NYTimes.com: That is not last month’s news, it is simply her agenda for this early spring day: a trip to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, where she is to sit on a stage and chat about her career, first as a Broadway scene-stealer, more recently as a cabaret regular and a guest star on sitcoms like “30 Rock.”
It is only 10:30 a.m., and already there is trouble. The limousine service sent a sport utility vehicle to the Carlyle Hotel, where she lives. She had it sent back.
3 comments:
Wow, Elaine Stritch is an institution in New York City, even though lately she's been having more and more trouble with performing (both physically and mentally). I'm incredibly surprised to see her leaving, and even more so that her swan song show is in Newark, NJ instead of in the city. I'd be surprised if they were hard-pressed to find a venue for such a show for such a dynamic performer. Perhaps it's intended to be a more intimate venue?
I also didn't know that Hunter has been assisting Elaine - I guess they must have bonded over A Little Night Music!
I love the title of this article: "Exiting Stage Center". It is incredibly appropriate for such a fierce icon of the Broadway stage. I can understand why she's deciding to leave- she's gotten older and has some trouble performing, but people still flock to see her anyways and this article demonstrates why. Elaine Stritch has such an incredible captivating personality- she is really the last of an era of Broadway dames that just don't exist anymore. A throwback to the golden era of showbusiness.
I remember the first time I watched Elaine Stritch was in a youtube video where she was singing "The Ladies Who Lunch" for the original recording of Company. She was having such a difficult time, but eventually they got the track of course. Then I heard a talk with Patti LuPone and she referenced Elaine, and it was then that I realized that she is really a figurehead in NYC. I think that she will basically be performing until the day she dies. She has an interesting message for all of us in Purnell that we can keep what we find interesting near and dear to our hearts (like her and her hats) and have that be accepted as a part of who we are.
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