Posted: 10/25/16 at 6:46pm
http://nypost.com/2016/10/25/joan-rivers-biggest-regret-revealed/
Found this moving...
Updated On: 10/25/16 at 06:46 PM
Posted: 10/25/16 at 7:25pm
RIP Joan Rivers. Thanks for posting.
Posted: 10/25/16 at 8:38pm
Here's almost 20 min. of "Sally Marr...."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhKBErakCwQ
Updated On: 10/25/16 at 08:38 PM
Posted: 10/26/16 at 8:11am
I suppose it didn't fit his narrative, but Rivers was a more than credible replacement Kate in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. Her performance in that was very well-regarded.
Posted: 10/26/16 at 8:45am
I saw her in Broadway Bound, and it was a superb performance. She completely made the role her own -- her interpretation of Kate was very different from Linda Lavin's, whose performance I also saw. I know many people who approached her performance as a curiosity and left highly impressed by the skill she brought to the role.
If I recall correctly, Kurt Deutsch (now of Sh-K-Boom) was her Eugene. I still recall how well they played the "George Raft" scene together. There's a part in that scene where Eugene says something like (paraphrasing), "There's more to life than raising children and having a family" and Kate replies "Yeah...so I've heard." Rivers delivered that line so matter-of-factly, such a lived-in response, that it shook me. I still remember the feelings she gave me in that scene. I'm grateful I saw her.
Posted: 10/26/16 at 11:48am
This is moving, but not news. Rivers herself talked about it openly in her last book, noting how difficult it was to join the "Broadway Bound" cast, because they were openly hostile to her taking over the role of Kate. It took several weeks for them to warm to her, and become more welcoming. I found that shocking (it's hard to say how much of it was in River's response and trepidation; but she makes a case). And of course ub "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" she infamously wrestles with the decision to bring her autobiographical play to NYC after London. You see her discuss this very issue on camera, and absorb the news that the show won't move. She makes it clear she can't bear criticism of her acting.
I saw her Kate and she was fine. Better than fine later in the show, in the icon dancing sequence.
Updated On: 10/26/16 at 11:48 AM
Posted: 10/26/16 at 1:20pm
I believe the cast was initially hostile to her because Elizabeth Franz was bought out of her contract in favor of Joan. They viewed it as a usurper coming in and overthrowing a beloved theater actor. But when they saw that Joan was there to do the work and not just to stroke her ego, they warmed to her.
I saw her near the end of her run (the play closed with her) and she was excellent.
Posted: 10/26/16 at 3:22pm
I agree that this isn't news. Joan has always been candid that the one thing she longed for was to act a role and be taken seriously. She had a great amount of depth even though she was a comedian. She longed for praise for her dramatic work.
Posted: 10/27/16 at 2:26pm
Did she ever say why she didnt try another Broadway show after Sally Marr? I would have though that with the star power she had the rest of her life that could would have had plenty of offers. She would have nailed Miss Hannigan in Annie I think.
Posted: 10/27/16 at 10:38pm
Love that idea Sunny11, Miss Hannigan would have been a perfect fit...
