I was remiss in not mentioning that another Broadway great, Carol Channing, has died at the age of 97. From Variety:
Larger-than-life musical stage personality Carol Channing, who immortalized the characters of Lorelei Lee in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes†and Dolly Gallagher Levi in “Hello, Dolly!,†has died. She was 97.
Channing died Tuesday of natural causes at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Her publicist B. Harlan Boll confirmed the news. He wrote, “It is with extreme heartache, that I have to announce the passing of an original Industry Pioneer, Legend and Icon — Miss Carol Channing. Saying good-bye is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I know that when I feel those uncontrollable urges to laugh at everything and/or nothing at all, it will be because she is with me, tickling my funny bone.â€
Channing won a Tony as best actress in a musical in 1964 for Jerry Herman’s musical version of Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker.†Until then she had been closely identified with the gold-digging Ms. Lee in the 1948 musical adaptation of Anita Loos’ flapper-era novel.
Her larger-than-life personality did not lend itself to film but on stage she was magic. I saw her in Hello, Dolly! and she was wonderful. (I have also seen Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman, and Pearl Bailey playing Dolly Levi. The Pearl Bailey-Cab Calloway all-black production of Hello, Dolly! was incomparably great.)
I don’t think we’ll ever see her like again. It is a different, smaller world.
Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you think makes some people so good on stage but not so good on TV or movies? I agree that is true of many actors. We are theater fans and occasionally some TV star will show up and be pretty disappointing.
Steve
I know your question wasn’t directed at me, but I think it’s spontaneity.
I’ve heard that filming is terribly tedious, with takes and retakes and waiting for the right amount of sun or shade or other conditions.
On stage you just live the part, with no one yelling cut.
I can’t tell you what other actors think about it but I can tell you my experience. Stage is different from TV or movies in several ways. First, there is an interaction with the audience on the stage. You can sense them. It’s a conversation.
Second, on the stage you’re working without a net. there are no retakes. There’s an electricity to it, a thrill.
Some TV actors are incapable of learning their lines. Some are notorious for it. And some don’t want that interaction with the audience.
I wasnt sure about spontaneity, but when you combine it with Dave’s idea of a conversation it kinds works. The lines are scripted, so it is not the lines, but rather i think the good stage actors quickly sense the audience reaction and feedback on it. Have seen a lot of great plays over the years, and a lot of good movies, but the most profound audience reactions have been with stage productions. Never forget a Cyrano we saw years ago that ended with almost every woman within eyesight in tears, or a Mice and Men that had an even more pronounced effect on everyone.
Steve
The most profound reaction from an audience to a movie that I have ever witnessed was to Saving Private Ryan. My wife and I attended a matinee and most of those in the audience were of the World War II generation. By the end of the movie there was quiet weeping on the part of nearly everyone in the audience, men and women alike.