Looks like Dame Angela Lansbury is not interested in reclaiming Audra McDonald's Tony Awards record

[Will42]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 10:54am

With Blithe Spirit coming to an end Dame Angela plants to go back to the West End after a short break. Maybe in The Chalk Garden (which was supposed to be on Broadway) or Restoration comedy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/10872790/Dame-Angela-Lansbury-lines-up-her-next-roles.html

Dame Angela Lansbury lines up her next roles

Dame Angela Lansbury says she hopes to do more theatre in the West End after she finishes as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit

By Tim Walker7:30AM BST 04 Jun 2014

Dame Angela Lansbury makes her final appearance as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit this weekend, but the indefatigable 88-year-old actress is adamant that she won’t be away from the West End for long.

“I like the idea of doing Enid Bagnold’s The Chalk Garden,” she tells Mandrake. “Now that is an interesting play. I also rather fancy the idea of a Restoration comedy.”
She plans to allow herself a “short break” after the show closes, but she has “no intention” of retiring from the stage. She has been applauded nightly at the Gielgud Theatre not merely when she takes her final bows, but when she makes her first appearance. “I think it is simply an expression of astonishment that I am still able to put one leg in front of the other,” she says, self-deprecatingly. When I tell her that the last actor I saw being accorded the honour was the arch Republican Charlton Heston in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial almost 30 years ago, the lifelong Democrat laughs ruefully and says that she would rather not have been told that.

Dame Angela says the audiences she has attracted for Blithe Spirit – and the ones her fellow octogenarian Robert Vaughn drew to Twelve Angry Men – demonstrate how misguided “ageist” attitudes are in her profession.

Meanwhile, I hear that Encore cinema is to screen her stage appearance with James Earl Jones in Driving Miss Daisy tomorrow at 150 cinemas across the UK. To book tickets or confirm showing times in your region, please visit www.cinestage.co.uk/daisy.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:05am

Nice article, but still not sure what the subject line (that has nothing to do with the article) is supposed to mean...

[Will42]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:12am

Well, it's a given that Audra McDonald will become a 6-time Tony Award-winner on Sunday. Which means that she will bit the current record she's tying with Julie Harris and Dame Angela.
If Dame Angela wants do do her next show in London instead of Broadway it's unlikely she'll beat McDonald's record anytime soon, if ever.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:37pm

I think the Damehood is worth at least two Tonys'. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind anyways.

Selfishly I'm just happy she's considering sticking around. Much cheaper than having to fly to Australia like the last time..

Updated On: 6/4/14 at 12:37 PM

[Will42]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 1:15pm

I so agree (on both accounts.)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 2:17pm

Jesus.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 3:07pm

No, that tour got canceled, Phyllis.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 3:20pm

I can't imagine this is the sort of thing that keeps her up at night.

I'm more worried, frankly, about YOU.

[Will42]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 3:26pm

Thank YOU for the worries, but I'll be fine.
Audra McDonald is an incredible talent and deserves every award coming her way. Her stage career has been extraordinary.

Again, thank YOU.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 4:26pm

Maybe post this on Monday. I agree, though, I doubt she wakes up worrying about it.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 4:37pm

It says she has no plans to ever retire from the stage. That in no ways suggests that she will definitely not appear again on Broadway. Quite the opposite.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 4:49pm

If Audra is still going strong at age 88 (and I hope she is!), I wonder how many Tonys she'll have by then. Probably double-digits.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 4:50pm

Looks like Damn Angela Lansubury is a white supremacist. SHE HAS NOT SAID SHE ISN'T!

[Scripps2]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 5:26pm

"I think the Damehood is worth at least two Tonys'."

What if Audra changes her citizenship, does stuff on the West End stage and gets a made a Dame?! :-S

Updated On: 6/4/14 at 05:26 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 5:42pm

What if we just started a movement to dub her "Goddess"?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 5:55pm

I think her workout videos are worth a Tony or two.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 6:20pm

Honestly, the woman is a true inspiration!

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/4/14 at 7:06pm

I was lucky enough to be at the Q&A at her Poplar "homecoming" and a young girl behind me had the workout video and was SO excited. I have never ever shared a room with such a broad demographic just ecstatic to share a space with such a warm, generous, inspirational talent. I cannot think of anyone else I'd fly across the world to see. And anyone who would be so warm and generous to receive an audience that did so. Words cannot express how highly she is valued here

[Will42]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 3:56am

"I was lucky enough to be at the Q&A at her Poplar "homecoming" and a young girl behind me had the workout video and was SO excited. I have never ever shared a room with such a broad demographic just ecstatic to share a space with such a warm, generous, inspirational talent. I cannot think of anyone else I'd fly across the world to see. And anyone who would be so warm and generous to receive an audience that did so. Words cannot express how highly she is valued here"

Dame Angela should have moved to London years ago. She would’ve gotten that Dame title and maybe a couple of film or TV roles long time ago in that case. The West End audience adores her. Blithe Spirit stage door is a spectacle all by itself. It’s like if she was Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch or something.
Amazing how before Blithe Spirit most of Brits thought she was an American and knew her from Murder, She Wrote and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (which is a lot more popular in the UK than it is in the States) and now she is a true National Treasure.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 7:09am

'The West End audience adores her. Blithe Spirit stage door is a spectacle all by itself. It’s like if she was Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch or something.
Amazing how before Blithe Spirit most of Brits thought she was an American and knew her from Murder, She Wrote and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (which is a lot more popular in the UK than it is in the States) and now she is a true National Treasure'


Just a bit of an exaggeration lol

[Will42]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 7:39am

I haven't seen that many people waiting for her on Broadway or in Australia. There must be around 100-150 people at the stage door each night.
Also, as far as I know it's not common to give standing ovations at the West End.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 11:10am

Blithe Spirit hasnt changed the countries view of her, she just got a bit of extra press as she was 'returning' and reminded people she was British and that she was still around. She is not a national treasure, people like Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Helen Mirren are more in that category and Angela Lansbury (great as she is) is not in that league at all

Obviously the stage door is busy, those who have gone are fans and its a rare chance to see and possibly meet her. So the reception in and around the theatre would be strong. But to suggest the country has somehow fallen in love with her again and taken her to their hearts is OTT.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 12:52pm

".. to suggest the country has somehow fallen in love with her again and taken her to their hearts is OTT."

Well maybe not the ENTIRE realm but I'd wager practically everyone who has seen her in Blithe Spirit, whether they were prior fans who grew up with her performances in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Beauty and the Beast, Murder She Wrote or not.

Perhaps a pissing contest over whose Dame is the most treasured is a bit ridiculous but she can always lay claim to having a grandfather who cofounded the Labour Party and some amazing roots to London's heritage that remain even if she has lived in the states for most of her life so she's definitely still very warmly regarded here. The recent Angela Lansbury film festival, this weeks Cafe de Paris Cabaret in her honour and the Q&A sessions she's given have proven that.

[Will42]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 1:38pm

Indeed, she's especially highly regarded among active members of the Labour party due to her grandfather, George Lansbury, a former leader of the party and a social reformer. She's of course also a democrat and socialist.
Not sure if he saw the play, but here's a recent photo of Dame Angela and Ed Miliband, the current leader of the Labour party.

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/5/14 at 2:12pm

...and here's a picture of her single handedly fighting off the Nazi invasion and keeping the flag flying for king and country... Where was Maggie Smith then?