Truth about the 1973 death of Irene Ryan (and "Pippin" love thread) — Page 2

I'm loving the resourcefulness of our BWW posters. And I'm loving the love for Miss Ryan and for "Pippin."

But the big question: Can this show be revived? It's kind of getting obvious that it hasn't been.........

best-

The "Irene Ryan Award" is, wonderfully, still important in the college theatre scene.

It was an honor to receive the nomination just a couple years ago!

PAUL W, when i adjudicate region-wide, i make sure the hopefuls do. Last year, our emcee/host for the acting finals did a very funny, very touching, "Granny" impression. Just the right tone/spirit. i also know the national coordinator at KennCenter from former mutual regional work with ACTF. He's a Ryan fan, so he probably makes sure, though i haven't been to national finals in about a decade. i'd love to go again. They are always thrilling.

---

Updated On: 10/30/08 at 08:08 AM

wish i could have seen the Goodspeed tour version recently for casting alone, plus the Utah Shakes version (which i heard had a great visual concept). Looking forward to the Deaf West version, which like the LA REPRISE version, is likely to feature Michael Arden. Was Sam Harris also in REPRISE version?

Also i heard the PaperMill version was quite good (Jack Noseworthy).

---

Tyrone Giordano? I don't remember the last name, but I remember him from the 2003-2004 season

A few idle "Pippin" thoughts:

When Irene Ryan sang the line:

And it's hard to believe I'm being led astray
By a man who calls me "Granny"

there must have been a defeaning ROAR from the audience every night! A huge, affirming, joyful cry of recognition and delight. I actually get teary-eyed if I conjure it up too clearly. Only live theater can provide those kinds of moments.

Wasn't "Pippin" the first Broadway musical to air TV commercials that included performance clips? I think it started with the hands in the light curtain.

Looking back, doesn't it seem really odd that John Rubinstein and Jill Clayburgh were in a Bob Fosse musical? I mean, really?

And was the video with Vereen, William Katt, Chita and Martha Raye shot at the O'Keefe Center in Toronto, the home of the legendary try-out of "Camelot?" I've always been under that impression.

A long time reader of Broadwayworld.com, I registered as a member just now just so I could provide some info on Irene Ryan's death. John Rubenstein used to post on the usenet group rec.arts.theatre.musicals and back in August 1996 he posted the following, which I assume is pretty definitive since he was starring in the show at the time:

Dear Irene Ryan did NOT die during a performance. Nor did she finish her
contract. Here's the true story:
Irene was lonely in New York City. She missed her life and her friends in
LA where she had lived for many years, and the cold winter and the
eight-show schedule undermined her spirit somewhat. But, trouper that she
was, she never missed a performance. However, I started to notice that she
was beginning to look weak, or listless. I sat and watched her big number
on stage every night, and I saw that she began to cut down on her moves,
and to generally diminish the amazing energy that she would normally put
out every time (on opening night, she stopped the show cold, and I had to
stand there for about eight minutes waiting for the applause to die down
before I could go on!). One Saturday matinee, she looked particularly
drained, and I got worried that she might be sick. I was having dinner
with Fosse at my house between shows; so I went to Ben Vereen and asked
him to contact Stuart Ostrow (the producer) and have him come to the
evening show, and I would ask Bob to do the same. I told Bob that I
thought perhaps Irene needed a vacation, even though contractually she
didn't have one coming for some months; it might do her good to go to
California for a while, and then finish up her contract when the weather
was warmer. Bob said he'd take a look at her in the next day or two.
When I returned to the Imperial for the evening show, the call had just
come through from Kennedy airport: Irene was on a plane to Los Angeles.
She had had her bags packed before the matinee, and right after the show,
with the help of Walter Willison, my friend and standby, she had left for
the airport right after the afternoon performance. Her standby, Lucie
Lancaster, went on that night, and then continued to play the part until
Dorothy Stickney took over some weeks later.
Irene, upon landing in LA, was taken right to the hospital, diagnosed with
malnutrition!! We all called and sent her cards and love and wishes to get
better fast, but she basically wasted away over the next few days. I
belive she actually died about three days later of some kind of heart
failure.
I have always thought that her behavior was like that of an old cat, who
curls up under the bed and goes to sleep and just doesn't wake up. Irene
knew (either consciously or not) that it was her "time". She stuck with
her job as long as she could, and then, without fanfare, went home to die.

i always had the impression that the Katt/Rivera video version was shot at the Kennedy Center, but i could easily be wrong.

Speaking of Ostrow, there is a great account of many things PIPPIN in his book....including the TV commercial's development. i recall him saying it kept the show from closing and even running quite a while. The book may be called A PRODUCER'S JOURNEY, but my memory may fail me. It's a great book in many ways!

---

The Papermill production was pretty routine, over-conceived (people arriving in a limousine, if I recall) and not thrilling in the casting, Charlotte Rae aside. Noseworthy had some vocal problems -- not just my opinion, discussed. He clearly recovered and sang better on broadway. But the NJ revival felt like a strained non-event, someone trying to find a clever way to reconceive a show tied to the 70s. Didn't work, and unless a NY revival is star-studded, I cannot see it selling tickets. The material is just too precious and of its time, no matter how tuneful the Schwart score.

---

Great thread! The telecast of Pippin was, for some reason, the first and only video my family owned when I was a wee toddler, and it's always been dear to my heart. That being said, every live version I've seen-- at high schools, Papermill, and LA's Deaf West Players (they did an anime-redux version with Gedde Watanabe as Bertha!)-- has absolutely paled in comparison to the original. Still, we here in LA have high hopes for the upcoming Deaf West treatment, especially since it will play at the newly-renovated Mark Taper Forum, where musicals are so rarely staged. Ooh, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. I'm sure they're hoping for success on a "Big River" scale. And Tyler Giordano would be awesome, he's so hot!

What a fascinating thread. It was like reading a good detective story!

The only reason that I'm posting this is to mention that Motown did record at least one other Broadway cast album: the 1970s revival of GUYS & DOLLS starring Robert Guillame (sp?) and Ken Page. To this day, it's still my favorite recording of GUYS & DOLLS. "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" really ROCKS!

"I also think it's one of those shows (like Hello Dolly) where a performer is so identified with a role that some people are afraid to remount it out of disrespect to the original cast member. Or possibly some people have such fond memories of Ben Vereen that they don't want to see another person in the role. "

The bigger prob for me is Fosse. I think the score is underated actually (at the time critics DESPISED it, but they also didn't think much of Chicago's score...) However I still have never thought Pippin much worked without Fosse's amazing staging. I already think Sweet Charity sucks without his staging--like the recent revival (FOsse formed the entire show around his stagign and choreography afterall--writing much of the book himself pre Neil Simon etc) and Pippin is similar for me. They could do a Chorus Line I guess and largely recreate the original (maybe slightly updating the costumes/scenery to be less 70s--though that's kinda the point of the whole show) and I for one would love to seethat original staging live. But I doubt they'll do this, and it would take a true new vision to erase memories and comparisons to Fosse's

"I don't remember Priscilla Lopez's performance at all because Leland Palmer was so extraordinary, everyone else's interpretation of Fastrada pales by comparison. "

Leland of course retired not too long after (well after All That Jazz). I do love Chita in the video/dvd though (and I love Martha as Granny)

There is a production of it in LA right now. Sara Gettelfinger is Fastrada and Harriet Harris is Berthe.

---