A number of people found the Clark Sally transcendent. I have seen much that she's done, but couldn't imagine her Sally being so definitive, as some opine. I know that (per the great Divas book) she was a fan of the Donna Murphy Encores! Phyllis, and seemed to suggest that playing Sally with Jan Maxwell was less satisfying, and that Maxwell had to adjust to play the show with her. I was mildly put off by her implication that she and Murphy had found the show, and that once she joined the later company for its final gig, they had to redefine their work to match hers. For the record, I thought the Maxwell Phyllis was the best next to Smith's, which I saw twice in my youth.
Also for the record: I'm a fan of Clark's, and thought she deserved a Tony nomination (and maybe win) for Titanic. She was fearless and unsentimental in that show, for me its most compelling character. |
