Re: Great performers, lesser roles

ElBob-O@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (robert=A0armstrong) 
Eve Arden returned in a very low-reviewed comedy The Picture in Father's
Room or something like that at one of the Drury Lane houses in Chi area,
and it didn't seem worth seeing as "theatre" at the time. It even missed
its own audience because the older crowd was put off by story of
matronly widow's becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Now I think, should I
have seen it anyway? Could it be so bad that Eve's classic wisecracking
couldn't have gotten some laughs out of it? She still looked and sounded
like herself in later years. Makes me think of shows I've seen that were
disappointing at some level, but brought me satisfaction at having seen
great performers raise the performance standard, or to get an idea what
they were like in their better roles
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I feel lucky to have seen in Philly and South Jersey stock:

Joan Fontaine in DIAL M FOR MURDER, Gale Sondergaard in THE ROYAL
FAMILY, Barbara Baxley in AND MISS REARDON, Cathleen Nesbitt in SABRINA
FAIR, Kenneth Haigh in STAIRCASE, Louis Jourdan in PRIVATE LIVES, Milton
Berle in LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS, Dick Shawn in SCUBA DUBA, and many
others. Also original shows that didn't come in to NYC with James
Whitmore, ****rley Booth, David Wayne and others.