Well I have a feeling this post is going to make several of you feel bad for harping on poor Mary Tyler Moore. Apparently she fell (tripped over her dog) and her face is swollen because of the incident but she wanted to be there to support her friend, Bernadette. So maybe we should stop the MTM bashing for a bit.
I've only read the dog was responsible for the swollen face. I have no information on the cause of the other issues of the evening. But as an animal lover, I beg you all, let's not blame the dog. I'm sure he has better taste than that.
She doesn't look swollen. She looks shiny and plasticy. To be fair, though, I think BWW has some kind of edict that they need to take and publish the absolute worst pictures of celebrities they can.
Walter Kerr was an astute critic who never made sarcastic remarks at the expense of the show he was reviewing. Clive Barnes was another matter. His background was as a dance critic and he often gave very opinionated views of the shows. It would not surprise me if he went to sleep during the press performance of FOLLIES. I had a friend who worked for the Times as a photography editor, and he told me that Barnes would frequently be asleep at his desk, hung over. And yet the power he wielded was enormous. I am not sorry that he is no longer at the Times.
I believe the anecdote (which I still think was in Everything Was possible, but can't check right now, so could be way off) also mentioned he was drunk. I do admit to enjoying some of his collected essays on dance reprinted in book form.