| There were times when she not well | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 10:20 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
| In reply to: re: "And by most accounts she was spectacular." - wisebear 01:37 pm EDT 06/26/18 | |
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| I saw her twice when she last did it on Broadway. First, shortly after the opening, and then again at the final Saturday matinee before the closing the next day. Both times she was completely on, hugely energized, and tremendously committed. The performance was frozen, but she delivered 110 percent on those unspontaneous choices to the point where you might not have realized how unvarying her performance was, at least when she was well. But a friend with whom I went both times saw her in between, and that night he saw something different. The show started 20-30 minutes late, and when it started, it was immediately clear to him that the reason for the late start was that she was not well. She got through it, and in some places you almost couldn't tell because she certainly gave all that she possibly could. In other places, her energy was unmistakably low, and you could tell. She went up on a line at the Harmonia Gardens. When Jay Garner prompted her, she said, "How did you know I was gonna say that?" Other people have told me of seeing the same thing so I'm guessing that nights when she went up started to become a bit more common on her final tour, after that final Broadway run. People who saw her only on such nights probably thought it was past time for her to give it up, but I think most nights she was still able to play it with great energy. During the final tour, she got sick enough that her understudy had to go on several times while they were in Kalamazoo. It was said to be the first time she'd ever missed performances as Dolly. She recovered, and the tour went on for another three months, but the end of that tour was it for her. Perhaps surprisingly, it was not unknown for her to miss performances earlier in her career. She missed some as Lorelei Lee. But as Dolly she did give an extraordinary number of performances — spread across decades — without missing any, until finally she did. Re the question of frailness, discussed elsewhere: The two times I saw her, she did not seem at all frail. Thin, yes. Frail, no. Still, I worried both times she had to come down that very steep staircase and when she had to go on the runway. But I probably would have worried about anyone doing the things she did. The staircase was scary, perhaps because it had been designed for the St. James. And she ran around on that runway with seemingly total confidence. |
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| Previous: | re: "And by most accounts she was spectacular." - wisebear 01:37 pm EDT 06/26/18 |
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