toottoot said: "Hi all.
For those far more knowledgable than I am, was Jane Lapotaire's Tony win forPiafconsidered a surprise at the time? The reaction from the video on YouTube (let alone her own), plus the fanfare for Elizabeth Taylor making her Broadway debut seem to point to it, but I'm curious. I know Lapotaire's performance was basically universally praised since it first debuted in the late 1970s in the UK,but nevertheless. Thanks in advance for anyone who can indulge me on how this win was perceived at the time!"
It really was not. There were some people who thought that Taylor would be rewarded for just appearing on Broadway (plus, as I remember, she even hosted the Tonys. She got respectable reviews, but there was definitely some criticism, and Maureen Stapleton walked away with the show. Lapotaire received incredible reviews, and -- at least as I remember -- she was expected to win.
I saw Foxes, and I thought that Taylor was good, but that she was not as acidic as she could have been. I remember taking my parents, who wanted to see ET on person.. We had great seats pretty up-front center, for which I paid $40 for what was probably a Saturday evening performance (since they lived in NJ and would not likely have ventured in on a work night). How times have changes way beyond normal inflation!
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