Angela Lansbury- Page 2

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 9:05pm

cougarnewtin said: "PLEASE don’t title this thread just “Angela Lansbury”, you had me VERY scared for a moment."

You all know damn well that thread title would be "OMG AL RIP Fletcher 4EVR!"

[msmp]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 11:57pm

Jarethan, you are so right about her in Manchurian Candidate. Her revelation scene with Raymond (Laurence Harvey) is one of the single most chilling scenes in cinema; I've seen the movie a dozen times and it's made me shiver with each viewing. Consummate performance, consummate performer.

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 9:19am

And yet I think even in Manchurian Candidate her name is listed below the title. Hollywood criminally underrated her until Murder, She Wrote. In the 70's, when CBS gave Bea Arthur a t.v. special because of her Maude success, she wanted Angela Lansbury to appear, and the network nixed it, saying no one would know who Lansbury was (Arthur says this in her Archive of American Television interview).

[Mark Waltz]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 12:25pm

I respect your opinion in regards to Janis Paige. I included her because she is one of the last studio contract players left, busy at Warner Brothers while Angela was at MGM, and also because other than Celeste Holm's brief stepping in as "Mame" before the national tour, Janis was the first official long term "Mame" replacement. I have all of the original "Mame" souvenir programs (as well as an original "Pajama Game", and while I never got to see Janis on stage, I did get to meet her at a Ginger Rogers book signing years ago. She had always been one of my favorite TV guest stars ("Eight is Enough", "All in the Family" and had some scene stealing roles on soaps ("General Hospital", "Santa Barbara", replacing the much older Dame Judith Anderson). She may have been upstaged by Doris Day in her film debut ("Romance on the High Seas" and did loose the "Pajama Game" movie to her, but they were very funny rivals in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies".

I'd be curious to hear how Janis was as Adelaide in a West Coast tour of "Guys and Dolls" (another program that I have.) At any rate, while we still have a few select actresses from the 1930's and 40's left, I just wanted to mention the few I could think of off hand. Thankfully on stage today, the talent is as abundant as it was back in the golden era (although there are probably fewer who will be considered legends), and I have great respect for those who manage to make it in movies and on TV but still find the time to return to the stage. I've seen "Something For Everyone" which is an interesting art house film, and find her the best thing about the tepid remake of "The Lady Vanishes". "The Company of Wolves" is another fascinating Angela performance, and of course, Angela is a scene stealer, even among Bette Davis and Maggie Smith in "Death on the Nile". Thank you also for your memories of Angela in "Prettybelle" and "The King & I". I'm no spring chicken, but there are times that I wish I was older to have caught some of these performances. 

[South Florida]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 3:47pm

So no threads starting with the names of really old people.  Just as I was thinking of the beautiful Olivia de Havilland.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 4:24pm

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 5:35pm

Mark Waltz said: "I respect your opinion in regards to Janis Paige. I included her because she is one of the last studio contract players left, busy at Warner Brothers while Angela was at MGM, and also because other than Celeste Holm's brief stepping in as "Mame" before the national tour, Janis was the first official long term "Mame" replacement. I have all of the original "Mame" souvenir programs (as well as an original "Pajama Game", and while I never got to see Janis on stage, I did get to meet her at a Ginger Rogers book signing years ago. She had always been one of my favorite TV guest stars ("Eight is Enough", "All in the Family" and had some scene stealing roles on soaps ("General Hospital", "Santa Barbara", replacing the much older Dame Judith Anderson). She may have been upstaged by Doris Day in her film debut ("Romance on the High Seas" and did loose the "Pajama Game" movie to her, but they were very funny rivals in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies".

I'd be curious to hear how Janis was as Adelaide in a West Coast tour of "Guys and Dolls" (another program that I have.) At any rate, while we still have a few select actresses from the 1930's and 40's left, I just wanted to mention the few I could think of off hand. Thankfully on stage today, the talent is as abundant as it was back in the golden era (although there are probably fewer who will be considered legends), and I have great respect for those who manage to make it in movies and on TV but still find the time to return to the stage. I've seen "Something For Everyone" which is an interesting art house film, and find her the best thing about the tepid remake of "The Lady Vanishes". "The Company of Wolves" is another fascinating Angela performance, and of course, Angela is a scene stealer, even among Bette Davis and Maggie Smith in "Death on the Nile". Thank you also for your memories of Angela in "Prettybelle" and "The King & I". I'm no spring chicken, but there are times that I wish I was older to have caught some of these performances."

