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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 09:56 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - kieran 07:19 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Vivian Blaine was far from a B level star. As a band singer, she had a number of hit songs. She was a headliner in the big night clubs. She was a movie star in successful movies including State Fair (1945) which was a Rodgers and Hammerstein big deal movie. She created the role of Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, arguably the greatest musical comedy of them all. She created the role not just in the sense of being the first, but in that her role was transformed for her when Loesser saw what she could do, he wrote Adelaide's Lament, turning the character into a 3 dimensional complicated and smart human being who despite having maybe an 8th grade education at most is able to make sense of a medical text book. She did it in London and in Vegas and in a City Center revival. She is one of the few stars to recreate their role on film co-starring with Brando, Sinatra and Jean Simmons. Yes, Merman beat her for the Tony, but that Tony was more for all Merman's previous work when there was no Tony award. She more than proved her acting chops when she replaced Shelley Winters in A Hatful of Rain. She starred in Say, Darling (working with Abe Burrows again) which, though not a hit, ran for over 9 months. She was above the title in the hit Enter Laughing. (Sidebar: the producer sold the 2nd balcony for .99 but it didn't work. He raised the price to the conventional lowest price and the seats sold. Guess what, the balcony hadn't been moved closer to the stage). She impressed Hal Prince in a tour of Zorba! and she was the last Joanne on Broadway. She also replaced Kedrova in the 1993 revival of Zorba! when Kedrova vacationed. Her cabaret act was successful. That is not a B level career. She died of congestive heart failure which is a slow death at 74. Her career was over 40 years long. She also, as is revealed in this story, a pretty noble human being. | |
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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 10:57 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - Musicals54 09:56 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| From my read, I don't think B-list was used in an entirely derogatory way and, I think, they were also probably speaking about where she stood in terms of fame and recognition in the 80s compared to major undeniable A-list stars -- with, mostly, a focus on one's fame in relation to film and TV. To me, A-list does not necessarily connote talent, either, but simply fame, recognition and placement in the industry. To be honest, the article jogged my memory of who she was. I loved in Guys & Dolls (the film), but had never seen her in anything else. I don't think B-list and B-movies, for example, are synonymous. I just probably would have had to use Wikipedia if someone said her name to me. I would not have had to done the same thing for her Guys & Dolls costars Brando and Sinatra. | |
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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 01:30 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:25 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - DistantDrumming 10:57 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Vivian Blaine was in A films as well, like the 1945 "State Fair". Until cable tv and TCM in particular, most old films on tv shown were from the MGM catalogue. Lots of great stuff there, but at the expense of seeing Universal, and Fox musicals in particular among the other studios' output. So folks like Deanna Durbin at Universal, and Fox's Betty Grable and Alice Faye's (and Vivian Blaine's) films weren't shown hardly at all compared to Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney's, for example. Fox films actually had better Technicolor, a great orchestra and music department, and were also really less pretentious, preachy and more down to earth and frankly enjoyable than many made at MGM. There are some really good B films - yes, agreed B doesn't necessarily mean less talent, but just a lot less money was spent on the production values. Blaine wasn't as big a star as Faye and Grable, more of a second stringer in A films, but still quite famous when she starred on Broadway in "Guys and Dolls" in 1950 after having appearing in movie musicals throughout the 1940s. | |
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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Last Edit: DistantDrumming 09:55 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| Posted by: DistantDrumming 09:54 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - PlayWiz 01:25 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
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| Sure. But in the 1980s, which is the period this article is about, do you think the average person would think of her as A-list? Yes, there are actors whose glory days are behind them who always remain A-list because of their massive fame and success. I doubt anyone thinks the 1980s were a great period for Elizabeth Taylor's on screen work (aside from her perfume commercials), but I'm sure the average person in the 1980s knew her name and would consider her A-list at that time. It doesn't seem like Blaine is in that category and, again, that's no slight against her talent or the quality of her work from when she was more of a name. |
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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 10:50 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 10:47 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - Musicals54 09:56 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Glad you set the record straight about Vivian Blaine. She starred in quite a few films at 20th Century Fox. While it's true that studio's top female star was first Alice Faye (and Shirley Temple), then Betty Grable, Vivian Blaine along with June Haver, were right there in that studio's hierarchy at that time, in support in some and starring in some other what were mostly A films; Fox had the most sumptuous Technicolor of all the studios and also were considered to have the best orchestra of the studios too (yep, considered even better than MGM by many). Even if she was in a few black and white ones like "Doll Face", they were entertaining and with co-stars like Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda and Perry Como! She got a great response when she reprised an abridged version of "Adelaide's Lament" at the famous 25th Anniversary Tony Awards as well. Miss Adelaide is ageless, and it's a wonderful role with which to always be remembered. I'm so gratified and happy to hear of her selfless and heartfelt response and actions that started during the early days of the AIDS crisis. Not only was she a great singer and wonderful actress, she was a real mensch. |
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| re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. | |
| Posted by: Musicals54 10:57 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Vivian Blaine, Tom Eyen and HIV Fundraising. - PlayWiz 10:47 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Thanks for the added info. Yes a real mensch | |
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