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| Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| She can be riveting in films both in comedy and drama. I'd have loved to see her live. Stories? |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: roninseattle 12:28 am EDT 08/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| Saw her in the City Center revival of THE ROSE TATOO. She was great. A very young Christopher Walken was in the production as well. | |
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| The Glass Menagerie | |
| Posted by: WWriter 06:42 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| She was lovely. I'm not sure how right for the role she was, really, but she was mesmerizing. Rip Torn mumbled his way through--very annoying. Paul Rudd (the 1st Paul Rudd) was charming as the Gentleman Caller. Wasn't hugely impressed by Pamela Payton-Wright. It would have been interesting to see her play the role some 10 years earlier, with Piper Laurie, George Grizzard as the son, and Pat Hingle as the Gentleman Caller. |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: lanky 05:34 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| Saw her in "Plaza Suite" with George C. Scott -- two bravura performances. Saw her again, same show, but this time with, I think, Don Porter. She shone. She was also wonderful in "The Little Foxes," a production with many acting standouts, excepting Ms. Taylor. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: Snowgrace 02:29 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| How I would have loved to have seen her onstage. I do know that one of my acting teachers, Herbert Berghof, told us so many stories of how brilliant Maureen Stapleton had been even when she was a student of his & appearing in plays he directed. | |
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| LITTLE FOXES w Elizabeth Taylor | |
| Posted by: champagnesalesman 10:35 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| She was great I think she would have made a great Rose in GYPSY had her singing been better..though I love her singing in QUEEN OF THE STARDUST BALLROOM such a great film |
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| Rose Tattoo with Jerry Orbach | |
| Posted by: aleck 08:04 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| This was in Philly at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1975. It was billed as the 25th Anniversary production. I see that a poster below mentioned seeing her in Rose Tattoo, but that might be a reference to the 1966 Broadway revival. I remember being baffled by the performance. I knew that Stapleton was famed for the part, but I sure couldn't understand why based on what I saw. I kept trying to analyze what was wrong. Although she was 50 at the time and originally was 25 when first performed in Chicago in 1950, I don't think that the character's age really should have made any difference. And clearly Jerry Orbach playing opposite her was much younger, but that wouldn't have been a problem with this play (unlike the 40-plus Sutton Foster in Music Man!). I don't think the character's ages would have mattered, although at 25 Maureen would have been pretty young to have a teenaged daughter but not impossible. I guess. Maybe it was the production itself that did not serve her performance, but who knows. I was in a bad mood? She was in a bad mood? Orbach was all skinny, tall angles. Stapleton was a short and round. I was young in 1975 and those things mattered to me. (When I saw Chicago in Philly during its tryout, I was offended by the "elderly" Gwen Verdon -- at 50 or so -- and Chita in those skimpy costumes. I remember remarking to my date as we left, "They should put some clothes on those old women.") That Philly Rose Tattoo production was part of a series of serious plays that brought in stars (kind of like Kenley Players for a serious winter season). None of the productions were very effective. There was Geraldine Page and Rip Torn in Little Foxes, with Page at her most excessive worst. She was never still. Fussing with bits of business throughout everyone else's lines. It was really a selfish performance. A production of Death of a Salesman with Martin Balsam and Teresa Wright was no better. Balsam just was not up to the task. And Wright was just too pretty to be believable in the part. She did the part opposite George C. Scott in NY about that time. Maybe that would have worked better. Balsam was no Scott. There was also a production of Long Day's Journey which reunited the NY cast with Geraldine Fitzgerald and Robert Ryan. That performance was marred by a large group of high school students who wouldn't stop talking. There was a din that almost drowned out the performance. Finally, Fitzgerald broke character, stepped to the edge of the stage, and told the kids to be quiet in a very forceful manner. (That reminds me of the time I saw the Natasha Richardson production of Streetcar at a matinee with hordes of high school kids who cheered the rape scene. That was one of the lowest points I've ever experienced in a theater, although when John C. Reilly removed his shirt I almost vomited. If I wanted to look at some pasty white fat man I could stay home and look in the mirror. At the time, I thought that Streetcar performance was the worst professional production of a play I had ever seen until that evening when I went to see the Jessica Lange Glass Menagerie. I fled at intermission. Williams was not well served that day.) |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 07:15 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| I saw her in the Liz Taylor Little Foxes. All I remember is that Liz couldn't project past the second row. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: StageDoorEddie 12:50 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| I am one of the few people who saw her in "The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild." I was in college at the time and remember enjoying it. However, despite having a great cast, it didn't get good reviews and closed in less than a month. I also saw her in "The Gin Game." While she was very good, it wasn't as shocking to hear some of the language from her as it was to hear it from Jessica Tandy. | |
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| Eleanor in LA | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:40 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| She was good in the one person play although I don’t remember much about it. | |
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| Oops. That was Jean Stapleton. Nmi | |
| Posted by: dramedy 02:30 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Eleanor in LA - dramedy 12:40 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Nm | |
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| re: Oops. That was Jean Stapleton. Nmi | |
| Posted by: Roman 10:00 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Oops. That was Jean Stapleton. Nmi - dramedy 02:30 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Best laugh of the day. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: GreatMartin (greatmartin2003@yahoo.com) 12:10 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| I saw her in 8 plays--never gave a bad performance but 3 are etched in my brain: The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending and The Little Foxes! | |
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| re: Maureen Stapleton | |
| Posted by: Dale 11:56 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| The first play I saw a second time was "Gin Game" in 1978 due to Stapleton replacing Jessica Tandy. That same period a friend in "Grease" ( Duffy ) and I were waiting for a 8th Ave bus and she appeared. Me: "I loved you "Interiors", Muss Stapleton". Maureen: "Yeah? Haven't seen it yet". Bet she never did! 2nd time was her heart breaking turn as Birdie in "The Little Foxes" with Liz Taylor at the then Martin Beck Theater where on the same stage she said the C word in describing Zoe Caldwell at Colleen Dewhurst's memorial. The audience gasped!!!! |
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| re: Maureen Stapleton | |
