| Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | MikeP (ACL15@aol.com) 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| All the posts and articles about The Visit, the musical make me think of the 1973 production of the play The Visit directed by Hal Prince and starring John McMartin (post Follies) and the incomparable Rachel Roberts. Rachel Roberts was a truly GREAT actress. Her performance in The Visit was brilliant, terrifying and heartbreaking all at the same time. A few years later she had me laughing out loud in Habeas Corpus. She was riotous. There wasn't a thing she could not do. Roberts is mostly forgotten now. There isnt much of her on film but what there is, is worth seeing. Check out "Murder On The Orient Express" She walks off with that movie. Or (if it can be found) the TV movie "A Circle Of Children". She, along with the other gift to the craft of acting, Jane Alexander, both shine in this movie. Roberts apparently had an unhappy personal life which she chronicled in her diaries. After her death, the diaries along with commentary from friends became the book "No Bells on Sunday: The Rachel Roberts Journals". I just wanted to remember this wonderful actress. By the way....also in that production of The Visit, John Glover, Charlotte Moore, Peter Friedman and David Dukes!! | |
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| Thanks, MikeP! | |
| Posted by: | DistantDrumming 01:09 am EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| I am afraid I was totally unaware of Ms. Roberts until reading your post. I'm going to watch The Picnic at Hanging Rock this weekend - it was already in my queue. It's available as part of the Criterion Collection on Hulu+ should anyone else care to. | |
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| re: Thanks, MikeP! | |
| Posted by: | larry13 10:41 am EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | Thanks, MikeP! - DistantDrumming 01:09 am EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Hope you enjoy "Picnic..." A very haunting and beautiful film, one of all times favorites. Wonderful acting all around; may it serve as an introduction to the superb performances of Rachel Roberts. | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | larry13 10:14 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| And, of course, 28 years after playing opposite Roberts in THE VISIT, John McMartin (re)created the role for the Kander & Ebb musical version. | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | AnObserver 07:46 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| Roberts would have been the right actress for the role. Not C. Rivera. | |
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| Foul Play | |
| Posted by: | PatrickHSF 06:49 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| I remember her for the small but scene-stealing role in Foul Play as the imposter housekeeper to the imposter archbishop. No actor ever got more laughs when delivering a "the s--t has really hit the fan" type of line. And the karate fight with Burgess Meredith was a riot, though most was probably stunt doubles for both actors (but thought I read somewhere that Roberts and Meredith did a surprisingly large amount of the fight. Great showcase of San Francisco, though as in most movies, the finale frantic ride across town doesn't follow any logical order. Marilyn Sokol is also marvelous as Goldie's feminist power friend. | |
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| re: Rachel Roberts ... | |
| Posted by: | flaguy 05:02 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| Rachael Roberts also played the title role in Lionel Bart's 1964 West End musical 'MAGGIE MAY,' which is a cast recording I adore. | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:21 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| That was a stunning production. I recently went searching to see if I could any photos of it online, but I can't find any. There is a good photo in Prince's book, Contradictions. McMartin and Roberts were terrific together, and John Glover was also particularly good. She was a great actress. It's very sad that she had such problems. She was supposed to have created the role of Gladys in A Lesson in Aloes in its original production at Yale but had to withdraw during rehearsals. She committed suicide just a few weeks after the production opened on Broadway after Yale. | |
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| alan.... | |
| Posted by: | lastcall 08:03 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - AlanScott 04:21 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| alan, would you please send me your email address? i think i know where you can see some photos of rachel in THE VISIT. thanks/ davej345@aol.com | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | blfan 01:52 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| Loved that production of "The Visit". Also saw her in "Habeas Corpus". By all means check out her THREE roles in "O Lucky Man!" (including a heartbreaking turn as a suicidal housewife, made more disturbing by her own suicide not that many years later). | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | ptownguy 01:49 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| As long ago and as young as I was at the time, I vividly remember it. It was a performance you never forget. | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | BruceinIthaca 01:18 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - MikeP 01:09 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| Not to mention her Oscar-nominated performance opposite Richard Harris in "This Sporting Life." | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | AC126748 03:56 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - BruceinIthaca 01:18 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| Also, of course, her perfect performance in PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK. | |
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| re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) | |
| Posted by: | Haberville 07:31 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - AC126748 03:56 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| And last year when there was talk of the producer of "Dallas Buyers Club" and the writer of "The Wolf of Wall Street" being the first husband and wife Oscar nominees in a single year, it should not be forgotten that Rachael Roberts and then-hubby Rex Harrison attended the Academy Awards together for their work separately in 1963's "This Sporting Life" and "Cleopatra" with nods for Best Actress and Best Actor. | |
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| and Yanks | |
| Posted by: | StageDoorJohnny 12:05 am EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Remembering the incomparable Rachel Roberts (and The Visit) - Haberville 07:31 pm EDT 08/08/14 |
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| as Lisa Eichhorn's mother. Her scene when Richard Gere brought the cake was an acting lesson all by itself | |
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