| re: JUDY KAYE: Did Madeline Kahn have a final announced performance in On The Twentieth Century? | |
| Posted by: CCentero 11:00 am EDT 08/03/22 | |
| In reply to: re: JUDY KAYE: Did Madeline Kahn have a final announced performance in On The Twentieth Century? - Musicals54 04:28 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
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| Prince was fooling himself if he thought ON THE 20TH CENTURY would have been a smash hit with Kaye in the lead. As someone said at the time: it's ominous when the audience leaves the show whistling the sets and costumes. What Prince did expertly with Comden, Green and Coleman was to make it seem that it was Kahn's fault and to try to get into the public's mind that the show was now a smash and that Kaye was suddenly Barbra Streisand. A completely gratuitous mention of Kaye becoming a star overnight introduced the show's Tony number and she faded into the scenery during it. Kaye is a terrific performer but never became a star. In contrast to shows that tried out in Boston that cut songs and scenes that didn't work for their stars (Bacall in Woman of the Year and Tommy Tune and Twiggy in My One and Only) the 20th Century team did nothing that helped Kahn. You can hear it on the cast recording and she had every right to request changes or a more limited schedule. By the way, Bacall and Gwen Verdon often cut songs from their hit shows when they were tired that day--and they were much better songs than Kahn had. |
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| Previous: | re: JUDY KAYE: Did Madeline Kahn have a final announced performance in On The Twentieth Century? - Musicals54 04:28 pm EDT 08/02/22 |
| Next: | re: JUDY KAYE: Did Madeline Kahn have a final announced performance in On The Twentieth Century? - mlop 12:02 am EDT 08/06/22 |
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