 

I understand re JP.  I will say that I saw her in Mame and thought she was really bad; just not a leading lady, although she probably would have been much better as Vera.  I did enjoy her in ...Daisies, which I saw on TCM maybe 6 months ago (for the 20th time in 58 years or so (I think it was 1961...I still remember the movie house that I saw it in in East Orange, NJ.  Talk about guilty pleasures!!  It is my favorite Doris Day movie, along with The Man Who Knew Too Much and ...a lot of them have really aged badly. 

I think the Mame producer's casting choices post Lansbury (Jane Morgan!! -- anyone even remember her??) were the reason it did not get a second wind the way Hello Dolly did.  Business did improve with Ann Miller, but too little too late.  The best part about her performance -- I didn't even know who she was when I saw it just before it closed -- was that they added a Tap solo during Thats How Young I Feel, which I always thought was the weak spot in the show, and brought down the house.

I loved her in Evil Under The Sun -- a sister to he Madame Arcati 27 years later and just as delightfully over-the-top-- but didn't like her interpretation of Miss  Marple in The Mirror Cracked, which was a pretty lousy movie.

[Cora Hoover Hooper]

Posted: 9/25/19 at 4:14pm

Did you see Angela in Dear World?

[brox22]

Posted: 9/25/19 at 4:59pm

Any idea why there is no soundtrack recording of the film of Pirates of Penzance?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/25/19 at 8:45pm

brox22 said: "Any idea why there is no soundtrack recording of the film of Pirates of Penzance? "

I assume because there is already a recording of the stage production with the majority of the same lead actors.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/25/19 at 10:57pm

Cora Hoover Hooper said: "Did you see Angela in Dear World?"

Yes...three times.  First in Boston, ironically far and away the best version.  

The number Each Tomorrow Morning had the most gorgeous, evocative staging; when it got to NYC, it was okay.  Lansbury was terrific, but a musical by Jerry Herman and starring Angela Lansbury has to be a big production, although the material couldn't justify it.  It would have been much better in a smaller theatre, without a couple awful production numbers 'In the Spring of Next Year' and the title song.  The title song was catchy, but it you really listened to the lyrics, it was truly dumb.]

There were some really beautiful songs, including I Don't Want to Know, which was a great solo; Each Tomorrow Morning (one of my favorite Jerry Herman songs), and Kiss Her Now, which was also a great solo.  

Re the other two times, we had actually managed to buy rear mezzanine seats for opening  night, but they changed the opening date, playing a normal preview instead; however, I assume because we were no longer going to 'opening night', they gave us tickets to another performance as well, ergo three times. 

 

[Cora Hoover Hooper]

Posted: 9/26/19 at 1:25pm

Thanks for the info. Yes, I think the opening night was postponed a few times. I have the OCR and the big production numbers seem so out of place. Love the ballads, though.

[Mark Waltz]

Posted: 9/26/19 at 1:39pm

I read a quote from Janis Paige re. "Mame" is that when she took over for Angela and was rehearsing "Bosom Buddies", she had to ask Anne Francine (who was much taller than her) to bring down the giant steps she was taking because as a smaller person, she couldn't keep up. As we know, Angela is quite tall herself. I'm sure that taking over a major part like that can be quite intimidating. I never heard of Jane Morgan until I saw the two Ed Sullivan clips of her doing "It's Today" & "We Need a Little Christmas", but did discover that she was basically a recording artist who managed to become successful in summer stock. (But then again, so was Anita Bryant.....)  Pictures of Janis in "Mame" make her appear too modern looking, while Angela has a timeless look about her (as did Ann Miller). Janis later did "Sweet Charity" on the Kenley Players circuit. She does stand out in the film version of "Silk Stockings", keeping up with Fred Astaire on "Stereophonic Sound". 

