solid, like, Oliver Twist cockney accent,†Richmond added. Any chance of Alice appearing on 30 Rock? “Never,†Fey says. Meanwhile, with the Emmy Awards coming up in September, Fey says she’s now started thinking about what to wear. “I thought about eating less bread, and then I decided that I wasn’t going to do that. I think there should be some kind of jumpsuit, like an orange jumpsuit, that you can just wear that just signifies that I’m out. I’m not trying this year. I’m a non-combatant in fashion.â€