| Posted by: Circlevet 07:35 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Maureen Stapleton - Dale 11:56 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| How did this thread about Stapleton become about Shelly Winters? Stapleton's Birdie in the Taylor Little Foxes was extraordinary. It was a solid production and great seeing Taylor but it was Maureen's show. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayLover 11:52 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| I saw her in Plaza Suite on Broadway with George C. Scott and both actors were hilarious. Also, I recall when she performed with Liz Taylor in The Little Foxes at the L. A. Ahmanson Theater, the crowds came to see Liz on stage, but by final curtain time, it was Stapleton's performance that received the biggest ovation. It was well earned. Her performance of Birdie was so touching, so poignant. A great actress! I wish I had seen her in Simon's The Gingerbread Lady. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:01 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:01 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - BroadwayLover 11:52 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| I thought she was successful as Birdie in that Foxes (Broadway), but it was still the Elizabeth Taylor show for me. As the other major female character in a sea of mostly vicious men, Stapleton had the gravitas to balance Taylor. Two southern women with zero in common other than being tethered to a corrupt patriarchy. What I remember most: the production exuded confidence, Taylor at home with Hellman's melodramatic flourishes ("I hope you die, Horace. I'll be waitin' for you to die."), the whole take -- and it's a helluva talky play about bonds and who gets what if x happens -- designed to entertain. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 12:03 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - BroadwayLover 11:52 pm EDT 08/24/22 | |
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| Never had the good fortune to see Stapleton, but I did see Shelly Winters in The Gingerbread Lady. I must have been a teenager and remember it to this day, she was that good. | |
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| I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: Ann 08:20 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - PlazaBoy 12:03 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| In Dallas (I see by Googling that it was in 1982 at Granny's Dinner Theatre - I was desperate for theatre). I was thrilled to see her perform. | |
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| re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: tandelor 10:32 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady - Ann 08:20 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| I saw it in Chicago. Memorable performance. | |
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| re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: Ann 10:36 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady - tandelor 10:32 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| She got lots of press in Dallas. Mad at the media for something. One of a kind. I loved her. | |
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| re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: Roman 09:04 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady - Ann 08:20 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Granny’s. Dinner. Theatre? How were the vittles? |
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| re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: Ann 09:10 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady - Roman 09:04 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Fried. | |
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| re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady | |
| Posted by: Roman 10:00 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: I also saw Shelley Winters in The Gingerbread Lady - Ann 09:10 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Of course. | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: FAIRBOY 12:55 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - PlazaBoy 12:03 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| I saw Nancy Kelly in The Gingerbread Lady and she was also "that good". | |
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| re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:03 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - FAIRBOY 12:55 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| I saw Stritch do it in London, and she was so close to the character it was eerie. (Though she famously didn't get along with Neil Simon, or vice versa.) | |
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| Maureen Stapleton | |
| Posted by: Whistler 02:21 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone ever see Maureen Stapleton on stage? - FAIRBOY 12:55 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| I'd forgotten that I'd seen her in The Gingerbread Lady or that I'd seen that play. She was that good, as described above, and the script was that weak. Another excellent actor, Michael Lombard, was stuck in what Neil Simon's idea of a homosexual was in those days, and the character was straight out of the often false "Why do we all hate ourselves?" theme from Mart Crowley's The Boys In The Band. I also saw her with George C. Scott early in the run of Plaza Suite and, again as described above, they were hysterical and terrific. As with many actors in Simon's plays, they added depth and subtext where Simon provided none -- even while they were playing the farce of the fourth one-act. And I saw her in the revival of The Rose Tattoo, and she was, as expected, wonderful -- again, stronger than Tennessee Williams' script. Finally, I saw her give a guest lecture to college students in the mid-'70s. When asked how she chose her scripts, she replied -- and I suspect this was one of her stock stories -- "I read the script and then I look all around me on the floor for vomit. If there isn't any, I say, "Yes." |
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| re: Maureen Stapleton | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 08:31 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Maureen Stapleton - Whistler 02:21 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Interesting point about Neil Simon's idea of a homosexuals. What you say is certainly accurate and I agree with you now. However, I had a different perspective and experience then. At the time, I was 18, from a rural farming community in Wisconsin. I saw the play on a trip to Chicago. I'd seen so little representation of gay men anywhere, that I was absolutely thrilled by the gay character. The actor portraying him was handsome, vibrant, sophisticated. The lens I was viewing through saw those attributes and probably ignored the rest. Imagine my surprise years later when I saw James Coco's portrayal in the film adaptation, Only when I Laugh. |
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| Sorry | |
| Posted by: Whistler 02:59 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Maureen Stapleton - Whistler 02:21 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Sorry, got my Neil Simon "suite" plays mixed up -- Plaza Suite only has three one-acts. I believe the original fourth one was turned into the film, The Out-Of-Towners. | |
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| re: Sorry | |
| Posted by: IThespis 08:19 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: Sorry - Whistler 02:59 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| Just a note, her autobiography is terrific. A Hell of a Life. Great theatre book | |
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| re: Sorry | |
| Posted by: WWriter 06:37 pm EDT 08/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Sorry - IThespis 08:19 am EDT 08/25/22 | |
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| I loved, loved, loved that book. Her voice comes through loud and clear, and she's funny and honest and I felt almost as though I had had the privilege of hanging out with her. | |
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