Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:21pm
Nice tribute and acknowledgement of her status as true Broadway royalty!
https://twitter.com/hugh_ig/status/1579927410174484481?s=20&t=fqJ4vZTyDM753ho9RNmVDw
Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:33pm
First the Queen, then the Queen of the Theater. Both nearing their centenary..
Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:37pm
Let's re-name the Winter Garden in her honor!
Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:45pm
Dollypop said: "Let's re-name the Winter Garden in her honor!"
MAME opened at The Winter Garden Theatre in 1966 and ran at the theatre for 3 years!
Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:47pm
Dollypop said: "Let's re-name the Winter Garden in her honor!"
Would love this. Her name on that giant marquee would look beautiful. 96 years is a great run.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 4:59pm
Dollypop said: "Let's re-name the Winter Garden in her honor!"
Seconded
Posted: 10/11/22 at 5:14pm
Posted: 10/11/22 at 5:19pm
I managed to see Angela Lansbury in every show in which she performed in her heyday, i.e.,
-- Mame: 4 times. The memory of seeing it the first time was so incredible that I remember the date in which I first saw it: Saturday matinee, June 25, 1966.
-- Dear World: 3 times (including Boston tryout). A show whose whoie was less than the sum of its best parts. She was magnificent, much of the score was wonderful (the title song didn't fit and had some of the most inane lyrics ever), and there were some beautiful numbers, but it was just too bleak and the production was inflated...it should have been performed with a small cast in the Booth but played the large Mark Hellinger instead.
-- Prettybelle: 1 time Boston tryout. Terrible show that deserved to close, but she was great as always; she had a number in the second Act, When I'm Drunk, which woke up the theatre and then brought it to cheers. A great performance in a rotten show.
-- Gypsy: 5 times (including Boston tryout and !!! The Westchester Premiere Showcase
-- Sweeney Todd: 4 times
-- Mame Revival: 3 1/2 times (I had to catch a plane, but it was going to be my last opportunity to ever see her in it, so I was only able to see the first act).
-- A Little Night Music: 1 time
-- Deuce: 1 time
-- A Small Family Business: 1 time
-- The King and I: 1 time
-- Blithe Spirit: 2 times
-- The Best Man: 1 time
-- Driving Miss Daisy: 1 time (just happened to be celebrating my 40th wedding anniversary in Melbourne, Australia, when she and James Earl Jones performed it Down Under).
I have never seen another performer as many times, at least in a lead role; I would have seen them even more, but I was only 16 when I first saw Mame, so money (and living in NJ) was definitely a major constraint.
To this day, I consider her performance as Mama Rose the single greatest musical performance I have ever seen, and I would rank her performance as Mame in the top 5. But she was great in almost everything. The only show in which I did not love her performance was in her three-week engagement as Anna in The King and I. She sang her songs with her throat voice, and it just seemed forced, but you had to give her credit for taking on that role for only three weeks.
I doubt that there will ever be anyone in my remaining lifetime who will ever come close to her greatness on the musical stage, just as no one has achieved the same level of greatness thus far. The Pattis and Bernadettes and Chitas and Suttons and Audras and Gwens have all given great performances, some on more than one occasion, but she is Mount Olympus.
PS -- I must be a savant or something...I have always had an incredible memory for numbers.
Updated On: 10/12/22 at 05:19 PM
Posted: 10/11/22 at 5:28pm
Posted: 10/11/22 at 5:41pm
Her NYT obit is accompanied by a lengthy video interview done in 2010 that it was agreed would be held until her death. Gift link
Updated On: 10/11/22 at 05:41 PM
Posted: 10/11/22 at 6:08pm
Nobody will ever be a better Mrs. Lovett than Lansbury.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 6:32pm
Bea Arthur probably greeted Angela once she got up there.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 6:43pm
I was lucky enough to see the great Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou in Sweeney Todd. Even though my seat was up in the balcony, I enjoyed the show as much as I would have in an orchestra seat.
The one thing that scared the hell out of me was that air whistle in the balcony when the victims got their throats cut.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 7:02pm
Globefan said: "Bea Arthur probably greeted Angela once she got up there."
Better Bea Arthur than Arthur Laurents. (ok, he's probably not up there)
What a career. Grateful that she shared her talents with us all.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 7:16pm
Joanna Gleason tells her story of working with Lansbury in A Little Family Business (out of town).
https://twitter.com/TheRealJGleason/status/1579938280648630272
Posted: 10/11/22 at 8:01pm
So very sad to hear that news. She was a wonderful actress and role model for so many. Rest in Peace wonderful lady.
Updated On: 10/11/22 at 08:01 PM
Posted: 10/11/22 at 8:05pm
Jarethan's post above is exactly why I still scan the BWW threads ever couple of days. What a lifetime of amazing show-going he has enjoyed! I second his notion that Lansbury's GYPSY could be the greatest performance by an actress I've ever seen. I feel equally lucky to have seen her Mrs Lovett in the original SWEENEY (delicious) and her Madame Armfeldt in the almost-good-enough revival of ALNM (she was impeccable).
I also have a weird memory of having seen Lansbury in a Hal Prince-directed production of Durenmatt's straight play of THE VISIT back in the 70's. But since this has never been mentioned in any obituary so far, I fear I'm mistaken. Apologies to Angela (and to who ever actually starred in that production.)
Updated On: 10/11/22 at 08:05 PM
Posted: 10/11/22 at 9:42pm
I hope the Broadway League makes a swift decision about honoring Angela Lansbury with the dimming of lights. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/nyregion/a-brief-history-of-dimming-the-lights-on-broadway.html
Posted: 10/11/22 at 9:45pm
Been watching Angela Lansbury movies all evening. God she was extraordinary. Sweeney Todd pro-shot up next. Lots of tears to come.
RIP, beautiful and talented lady. We will always remember you.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 10:05pm
Posted: 10/11/22 at 10:27pm
So sad to hear this news! On one of my annual trips to London for a week of theatre I was fortunate enough to sit front row center to see her in BLITHE SPIRIT. It is a night I will always treasure. The audience was in love with her from the moment she stepped out on the stage!
Posted: 10/11/22 at 10:45pm
Great article with lots of photos in Daily Mail tonight.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11305313/How-playing-Americas-Miss-Marple-turned-Angela-Lansbury-richest-woman-TV-history.html
Posted: 10/11/22 at 10:58pm
Incredibly sad - but also really happy she lived a long and wonderful life.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 3:35am
And for something a little off beat, Angela Lansbury’s demo recording of Love and Love alone from THE VISIT. I believe she didn’t go ahead with the show because of her husband’s health. While Chita was excellent and her history with the writers made it all the more special, I do think we missed out a little. You can really hear the kind of sardonic acting here. And the lyrics are particularly poignant and chilling right now after her death.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=93XKrmcSP44
Updated On: 10/12/22 at 03:35 AM
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