Theater Talk: Elaine Stritch

Actress Elaine Stritch, now starring in the hit revival of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" gives a not-to-be-missed interview in which she discusses the pros and cons of being an 85 year-old star, giving 8 performances a week on Broadway.
Theater Talk is a series devoted to the world of the stage. It began on New York television in 1993 and is co-hosted by Michael Riedel (Broadway columnist for the New York Post) and series producer Susan Haskins.
The program is one of the few independent productions on PBS and now airs weekly on Thirteen/WNET in New York and WGBH in Boston. Now, CUNY TV offers New York City viewers additional opportunities to catch each week's show. (Of course, Theater Talk is no stranger to CUNY TV, since the show is taped here each week before its first airing on Thirteen/WNET.)
The series is produced by Theater Talk Productions, a not-for-profit corporation and is funded by contributions from private foundations and individuals, as well as The New York State Council on the Arts.
Watch more at www.tv.cuny.edu/series/theater...

[@Norvo82]

Watching the dynamic between Michael and Susan makes me want to cry in the shower. My goodness...

[@Nenn-qs2yw]

I can’t believe she’s gone. She was one of the last true legends. A genius! 💔

[@forevermonde]

11:54 kills me. The look of utter exasperation that Susan gives is priceless!

[@picturefan2009]

She has to be the best guest ever! I just LOVE her stories!

[@johnnybaby80]

I love that she makes a point to engage both hosts, even tho I get the sense that one of the hosts thinks that it's a one-man show

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

It is. She intrudes on him. How long was it after this before Elaine retired?

[@rc5chi539]

I've always loved Elaine's ladylike demeanor! You were never sure if you'd run into her standing next to you at a urinal or coming out of the salon just having her hair and nails done...Lol, Yes, Elaine, you are and will always be an Icon on Broadway and in every Theatre. You set a very high bar/standard ( no pun intended) for actors to strive to achieve. Thanks for sharing your talent with us all.

[@parkerrose3590]

Elaine is an amazing talent and person! I saw her in 1970 in Company and I've been in awe ever since.

[@IntendJOY]

I love all three of them. brilliant show.

[@kayjay12341]

Absolutely amazing. What a legend. She is hilarious

[@rr7firefly]

"A Little Night Music" closed on January 9, 2011, with 20 previews and 425 regular performances. Elaine died on July 17, 2014 (aged 89). So she was a little over 85 years old in this wonderful interview. She's an inspiration.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Who were the original leads?

[@juliegoldman411]

I agree 💯💯 percent...she was one of a kind!!

[@hairyscotman]

I just loved her....so great, so talented....so clever....Rest in Peace, Elaine....you left us so grateful....

[@joeschmoe373]

MAN .....she should have donated her body to science. This woman has energy that only the sun can burn. We should all be lucky enough to have it at any age.

[@susansiegel-towers7359]

She was terrific !

[@brushstroke1245]

She's priceless

[@mycatisabastard2361]

There is no one like Elaine Stritch.

[@maszlagma]

She is just amazing! One of those people you want to hang around with all day!

[@meenyminymoe]

A great dame! Have always loved her!

[@maszlagma]

I feel that she is great fun to be around and I love her stories! Wonderful woman! I want her to live forever!

[@shnooger]

That totally made my day!!!!!

[@toucheturtle300]

I always wondered what she would have done with Dorothy had she got the role in the Golden Girls. A marvellous character and so honest.

[@Themanwhocameback2]

She would have fought with everyone, and been replaced. A pity because she might have elevated the show to a higher level.

[@inplainsight131]

8 shows a week at 85?! My Gosh!

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

A limited number of scenes helps.

[@twerkinthecityhuh6340]

....lol....."thats a lie already" - elaine stritch love her

[@KydWyz]

beautiful

[@DonPepeelToro]

WHAT A DAME!!!

[@Apollo_Blaze]

Why can't some people just stick around forever?...

[@victoriaindigo]

Well, last September she said they were following her around (with cameras), and that it would be a year so hopefully there will be some word soon. Maybe it will be a PBS thing

[@victoriaindigo]

Documentary on Elaine Stritch coming in 2012!

[@grai]

is it here yet?

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Nice work if you can get it!

