HOME ALL THAT CHAT ATC WEST COAST SHOPPIN' RUSH BOARD FAQS

LOGIN REGISTER SEARCH THREADED MODE

not logged in

Threaded Order | Chronological Order

And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: Delvino 04:28 pm EDT 08/13/14
In reply to: re: A few memories of Lauren Bacall - mamaleh 01:43 pm EDT 08/13/14

I had seats for my first night in London. A big mistake, of course, for I'd arrived at dawn that day (overnight from NYC) and by curtain time, enhanced by a couple of glasses of vino, was reeling from jet lag. I was smack in the front row of the stalls. I fought the fatigue, but was in what I call the head rolling stage, when drifting off resulted in my neck snapping me back to attention. Oh, it's a terrible visual, someone drifting off in the theater, then suddenly roaring back to attention. It happened to me at the end of the second act (the part without The Princess), and then, no matter how hard I tried, in the third act. Bacall's biggest scene with Chance. At the curtain call, Bacall looked down and gave me a deadly, withering look, the likes of which I've never experienced before. It was more than clear she'd seen a rude American behaving rudely.

In my decades of theater-going, I don't think I ever did that before. Or since.

Years later, I saw her buying whitefish salad in Zabar's. I was right there, and almost spoke up. Words failed, luckily. Can you imagine her reaction, if I had said "Loved you in SWEET BIRD in the UK. You won't remember, but the night I was there, I dozed off in the front row." No, there was no anecdote to summon, just my remembered humiliation. So I just glanced into her stunning grey eyes and manages a nervous smile. Not returned. Across the footlights or at a grocery counter, she was intimidating.


reply to this message |
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: lowwriter 10:42 am EDT 08/14/14
In reply to: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - Delvino 04:28 pm EDT 08/13/14

I was in an elevator with Ms. Bacall once when I worked at the Random House building. She was most likely working on her memoir then. I couldn't get up the courage to say anything.


reply to this message |
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: AlanScott 11:10 pm EDT 08/13/14
In reply to: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - Delvino 04:28 pm EDT 08/13/14

I did that while sitting dead center in the front row at No Man's Land, starring Jason Robards and Christopher Plummer. All through the first act.

Fortunately, I had gotten enough rest that I was fully awake for Act Two. ;)


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: And in London,

Posted by: SidL 05:10 pm EDT 08/13/14
In reply to: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - Delvino 04:28 pm EDT 08/13/14

same thing happened to me in London in 1986 - first thing I did when I got off the tube was to buy a ticket to see Lulu in "Guys & Dolls" Jet Lag hit me like a brick wall during the performance that evening.


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: writerkev 04:55 pm EDT 08/13/14
In reply to: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - Delvino 04:28 pm EDT 08/13/14

Jet lag happens to the best of us. I bet most of us have had similar experiences, in fact. :^)


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 11:31 am EDT 08/14/14
In reply to: re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - writerkev 04:55 pm EDT 08/13/14

I know so many people with similar stories that it makes me wonder if the Brits have some tradition of recognizing excited Americans on their first day in London and purposely putting them in the front row. My story involves a musical called LA CAVA. Big, loud, bombastic (and actually interesting from what we saw of it) and my head was rolling the entire time. I very nearly sent a note of apology back to the cast.

Ever since, I have always advised people to skip the theatre on their first night in town, just to be safe. Plan for an early night and, if you happen to have the energy, spend time exploring the neighborhood around your hotel. Then, as soon as it hits you, you can quickly go back and go to sleep.


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 04:22 pm EDT 08/14/14
In reply to: re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - JereNYC 11:31 am EDT 08/14/14

The last time I was in London, in 2007, I saw Rufus Wainwright's Judy Garland concert on the night of the day I arrived. I was very jet-lagged, but I'm happy to say I didn't nod off. And, at any rate, I was in the last row of the stalls (orchestra)!


reply to this message | reply to first message
re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..."

Posted by: writerkev 12:31 pm EDT 08/14/14
In reply to: re: And in London, at "Sweet Bird..." - JereNYC 11:31 am EDT 08/14/14

It happens traveling the other way too. I got back from Europe a couple weeks ago and was over-ambitious in getting right to the Park to see "King Lear." I met a nice woman in the standby line who shared her wine with me (Sweet!) It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I was fine for the first half of the play. But after intermission I could barely keep my eyes open. (I wasn't in the front row, though.)


reply to this message | reply to first message


All That Chat is intended for the discussion of theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)

Please direct technical questions/comments to webmaster@talkinbroadway.com and policy questions to TBAdmin@talkinbroadway.com.

[ Home | On the Rialto | The Siegel Column | Cabaret | Tony Awards | Book Reviews | Great White Wayback Machine ]
[ Broadway Reviews | Barbara and Scott: The Two of Clubs | Sound Advice | Restaurant Revue | Off Broadway | Funding Talkin' Broadway ]
[ Broadway 101 | Spotlight On | Talkin' Broadway | On the Boards | Regional | Talk to Us! | Search Talkin' Broadway ]

Terms of Service
[ © 1997 - 2014 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]

Time to render: 0.050364 seconds.