judy kaye replaces madeline kahn in on 20th century?what is the real story?

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 6:45pm

i didn't know this happen. what was the reasoning behind this? was madeline fired from the show?

Updated On: 3/11/12 at 06:45 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 7:07pm

I loved Kahn as a performer but the rumor was she was a bi%ch to work with.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 10:36pm

Curtain, she could be very difficult.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:01pm

I hate hearing bad things about performers I love.

Difficult to work with doesn't necessarily mean pure evil as a person of course, though, right?

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:12pm

According to Carol Ilson's book on Hal Prince, Kahn was not just difficult, she wasn't delivering:

Prince: "Opening night she finally gave the performance we'd been working towards. I ran backstage after the curtain call, "You see, you can do it." And she looked into her makeup mirror at me and replied "I hope you don't think I'm going to be able to do that every night." My heart sank. I waited for the day (or night) when she didn't show up for a performance. When that happened Judy Kaye went on and knocked the audience out. But then Madeline Kahn returned...and left...and returned...and left. It took some time before she could be persuaded to leave. It was too late. It hurt the show. If that show had opened with Judy Kaye, I believe it would have run a few seasons."

Instead ON THE 20TH CENTURY ran a year and closed a financial failure.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:14pm

What was Bette Midler's old punchline? "It's the blowwwwwww."

I saw Madeline and thought she was fine. I had no idea about the behind-the-scenes tsuris. Also, Kevin Kline's chest deserved a Special Tony Award.

She was gone about two months after opening.

Updated On: 3/11/12 at 11:14 PM

[wonkit]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:21pm

I thought Kline got the best supporting actor Tony for that part, no?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:25pm

His chest deserved Best Living Breathing Shag Carpet Special Tony.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:25pm

Hal Prince can be a real Drama Queen when telling a story.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:27pm

I've always been puzzled by a passage from Foster Hirsch's book Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre:

The only time Prince has had problems with actors has been with such well-known performers as Madeline Kahn in On The Twentieth Century and Ben Vereen in Grind. "Actually, when I cast her, I thought Madeline Kahn was Bernadette Peters," Prince says; I had gotten the two of them mixed up. At any rate Kahn gave a terrific performance opening night and the audience gave her a standing ovation. When I went backstage she said, "You don't expect me to do that every night, do you?" and I knew we were dead. She didn't have the stamina, and I've always thought she ruined our chances for a long run.

Did he really confuse Kahn for Bernadette Peters??

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 11:37pm

Don't you just think it was because Broadway was still basking in the glow of A Chorus Line and nobody was ever going to get totally psyched about a pastiche musical in the spring of '78?

[goldenboy]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 12:04am

I saw Madeline Kahn in the run about two weeks into the run.
She was wonderful--funny and right on. Sang great and gave the hilarious performance she is known for.


Then I went back and saw Judy Kaye because there was so much hype about her being
better than Kahn.

It was just press hype. There was no comparison. Madeline Kahn was remarkable and Kaye was... well okay.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 12:25am

"Actually, when I cast her, I thought Madeline Kahn was Bernadette Peters,"

Yeah, right. No doubt, he also thought Imogene Coca was Agnes Moorehead.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 12:43am

There were also issues with Kahn when she starred in In The Boom Boom Room, if I recall correctly.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 12:43am

There were also issues with Kahn when she starred in In The Boom Boom Room, if I recall correctly.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 2:41am

What I recall hearing repeatedly at the time was that a large measure of the "difficulty" associated with Madeleine Kahn in that show came from the actors and stage managers that her performance/on-stage behavior was wildly unpredictable and left her fellow actors highly nervous whenever on stage with her. As for her frequent absences, it was also rumored that Hal Prince offered Ms. Kahn his influence to help snag a Tony nomination for her if she agreed to leave the show quietly. She was indeed nominated and also left the show.

I didn't see Madeleine Kahn in the show -- due to all the negative word-of-mouth about her at the time -- but I did see Judy Kaye several times. Hers remains one of the most thrilling leading performances I've ever seen in a musical.

Kevin Kline was brilliant as well. No one else in that role has ever come close to what he did so splendidly as a comic actor.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 3:20am

Didn't Betty Comden fill in for a bit, reportedly forgetting her own lyrics?

[mallardo]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 3:29am

I had it from someone who was in the cast that Madeline Kahn suffered massively from stage fright and whatever problems she had all stemmed from that. On this show it did her in.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 4:15am

Yes, chewy, Betty Comden did fill in for Imogene Coca for two weeks (I think). I saw her in the show and thought she was terrific. I rarely went backstage in those days, but Betty Comden was someone I HAD to meet. She was absolutely gracious; a class act all the way.

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 7:38am

A close friend of mine worked on the revival of Born Yesterday that starred Kahn and Ed Asner. He told me that Kahn was deeply insecure and often did things to sabotage her own performance and reputation with the company (for example: calling the director in tears at three in the morning; not showing up until ten minutes before curtain; etc). Based on her history, it seems accurate.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 8:57am

^that's so very sad, AC.

I'll never forget Kaye's sensational performance as Lily. I saw her in the show in Chicago with Rock Hudson.

[D2]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 9:21am

I saw the first Wednesday matinee after the opening, and when Kahn was "on" she was sensational. But when she wasn't the focus of a scene she had an odd way of just "disappearing" -- visibly conserving her energy to get through her next "big" moment. (Or maybe the evening show)

I remember shortly after the show opened the columns began to report numerous problems backstage at a "splashy new musical" and intimating a "certain big female star" was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

After she left the show, People Magazine ran a very pro-Madeline story in which she admitted she was insecure and that her oft-reported illnesses might have been psychosomatic. The story also reported she was given a $100,000 cash settlement, certainly not a fortune by today's standards but a still considerable sum in 1978.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 10:23am

Two separate cast members of the original On the Twentieth Century both told the same story - Prince didn't seem to know who Kahn was or understand her approach to comedy. He kept trying to "teach" her how to be funny, giving her line readings and bad schtick. She would generally demur, not like a diva nor sweetly, but rather detached, as though she didn't want to deal with him. He began to openly scream at her in rehearsals, which, of course, was not a successful tactic.

As odd and eccentric as Kahn was, I would say the onus falls on Prince for hiring someone he didn't understand (for a starring role), and trying to make her into a different performer. Who did he think he was, Oscar Jaffe?!?

These same cast members also said that they were not impressed with Kaye's performance, although she could sing it effortlessly - they felt that she wasn't a natural comic actress, to be polite. I think she may have improved a bit since then, but a starring comedienne, she'll never be...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 11:26am

Oh, Hal, if only you'd flipped the damn glasses down and actually LOOKED at the headshot.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 3/12/12 at 12:11pm

Well....that's Hal for ya!