[@davidanthonystone5165]

Would someone tell me what iconic means, It sounds like a mouth wash"””

[@bragusa37]

Susan is so frustrated at 11:48 cause she can't get a word in... But I have always wondered why the 2 of them are on there anyway. Michale had a closer relationship with Stritch! Then she had an out with that beep to just let him have it!!!

[@randysills4418]

You mean Michael?

[@frankcheers7529]

I think she kept him and the show on track.

[@PERRAPERICLES]

Can't bear that guy!!!! (Elaine agrees, I'm sure)

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

He asks great questions.

[@Autostade67]

Love, love, love Stritch but there is an angst to her delivery of 'Liaisons' that I find odd (maybe it was Nunn's direction); it is very hard to shake the wry brilliance of Hermione Gingold's original delivery from one's ears.

[@220783ajidil]

God, those two are awful! The woman producer scares me. Elaine is so graceful. Love you!

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

That's what you get from PBS. Fake, phony, liberal, condescending, money grubbing whores.

[@SweatyOracle]

New school Broadway performers are so banal and sanitized both in talent and personality when compared to the greats like Elaine, Patti, and Ethel. It's a shame. Now we get milquetoast plug and play MFA students when we used to get purley one of a kind performers. I hope we sing the pendulum back to originality on broadway.

[@tensacross]

i think new york city is officially dead now. losing elaine was the last straw.

[@CitzenVain714]

I love Elaine BUT at 20:00 when she is trying to defend her ability to remember lines BUT can't remember the name of the guy who defended her about it AND the guy happens to be the guy who directed her one woman show. Oy....

[@Themanwhocameback2]

Elaine quite rightly objects to the buzzwords of today, "Iconic", and the disgusting "you guys" when addressing a group of men and women. God, i wish I could have known her.

[@safsage1]

The only distinctive thing now and ever about this lady was her voice, her talent was minimal as were her subsequent performances of all her endeavours!

[@mostlysondheim1930]

okay, godless nana

[@samanthab1923]

I never knew her because she did plays more than films. I just remember seeing her & thinking what horribly dissipated she looked. A real horseface too. They rave about her legs but it looks like two scrawny sticks ready to snap when she "dances"

[@andyvanm1]

Why would a actress go TV in rollers and no makeup at that advanced age ? Senility ?

[@iliesko]

out of being REAL and GENUINE, you morron!! She's 85 here...who's she gonna be pretty for at that age??? She's an amazing veteran actress and a Broadway LEGEND you simpleton cretin ASS!!!!!

[@andyvanm1]

***** Thank you ,That explains my question !

[@gbonelli]

ANDREW VAN This show was taped just before she went to the theater to do one of those 8 shows per week that she speaks of. Her role in that show required certain hair and make-up. To put on make-up and do her hair for the TV show would have meant time in the make-up chair prior to the taping, then more time taking off the TV make-up before the usual time spent doing make-up and hair again at the theater. That is more energy, effort, and time than an 80 something year old preparing to do her best work on stage eight times a week cared to invest. What was important to her about the TV interview was what she had to say and the interaction between her and the hosts - not how she looked. She trusted that the audience for this show would be astute enough to understand her choice, OR she simply didn't care what we might think of how she looked. She had bigger fish to fry. And by the way, Elaine Stritch had many physical ills and problems at the end of her life. Senility was never one of them.

[@andyvanm1]

Gloria Bonelli Its obvious her days were numbered my she rest in peace....

[@Anonymous-ql4ph]

It might be you who has Senility. Didn't you read the reply?

[@tonygilder7912]

I never got the allure of Stritch. Her "legacy" seems to be like that of a Woody Allen - popular somewhere - but I never heard of her. Or maybe she is associated with Sondheim. His stuff is niche too. Seriously, what is her claim to fame? Is she some Shelly Winters who used to be thin or what?

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Oy. Do some reading and watching. She's become the top comic character actress of her generation. She throws acid like no other, like Bea Arthur had a knife in her mouth. A special talent.

[@sambrownsings]

Mostly famous among musical theatre nerds but she is a true showbiz legend. Legend. A musical comedy icon (Company, Call Me Madam, A Little Night Music, etc) and a New York City staple until her death. She actually lost the part of Dorothy in Golden Girls to Bea Arthur but made a successful living on TV in her own right too.