OFFICIAL: Elaine Stritch has passed- Page 6

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 12:58am

My parents live not far from where Ms. Stritch's condo was in Birmingham, MI. Her health had begun to decline quite bit since the beginning of the year, but much of that was attributed to her age. Things started to escalate in the spring when she started having stomach issues. It was known amongst those who knew her and also known that the people she had come closest to (like her neighbors she befriended) were keeping things private unless Elaine wanted it out.

In an interview with a Detroit TV station in late March, she said she was drinking again.

I had a brief encounter with Ms. Stritch in the fall of 2013. I was buying coffee and bagels to take to my folks's house. She was leaving as I stood in line. I apologized if I was interrupting her, but I wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed her in ALNM and that no one could top her version of Ladies Who Lunch. She laughed and motioned for me to come loser to her wheelchair. Then, in what wasn't whisper, she looked at me and said, "You have pretty skin, dear, but you'll be prettier if you stand up straighter!"

A legend told me to improve my posture. I can handle that.

Keep giving them hell, Elaine, always and forever.

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 1:12am

This just popped up on Facebook and it's incredibly chilling. She would've been an incredible Rose:


Elaine's Turn

[binau]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 2:13am

She has an engaging personality, that's for sure. Only Elaine Stritch could get away with singing Rose's Turn like that.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 2:51am

I'm going to miss her. She was a true theater DIVA!

[logan2]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:11am

Can anyone provide a link to the old broadwayworld message thread that discussed in detail, on a nightly basis, Elaine slowly getting up to speed on "Liaisons" when she first replaced Lansbury in ALNM? I can't seem to find it. I've been having a marathon of Stritch watching and reading since the news broke of her passing, and I would love to read that old thread again. God, I adored that woman.



Updated On: 7/19/14 at 03:11 AM

[lovebwy]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:43am

My all time favorite living Broadway performer is Patti LuPone. But I can't imagine crying as much as I have been over her as I have for Elaine Stritch. I've lost relatives and not been this upset!

What is it? I think maybe a combination of her vulnerability (which comes across in At Liberty and certainly in Shoot Me) which she shared with us, and just the endless amounts of happiness and entertainment she gave us. I was 18 when I discovered her on the Follies in Concert CD. I'd never heard anything like her rendition of Broadway Baby, or the ovation she got when the song was over. I saw her in At Liberty at the Ahmanson in LA, which prompted me to buy the Company CD, and Sail Away. Her stint on 30 Rock, her cameo on Letterman, the stellar appearances on Theater Talk. The fact that she never had a huge, Golden Girls style Hollywood success somehow maybe made her more accessible. She belonged to us in a personal way.

Life can be HARD and it's people like Elaine who help get us though. And for me, Elaine more than any other entertainer. I really don't wanna live in a world that doesn't have Stritchie in it, but I guess we all have to now.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:56am

@iluvtheatertrash - thanks for sharing that Facebook video of the lights dimming. I'm a bit taken aback at how emotional that was for me. I guess watching those lights dim and seeing Elaine's wonderful face up on the Broadhurst marquee made me realize this wasn't just the end of Elaine's life, but the end of an era for those great showbiz BROADS with comedy in their bones and all the right screws loose, if you know what I mean. Who is left like that? It's gonna be sad when Carol Channing departs as well.

[Idiot]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:58am

My reaction to her leaving us is so rare for me -- a little loss, yes, but the strong feeling that she did exactly what she came here to do and didn't need a drop more. I'm filled with a sense of BRAVA! more than mourning. A life fully lived is such a beautiful thing.

[LittleEdieFan]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 6:34am

Elaine's story about working on The Women with Gloria Swanson has me in tears of laughter every time I hear it. Rest in peace.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 9:38am

You're not alone, HorseTears. I've been crying on and off since the news broke. I only met Elaine once. And briefly. But her impact on my life is tremendous. She was, without a doubt, my hero. Still is. Always will be.

I am doing my cabaret act at The Metropolitan Room today. Just Tuesday in rehearsal, I said to my pianist as we were working through "The Ladies Who Lunch" - God, I don't know what I'll do when Elaine's gone. It will crush me. And then this happened. He asked me if I still wanted to sing the song and the only answer I could come up with was absolutely. I very well might cry, but so what? Elaine would've still done it, that's for sure.

I hope that when I die, I've lived with my life with even an ounce of the vigor with which she lived hers. This has been a hard, sad couple of days. I will miss her spirit and presence terribly.

[bekk99]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 10:29am

Some of these links might not work with my privacy settings, but here's my video from 45th Street! A very moving tribute to a legend.

http://instagram.com/p/qnJOMSyKNg/ (open link)

https://twitter.com/briankirn/status/490284015048728576

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10202474259320174&substory_index=0&id=1305330046

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 10:39am

Does anyone think she'll receive a lifetime achievement award this year (finally) at the Tonys?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 10:45am

Some obscure Stritchiana: Elaine singing Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "All in Fun" from Very Warm in May:

http://youtu.be/En1-1hnbbQc

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 10:50am

I sure hope so, Adamgreer. It's time.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 12:01pm

The sad thing is, as ljay just pointed out to me, any tribute to Elaine would almost certainly be during the pre-broadcast hour of the show and be relegated to a webcast because CBS wouldn't want to have to eliminate a performance by the non-equity touring cast of "I Love Lucy: the Musical."

Updated On: 7/19/14 at 12:01 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 2:57pm

More obscure Stritchiana: Elaine sings "He Had Refinement" from the musical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, music by Arthur Schwartz, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, from the British television show Song by Song by Dorothy Fields. Aired July 1979.

http://youtu.be/4d1jVs0aStw

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:47pm

I heard this story from a very reliable source.

Elaine was asked to sing in a concert with several other people. One of the other actresses in the concert had some financial difficulties and didn't have an appropriate dress to wear. When Elaine found out about it, she invited the actress over to her place and gave her one of her own dresses to wear in the show.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 3:51pm

A favorite of mine. Elaine surprising Patti backstage at the Philharmonic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCurwXlSjBU


Updated On: 7/19/14 at 03:51 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 4:06pm

Here is Elaine's legendary three-character rendition of "You Took Advantage of Me":

https://vimeo.com/101176624

Elaine>http://vimeo.com/101176624">Elaine Stritch You Took Advantage of Me from Pal>http://vimeo.com/user13554353">Pal Joey on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com">Vimeo.

Updated On: 7/20/14 at 04:06 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 4:34pm

Did anyone else that she was cast as Ursula after Bea Arthur passed on the film? Howard Ashman hired, and then fired her she wouldn't sing the somg the way he wanted her to?
Elaine was almost the voice of Ursula

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/19/14 at 4:53pm

Thanks for posting that 'Refinement' number. It's one of her very best, and I had been looking for it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 12:12am

The "You Took Advantage" is embedded in this thread.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 12:25am

Wow, the "You Took Advantage" clip is absolutely brilliant. I LOVE hearing her voice before all the booze and cigarettes took over. It was still husky, but we get to hear the closest she ever got to "belting." Same goes for this amazing clip of "You're Just in Love" from Call Me Madam. I love hearing her sing like this. Her solo album also has some similar gems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV7eFQ9O-tc

Updated On: 7/20/14 at 12:25 AM

[binau]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 6:50am

*[maybe] SPOILERS*

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is amazing documentary!



Having Elaine Stritch tell the camera that she can feel it is her time to die is quite confronting.



This is a gift that really makes me reflect what is like to be human.

Updated On: 7/20/14 at 06:50 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/20/14 at 7:41am

Here's a clip of Stritch's take on To Keep My Love Alive.


Stritch