This is a weekly feature on BroadwayLiving.com.
It’s just like the game “Six Degrees
of Kevin Bacon”. You know how it goes…someone
throws out an actor’s name and you have to
try to connect them to Kevin Bacon in six steps or
less.
I thought it might be fun to do the same thing with
the theater’s luminaries. I will be trying
to connect them to the longest running show in Broadway
history, The Phantom of the Opera and its very first “Phantom”,
Michael Crawford.
What can you say about Elaine Stritch that she hasn’t
already said about herself in her one woman show,
Elaine Stritch at Liberty, and her cabaret act at
the Carlyle? Not much, so I’ll stick to the
facts. She made her Broadway debut in 1946 in the
play, Loco. Her numerous Broadway credits include
the standby for Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam, the
role of Melba Snyder in the ’52 revival of
Pal Joey , Maggie Harris in Goldilocks, Mimi Paragon
in Sail Away, Parthy in the ’94 revival on
Showboat and her signature performance as Joanne
in Company to name a few. Her many performances have
garnered her four Tony Award nominations and her
one woman show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, won the
award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Alright,
here goes:
1) Elaine Stritch was in the original production
of Company with Merle Louise
2) Merle Louise did Sweeney Todd with Richard Warren
Pugh
3) Richard Warren Pugh was the original “Auctioneer” in
the The Phantom of the Opera with Michael Crawford.
“
A matinee, a Pinter play,
Perhaps a piece of Mahler’s –
I’ll drink to that”
- Joanne in Company
So that’s the game. Join me each week as I try to come up with new ways
of connecting Michael Crawford to the entire theater community.
