remembering ALNM

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remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 1:44pm

Do you have any memories of the revival? Mine was that I got to sit in the front row and at one moment Bernadette Peters looked at me and smiled.

"Look I made a hat... where there never was a hat." "Think of how I adore you, think of how much you love me. If I were perfect for you, wouldn't you tire of me?" "Somebody, crowd me with love. Somebody, force me to care. Somebody, make me come through, I'll always be there, as frightened as you, to help us survive. Being alive. Being alive. Being alive!" "There are worse things than staring at the water as you're posing for a picture after sleeping on the ferry after getting up at seven to come over to an island in the middle of a river half an hour from the city on a Sunday!"

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 1:53pm

I only got to see it the once, thanks to TKTS. It was an amazing experience. But the best part was that my friend was finally able to meet her idol, Bernadette Peters. The look on her face when she got to actually speak to her at stagedoor was worth every penny we'd spent on tickets.

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 2:25pm

Elaine sure can't.

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 2:40pm

I'm at home today watching a bootleg of it wearing all black, mourning the loss of this show. I hope it transfers off broadway.

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 3:14pm

My favorite memory was during "Send in the Clowns", when CZJ's neck cramped up.

In reality, though, 2 words: Bernadette Peters

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:02pm

Sitting front row on re-opening night and Bernadette reaching down to my as she said "Our husbands, our lovers, our SONS" and then singing Send in the Clowns directly to me. Electric.

It will be missed.

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:32pm

Seeing two legends perform such great material (Peters and Stritch, that is, were the ones I saw).

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:33pm

Nobody can act a song like Bernadette Peters and that is what I will remember most from this show.

http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:36pm

It's such a shame we don't have a recording of Bernadette's sublime performance. All we have is CZJ, destroying a beautiful score.

#10

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 5:38pm

I'll always remember getting chills as the Night Waltz at the top of the show began. And Bernadette winking at me during curtain call. One of the most magical nights I've ever spent in the theatre.

#11

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 5:51pm

I remember thinking, Well I guess Catherine Zeta-Jones is as good as we'll get, sort of with resignation. Then I saw Bernadette. A magical performance.

Updated On: 1/9/11 at 05:51 PM

#12

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 6:25pm

*Finally hearing the glorious score live.
*Seeing Elaine Stritch. I wasn't a fan of hers before. but I am now.
*Leigh Ann Larkin's "The Miller's Son."
*The waltz at the beginning.
*Last but not least, Bernadette. She made Desiree so real, so human. Her "Send in the Clowns" had me bawling both times I saw it.

I'll miss this show and this cast, and I'm grateful for the wonderful memories.

#13

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 6:30pm

I saw the show in both of its guises and overall I think the production with CZJ and Lansbury was a beauty to behold. My experience with Peters and Stritch was marred by nothing short of a meltdown during "Liasons" in which I was convinced that Stritch would just get up out of the wheelchair and walk off stage. I knew the stories beforehand, but she was REALLY having serious problems out there and it was uncomfortable seeing the rest of the cast on edge trying to pick up the slack. Peters virtually weeping through "Send in the Clowns", as moving as it was, seemed a little over the top for the character and the content of the song. Why the hell would Desiree be crying in that moment? Or at all, for that matter? She's thinking, "Oh, of course you're in love with somebody else. Hahaha, my luck, as usual." She's sad, of course, but entirely too jaded to cry. She should read as more amused than defeated, in my opinion.

#14

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 6:35pm

Glynis Johns wept through the whole song at the Sondheim tribute in 1973, but that may have been because she was quite under-the-weather and felt she was letting her audience down (Though she should know by now, she wasn't!). I've heard it often brought her to tears during her run with the show. Good actresses know that it's a moving song, and one to shed some tears through. I don't think Peters' choices were entirely wrong.

Stritch is tricky. Her "I'm Still Here" at the White House was very uncomfortable. And yes, her "Liasons" was bizarre. But she's such a presence and so commanding, yet vulnerable, you can't help but love her in everything she does- even if every moment she's onstage is more about her than the play.

