I've always been puzzled by a passage from Foster Hirsch's book Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre:
The only time Prince has had problems with actors has been with such well-known performers as Madeline Kahn in On The Twentieth Century and Ben Vereen in Grind. "Actually, when I cast her, I thought Madeline Kahn was Bernadette Peters," Prince says; I had gotten the two of them mixed up. At any rate Kahn gave a terrific performance opening night and the audience gave her a standing ovation. When I went backstage she said, "You don't expect me to do that every night, do you?" and I knew we were dead. She didn't have the stamina, and I've always thought she ruined our chances for a long run.
Did he really confuse Kahn for Bernadette Peters?? |
