All That Chat - Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre

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Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre

Posted by:	Michael_Portantiere 12:03 pm EDT 08/15/14

I found this quote in a 2010 interview I did with Lee Roy Reams, and I thought it might of interest: "I wasn't originally cast as Duane [in APPLAUSE]; Garrett Lewis had the part, but he was replaced, basically because they felt he was coming across as too much of a leading man type. I didn't join the show until about a week before it was ready to go out of town, so I had to learn everything really fast. But, for some strange reason, the combination of Bacall and me worked from the first day of rehearsal. I called her 'Miss Bacall' at one point, and she looked at me and said, in that voice of hers, 'My friends call me Betty!' From that moment on, we became those characters offstage. We were inseparable. "I was the last person cast [in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES] by Arthur Laurents, and I left 42ND STREET to do LA CAGE. The show was supposed to move from the Palace to the Mark Hellinger, and they were doing a big publicity campaign; my picture was even on the side of a bus. But I only rehearsed for a week, and then the closing notice was posted... You know, in Arthur's new book, he says that the Times Square Church paid [La Cage producer] Allan Carr not to move the show to the Hellinger, so the church could get the building. Did you know that?"

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Next:	re: Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre - AlanScott 07:00 pm EDT 08/15/14

Thread:	re: Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre - AlanScott 07:00 pm EDT 08/15/14 (2) re: Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre - Michael_Portantiere 07:23 pm EDT 08/15/14 (1) re: Lee Roy Reams on Lauren Bacall, Arthur Laurents, Allan Carr, and the Mark Hellinger Theatre - pierce 02:03 am EDT 08/16/14

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