Just read in my The Life playbill that Lillias White was in a production of Godot.. Did anyone see it? I would be incredibly interested to hear about it!
Thanks!
I didn't see the production, but during a Chatterbox posted on SethTV (I think from the early 00s), she mentions it. Apparently it was clown-themed, and she juggled during the show. She then says that during her audition for BARNUM, she tried to use her juggling experience but had forgotten it all.
Updated On: 4/27/14 at 07:50 PM
Playbill interview:
What was your first show on Broadway?
"Barnum [as a replacement in the role of Joice Heth, an African-American slave billed as the oldest living woman]. I was doing Tintypes. We were in Palm Beach and I came up to New York on my day off to audition at the St. James Theatre. I sang my audition song, "Don't Rain on My Parade," from Funny Girl. Cy Coleman, the composer, and Joe Layton, the director, were at the back of the theatre in the dark. And Joe said, "Well, can you do any circus stuff?" Some years back, I had done a production of Waiting for Godot in Brooklyn with an all female cast, women in clown face and costume, and I had learned how to juggle. So they gave me beanbags to juggle. I hadn't done it in a while, so the beanbags were falling on the floor. I picked the beanbags up and said, "It gets better." And Joe laughed. He said, "O.K., you've got the job." They told me on the spot."
Hmmm... sounds interesting.
Thanks for the info!
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