One of my true favorite show biz figures, I had read about her very well received one-woman show –At Liberty (2002), & although we didn’t have a chance to see it, I purchased the double CD of the show. The Husband lit a fire in the fireplace, I mixed some cocktails & we stretched out on the 2 day beds & listened to this fabulous woman tell stories & sings songs about her 60+ years in the biz called show. We laughed & laughed & cried from laughing, & then just cried.
I saw Elaine Stritch in the original cast of Company (actually Dean Jones had left the show & was replaced by George Chakaris, but the rest of the cast was intact). In Company, Stritch originated the role of the classy, brassy Joanne, a cocktail swilling 50-something who is basically a personal hero to me. In the early 1990s, I was in a final call back for this role. I actually don’t believe in fiddling around with & “concepting” plays that are not in the public domain, but I lost my head when I was flattered into the possibility of playing Joanne in an all male cast of Company. I didn’t need to agonize. Mr. Sondheim gave the Alice B Theatre of Seattle, a cease & desist legal paper, stating that Mr. Furth (the writer of the book) & Mr. Sondheim never intended or wished for their piece to be performed by an all male cast.
When I saw Company in 1971, I had never encountered such a commanding performance, star wattage, or such a steamroller of talent in any of my young theatre going experiences. I became obsessed with Elaine Stritch & my adoration has never wavered through the decades. I regret that I have only seen her live the one time, especially now that she is at one of my favorite rooms- The Carlyle in NYC, doing an evening of Sondheim: Singin' Sondheim...One Song At A Time.
Star, legend, force of nature- Elaine Stritch is at her Stritch best in her deeply personal one-woman show- At Liberty. With only an oversize shirt, black tights, & a chair, Stritch mesmerizes a full house at London's Old Vic Theatre with tales of her career on stage & screen. In my favorite section, she gives a glimpse of backstage theatre life, as she recounts how she served as standby for Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam in New York at the same time she had a featured role in Pal Joey playing in New Haven, Connecticut. She tells about the people she mingled with (Noel Coward, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Gig Young, Ben Gazzara, Hal Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Rock Hudson), her disappointments both professional ("I blew The Golden Girls!") & personal (her bouts with drinking). At Liberty is more of a monologue than a musical performance, though she does perform some of her signature songs like Zip & The Ladies Who Lunch. At Liberty won a Tony Award in 2002 for Special Theatrical Event, but Stritch's triumph was tempered when she was not allowed to complete her acceptance speech.
She closes At Liberty with one of my favorite songs- Something Good from the film version of The Sound Of Music. Elaine sings it, full of genuine, quiet graditude, to her audience. This CD is absolutely essential in the library of every serious show business aficinado.
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