As for "Dear World", the original Broadway cast album does sound terrific even if the show should have perhaps been a bit more intimate. I saw Tyne Daly at the York in this, and while the book definitely has problems, that score is glorious. I always felt that the title song sounds like the rantings of someone a bit off the beam even if the lyrics ("Cut out the growth" are in questionable taste. I always wish the Betty Buckley version from London would have transferred, but Tyne did just fine. (And ironically Janis too also did Mama Rose in stock, so there's four actresses that both "Dear World" and "Gypsy" have in common.....)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/27/19 at 4:02pm

Jarethan said: "


I think the Mame producer's casting choices post Lansbury (Jane Morgan!! -- anyone even remember her??) were the reason it did not get a second wind the way Hello Dolly did. Business did improve with Ann Miller, but too little too late. The best part about her performance -- I didn't even know who she was when I saw it just before it closed -- was that they added a Tap solo during Thats How Young I Feel, which I always thought was the weak spot in the show, and brought down the house...."

Jarethan, Ann Miller was famous for that tap solo (100 taps from SL to SR) and inserted it into every show she did. I saw it when I worked with her on PANAMA HATTIE in South Florida, the beginning of a tour that went to Papermill and then to the Kenley Circuit.

Business on Broadway with Ann was capacity or nearly so and MAME didn't just dwindle to a closing as your post seems to imply. Rather, Ann was hit on the head when a sandbag fell from the flies and had to leave the show. It quickly closed without her, though it ranked very high among long runs in its day.

Ann never got tired of telling the story. LOL.

I don't know why the revival with Angela in the early 1980s didn't run longer. I had done the show with her a few years earlier--again in South Florida--and she was thrilling in an excellent production that I believe was basically the same version that later came to NYC. It was a slow era for Broadway in general.

***

As for the voice she used in THE KING AND I, she only played two weeks while Yul was on vacation, IIRC. No Finale computer program and key changes still had to be orchestrated by hand in those days. It would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to put the songs in new keys, so maybe she used the voice she had to use to sing in Constance Tower's keys. (I loved Angela as Anna--and as everybody else--and had no problem with her singing ever. I'm just trying to explain why she may have made the choices she did.)

***

FWIW, I love Janis Paige on THE PAJAMA GAME OCR. I love the recordings from the old days when actors-who-sing didn't all sound alike. I didn't see her "Mame", so no comment on that.

***

I agree that SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY is a film that should have been a hit. Screenplay by Hugh Wheeler, BTW. I wish I could see it again. It would make a great musical, but CABARET and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC already covered the same ground. Yes, Hal Prince was involved in every film or show mentioned in this paragraph.

(ETA I don't refer to celebrities by their first names alone unless I have met them personally and have been invited to address them by first name. It just so happens that this thread refers to a lot of stars I worked with in the 1970s.)

Updated On: 9/27/19 at 04:02 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/28/19 at 11:29pm

GavestonPS said: "Jarethan said: "


I think the Mame producer's casting choices post Lansbury (Jane Morgan!! -- anyone even remember her??) were the reason it did not get a second wind the way Hello Dolly did. Business did improve with Ann Miller, but too little too late. The best part about her performance -- I didn't even know who she was when I saw it just before it closed -- was that they added a Tap solo during Thats How Young I Feel, which I always thought was the weak spot in the show, and brought down the house...."

Jarethan, Ann Miller was famous for that tap solo (100 taps from SL to SR) and inserted it intoevery show she did. I saw it when I worked with her on PANAMA HATTIE in South Florida, the beginning of a tour that went to Papermill and then to the Kenley Circuit.

Business on Broadway with Ann was capacity or nearly so and MAME didn't just dwindle to a closing as your post seems to imply. Rather, Ann was hit on the head when a sandbag fell from the flies and had to leave the show. It quickly closed without her, though it ranked very high among long runs in its day.

Ann never got tired of telling the story. LOL.

I don't know why the revival with Angela in the early 1980s didn't run longer. I had done the show with her a few years earlier--again in South Florida--and she was thrilling in an excellent production that I believe was basically the same version that later came to NYC. It was a slow era for Broadway in general.

