For theater nerds: A truly historic find on Youtube.

Discussion in 'Music, TV, Movies & other Media' started by btthegreat, Mar 15, 2023.

  1. btthegreat

    btthegreat Well-Known Member

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    Nobody is going to understand this one. I am a musical theater geek, and this is musical theater history . Someone posted an astonishing find on Youtube. Gertrude Lawerence was one of the absolute great actresses and musical stars of the early and mid 20th century. We have old recordings of her work in several musicals, but there has been no video of her performing any of them. The role she is most remembered for was her very last. She was the original Anna in The King and I with a young Yul Brynner. She was also pivotal to seeing the book turned into a musical. It was Lawerence who started sending the book to the great composers and lyricists of the musical stage and it was she who sent the material to Rodgers and Hammerstein and they wrote the songs especially for her. She played the role from March 1951 through August 1952, winning the Best Actress Tony award.

    But she grew increasingly weak. Her health deteriorated rapidly, forcing her to miss numerous performances until she finally was hospitalized with what would be her final illness. On 16 August 1952, Lawrence fainted backstage after a Saturday matinee of The King and I.[63] After "a few days at home," wrote her husband Richard Aldrich, she was admitted to what was then called New York Hospital for tests.[63] Doctors said she was suffering from hepatitis, and she was admitted to a room on the 16th floor. Lawerence instructed Fanny Holtzmann to arrange for co-star Yul Brynner's name to be added to the marquee of the St. James Theatre. On September 6 she died before an autopsy revealed liver and abdominal cancer.

    She was buried dressed in that famous gown she danced in for 'Shall We Dance?" Gertrude Lawerence was the first person for whom the house lights were dimmed in all Broadway theaters during the immediate aftermath of a beloved performer’s death.[67]

    And what is that historical find? From a month ago, we see...
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2023

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