I'm curious to know about today's final performance. If anyone was there, please tell us about it. I would have went, but I don't think I could have sat through three hours of Trevor Nunn, no matter how imaginative and different some of his directorial choices were.

Updated On: 1/9/11 at 06:35 PM

#15

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 7:26pm

Bernadette's crying worked for me for two reasons: number one, it was sincere. I was sitting close enough to see that she was so in the moment that she really was crying. Number two, I love that she allowed herself to let go and be in the moment. I get what you're saying, but everyone has vulnerability, no matter how jaded they are. She showed us Desiree's vulnerability and humanity, and made her a much more layered character than someone who's simply jaded.

#16

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 7:43pm

"I love that she allowed herself to let go and be in the moment..."

Now see, I'd buy that if she didn't do it ALL THE TIME.

#17

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 8:35pm

I saw this production twice with the second cast and more than twice with the first cast. My most vivid and treasured memory is Angela Lansbury's superb, insightful portrait of Madame Armfeldt's transition from cynical certainty to confusion and regret about her life choices.

#18

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 8:38pm

I saw Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury's final show and returned earlier this afternoon to the Walter Kerr to see the closing performance. The approaches to the roles taken by Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch were quite wonderful to see and compare to CZP's and AL's.

My favorite moment from ALNM though isn't related to the marquee names' performances though I enjoyed them very much: I just love how Ramona Mallory and Erin Davie sing EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH. I'm not a fan of the original version by Patricia Elliott and Victoria Mallory; I prefer the singing in the revival and the revival cast recording.

Another great ALNM memory for me was Stephen Sondheim joining the cast tonight as they took their final bows. That was pretty thrilling.

#19

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/9/11 at 9:21pm

I don't mean to be mean, and perhaps like Carl-Magnus, I'm in one of my bitchy moods today- but how could you possibly prefer the revival recording of "Ev'ry Day..." over the OBC Album?

#20

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 12:23am

I like the slow tempo and the orchestrations (the strings when Davie sings "..and he kisses me", it's kind of chilling. I'm aware people don't like the slow tempo and orchestrations, though.

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

Updated On: 1/10/11 at 12:23 AM

#21

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 12:28am

Saw it 12 times. Everyone knows my feelings about the revival. It was very special to me. It had such a great run, and I am thrilled about that.

It's goodbye Night Music, but hello FOLLIES! WOO!

#22

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 1:12am

"I don't mean to be mean, and perhaps like Carl-Magnus, I'm in one of my bitchy moods today- but how could you possibly prefer the revival recording of "Ev'ry Day..." over the OBC Album?"

Simple: Patricia Elliott sounded like she was shouting her way through the song whereas Erin Davie does not. It was not a good singing performance. Perhaps it worked well live in the theatre back in 1972-1973 but not in the context of listening to a song recording. At least it does not for me.

Even the Julie Andrews/Rachel York version rates better for me than the OBC track for EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH.

#23

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 2:13am

The original recording of "Every Day a Little Death" is classic. Patricia Elliott won a Tony for this role. I think the recording is a wonderful showcase of her acting. Her arc is so clear when you listen to it. It may not be as technically precise as Erin Davie's vocal performance, but it's lovely. And the song sounds better in the brisker tempo: much more conversational and without the wallowing.

#24

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 3:46am

Fair enough. I never questioned Patricia Elliott's winning the Tony as I'm sure there was a good reason she did. I wasn't alive yet to see her in the original Broadway mounting of ALNM but I've seen her work on ONE LIFE TO LIVE and think she's a wonderful actress.

Reasonable minds can differ on this. I simply prefer the revival recording of EDALD over the original Broadway cast version's.

#25

remembering ALNM

Posted: 1/10/11 at 4:56am

When I saw it recently I did get the feeling that I was witnessing a wonderfully talented group of actors producing theatre in their own different ways (particularly Ms. Stritch), which made for an exciting night.

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