***

As for the voice she used in THE KING AND I, she only played two weeks while Yul was on vacation, IIRC. No Finale computer program and key changes still had to be orchestrated by hand in those days. It would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to put the songs in new keys, so maybe she used the voice she had to use to sing in Constance Tower's keys. (I loved Angela as Anna--and as everybody else--and had no problem with her singing ever. I'm just trying to explain why she may have made the choices she did.)

***

FWIW, I love Janis Paige on THE PAJAMA GAME OCR. I love the recordings from the old days when actors-who-sing didn't all sound alike. I didn't see her "Mame", so no comment on that.

***

I agree that SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY is a film that should have been a hit. Screenplay by Hugh Wheeler, BTW. I wish I could see it again. It would make a great musical, but CABARET and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC already covered the same ground. Yes, Hal Prince was involved in every film or show mentioned in this paragraph.

(ETA I don't refer to celebrities by their first names alone unless I have met them personallyand have been invited to address them by first name. It just so happens that this thread refers to a lot of stars I worked with in the 1970s.)"

 

First of all, I am jealous; but, since I was an attendee rather than an active participant, that's life.

We disagree a little on the closing of Mame.  I actually saw Ann Miller twice, right after she took over and got great reviews (coincidentally, I was working as a summertime host (I sat people) at the restaurant La Fonda Del Sol in the Time Life Building, which is where they had her opening night party; I was 18 and it was a very exciting night, so I got my seat the next day).  I also saw it late in the run...it was at the Broadway at that point, and there were a lot of empty seats, maybe 2/3 filled.  Of course, it was winter (pre-Christmas, which was dead in those years, other than the one or two real sellouts).  It was also on two-fers for her entire engagement, so the grosses were diluted.  (I have a ridiculous mind / memory for numbers, and the first time I saw Mame remains my favorite musical performance ever).  

Re TKAI, I guess I really like Lansbury's chest voice, and couldn't get used to the higher pitch, which came across as 'pushing' too hard to me.  It definitely detracted from my enjoyment.  I should also point out that the prior I saw her was Gypsy, which I saw a lot of times for the short duration of the run, and still consider to be my favorite single performance in a musical, so expectations were really high.

Finally, my opinion re the short run of the revival... (1) there was no advanced notice (it came 'from nowhere' because they had to cancel the Phillie engagement early); (2) summer was pretty deadly back then (I remember that shows used to close around Memorial Day rather than Labor Day, because business was down in the summer; (3) The Uris was too damned big (pretty much a white elephant until Wicked) and had a LOT of seats to sell; (4) some of the criticism derided it as being a little too Summer Stock, e.g., the sets were pretty cheesy); and (5) Audiences were not as willing to pay Broadway prices for a musical revival.  No! No! Nannette was a super-exception in 1971; very few theatergoers had even seen the show on Broadway... so it was practically a new show).  (I would cite several shows to make my point: In 1975 Gypsy was scheduled for 10 weeks, and extended to 15, not doing nearly as well in those additional 5 weeks; Ethel Merman moved Annie Get You Gun to the Broadway in 1966, after a five week engagement  the NY State Theatre, and couldn't fill the Broadway for even a short-time.  Carol Channing's revival of Dolly at the Lunt Fontanne in 1979 was on TKTS for the entire engagement and did not extend beyond its planned (I think 13 week) engagement...there were also plenty of empty seats throughout the run).  I often wonder whether the flop of the 1978 (I think) revival is a big factor in its not being revived in 40 years?  I know some posters on this board say it is not politically correct or some such; IMO that is bologna.  I suspect the real reason is finding a Mame who can be the hit that Lansbury was (or almost). 

[viagalactica6]

Posted: 9/29/19 at 12:04am

I agree with you. I also saw Lansbury in Gypsy and consider it one of the greatest musical theater performances in theater history. I was so overwhelmed that I went back the very next night and bought standing room. I cannot possibly imagine how Ethel Merman could have been better.

Fortunately for me I caught her last matinee performance as Mame in the original Broadway production. Superb!