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." |
