remembering ALNM
remembering ALNM
#1remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 1:44pmDo 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!"
#2remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 1:53pmI 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.
#3remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 2:40pmI'm at home today watching a bootleg of it wearing all black, mourning the loss of this show. I hope it transfers off broadway.
ahhrealmonsters
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/10
#4remembering 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
#5remembering 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.
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#6remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:32pmSeeing 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
#7remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:33pmNobody can act a song like Bernadette Peters and that is what I will remember most from this show.
http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com
AngusN
Broadway Star Joined: 3/23/05
#8remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 4:36pmIt's such a shame we don't have a recording of Bernadette's sublime performance. All we have is CZJ, destroying a beautiful score.
#9remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 5:38pmI'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.
#10remembering 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
#11remembering 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.
#12remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 6:30pmI 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.
#13remembering 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
#14remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 7:26pmBernadette'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.
#15remembering 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.
beaemma
Featured Actor Joined: 11/24/09
#16remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 8:35pmI 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.
jsg03jd
Broadway Star Joined: 11/24/04
#17remembering 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.
#18remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/9/11 at 9:21pmI 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?
#19remembering 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.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 1/10/11 at 12:23 AM
#20remembering 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!
jsg03jd
Broadway Star Joined: 11/24/04
#21remembering 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.
#22remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/10/11 at 2:13amThe 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.
jsg03jd
Broadway Star Joined: 11/24/04
#23remembering 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.
chewy5000
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/09
#24remembering ALNM
Posted: 1/10/11 at 4:56amWhen 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.
