{"id":3723,"date":"2017-07-06T16:12:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T16:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=3723"},"modified":"2018-08-23T18:38:09","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T18:38:09","slug":"diva-alert-12-elaine-stritch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/diva-alert-12-elaine-stritch\/","title":{"rendered":"Diva Alert #12: Elaine Stritch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diva Alert #12: Elaine Stritch<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by Jackson Upperco<\/p>\n

July 5, 2017<\/p>\n<\/font>

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Welcome back to Diva Alert, Performer Stuff\u2019s series on Great Dames from the Golden Age of Broadway. In these posts, we\u2019re taking a look at some of the American Musical Theatre\u2019s most legendary ladies, along with their seminal stage triumphs. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>One of the broadest broads ever on the Great White Way, this diva could choke down a whiskey sour or a magnum of champagne and still hit her mark when \u201cplaces\u201d were called. Personal struggles fed her artistic expression \u2013 and created a persona that was larger than life. Ill-tempered and foul-mouthed, but hilarious and real, she was\u2026 Elaine Stritch.<\/p>\n

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Michigan-born Elaine Stritch trained at the esteemed Dramatic Workshop before making her Broadway debut in 1946. Her first featured role came in the revue Angel In The Wings <\/em>(1947), where she introduced \u201cCivilization.\u201d By 1952, she had been the standby for Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam <\/em>(1950) and was cast in the acclaimed revival of Pal Joey<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Several big shows followed, including Bus Stop <\/em>(1956), for which Stritch earned a Tony nomination, Goldilocks <\/em>(1958), her first starring role, and Sail Away <\/em>(1961), a No\u00ebl Coward musical that she played on both sides of the Atlantic. After years touring in stock, the diva\u2019s crowning Broadway achievement came in 1970, when she introduced the iconic \u201cThe Ladies Who Lunch\u201d in Stephen Sondheim\u2019s Company<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Stritch followed Company <\/em>to London. There her life took a turn: she got married, starred on an ITV sitcom, and resided in the U.K. until her husband\u2019s passing. After his death, her problems with alcohol, which began as a teenager, came to a head. After achieving sobriety, she returned to the states and made a triumphant comeback with raved-about appearances in the 1994 and 1996 revivals of Show Boat <\/em>and A Delicate Balance<\/em>, respectively.<\/p>\n

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More Broadway acclaim found Stritch again in 2001 when she took on her most challenging role \u2013 playing herself in a one-woman show that netted her a Drama Desk Award and an Emmy \u2013 the latter being her second of three, the last of which she won for her recurring role on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock<\/em>. During this time, she made her last Broadway appearance in the 2010 revival of Sondheim\u2019s A Little Night Music<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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By this time, Stritch was a legend. Her one-woman act inspired documentaries, while cabaret engagements and TV appearances further showcased her hard-as-nails-but-painfully-vulnerable persona, endearing her to several generations of fans. When she passed in 2014, Broadway mourned the loss of an iconic dame \u2013 with a voice, an attitude, and a story that won\u2019t ever be forgotten.<\/p>\n

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DID YOU KNOW? <\/strong>Elaine Stritch claimed to be up for the part of Dorothy in The Golden Girls<\/em>. She lost it by ad libbing during the audition.<\/p>\n

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Stritch Roles You Should Know<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Melba Snyder in Pal Joey <\/em>(1952 Revival)<\/h4>\n