Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year
loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#1Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:28pm
I just came across a copy of the cast album for "Woman of the Year," and that prompted me to do a bit of research. I discovered the show won 4 Tony Awards, including best book and best original score. Did anyone have the chance to see this show, and do you think a revival would be possible?
Just curious because I've always loved the story (have the DVD with Hepburn and Tracy, as well as their 30-minute radio version recorded for the Screen Guild Theatre). Any info on the show would be appreciated! :) Thanks!
[updated to correct award count]
Updated On: 8/26/12 at 07:28 PM
#2Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:30pm
John Kander cites it as his least favorite show of his and Fred Ebb's. I think it has some really nice stuff in it, but I'll agree that it doesn't compare to some of the other K&E shows.
#2Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:31pmUnless you can somehow resurrect the amazing Marilyn Cooper, I'd forget that revival. I always thought they should have called the show, APPLAUSE II, because that seemed the primary creative impulse to me.
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#3Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:33pmIt is more as a star vehicle I would say. The best number being "The Grass is Always Greener." Marilyn Cooper stopped the show and deserved the Tony Award in what has to be one of the shorts on stage performances to win.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
random person 112
Broadway Star Joined: 6/26/11
#4Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:33pmMay i suggest CZJ for the lead role in a revival. I think she would be lovely in this, the score fits her voice like a glove and we could see more of her wonderful dance abilities.
#5Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:38pm
It's a good Encores! candidate actually. A major revival? I mean, it didn't even make money with Bacall.
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#6Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:40pmIt didn't make a profit? Im really surprised. Raquel Welch did amazing business when she took over. I don't think Debbie Reynolds was in it long before it closed.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
#7Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:40pm
I think it closed in the red. It also had a very large theatre to fill.
#8Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:42pm
I worked with Coopie in several shows in stock where she did larger roles. I always figured if she got a Tony for singing one (admittedly mediocre) Kander & Ebb song, it was just Fate finally putting things right.
(Not that she wasn't hysterical with that song. Obviously, she was. I just don't think it ranks with great K&E duets like "Class".)
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#9Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:47pm
@GavestonPS
It might not be one of Kander and Ebb best songs but it did stop the show. I wasnt surprised or should say I was pleasantly surprised when Cooper won the Tony Award.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#10Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:50pm
@jv92
It is too bad or maybe not depending on how you look at it. But I don't recall then reporting when a show turned a profit back then.
I know it had a decent advance sale with Bacall and became a must see again with the reviews Welch got and I believe her weekly grosses were very good. But trying to recall over 30 years(Yikes) my memory isn't what it use to be. :)
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
#11Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:56pm
Woman of the Year - Lauren Bacall & Marilyn Cooper live in 1981
"...ah, gays and their wit. Hell must be a laugh a minute!"
-Evie Harris
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#12Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 7:58pm
@loliveve
I think it won 4 Tony Awards. Featured Actress, Actress, Book and Score. Is there one I am forgetting?
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#13Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 8:08pm
@Huss471- My apologies!!! You are correct, the show won 4 Tony Awards. Thank you! I will correct that. (i counted 5 awards, and missed that the last one was a Drama Desk.)
#14Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 8:54pmOh, absolutely, Huss. My point was that it stopped the show because of Coopie, not because the writing was so clever. (And, in fairness, credit has to be given to Bacall, who played off her duet partner perfectly.)
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#15Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:00pm
I really thought Bacall was a class act in really letting Cooper take center stage for the number. It's also Coopers' talent that pulled the spotlight away from Bacall because all you saw in that number was Cooper and Bacall pretty much played the straight man. So to speak.
I do recall the first Playbill from the show was not the best of pictures of Bacall and then at some point they at least gave Bacall a more glamourous headshot for the Playbill.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
bobs3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/12
#16Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:01pm
I saw the show at the Palace in 1981. It was a mediocre star vehicle for Lauren Bacall who carried the show through the sheer force of her personality and stage presence. Never for one second did you doubt there was a STAR onstage.
Updated On: 8/27/12 at 09:01 PM
#17Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:07pm
May i suggest CZJ for the lead role in a revival.
No, you may not.
Didn't Broadway get a restraining order or something, forbidding Catherine Zeta to come anywhere closer to a Broadway stage than Kennedy Airport?
#18Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:16pm
I really thought Bacall was a class act in really letting Cooper take center stage for the number. It's also Coopers' talent that pulled the spotlight away from Bacall because all you saw in that number was Cooper and Bacall pretty much played the straight man. So to speak.
I've been critical of Betty elsewhere, but in my dealings with her I represented the producer. In the interest of fairness and complete accuracy, I'd like to add that the acting company (she was doing a summer tour of WONDERFUL TOWN) seemed genuinely fond of her.
I never saw her upstage her co-stars (George Hearn and Maureen Moore).
Leadingplayer
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#19Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:24pmWas this televised? I swear I saw it on TV somewhere.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#21Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 9:39pm
I saw all three of the stars on Broadway, and though it was written for Bacall, and she was the most commanding presence, the overall best performance -- and most believable -- was Debbie Reynolds. By far. She made a persuasive case that this character Tess Harding really was a telejournalist, really had used her charm and skill and intellect to build a hard-won career. She looked like a woman who'd been on TV. That mattered. And she's a legit triple threat musical comedy star: she sings, dances, and puts over comedy. They redid "One of the Boys" for her, and damned if she didn't make it work. Watch the clips of Bacall in the number. She looks like she might break. I'm not into trashing Bacall for her singing, because I don't think that was the issue (though her rendition of the title number is, uh, something to listen to). I think she simply treated the role as someone above noted: as APPLAUSE II. I must say, she apparently blossomed anew in the road edition, and I wish I'd seen it. She had her moments.
Raquel was Vegas. She could move, she could warble, and she could not make you believe she was this woman that man Sam could end up with. Sorry, Mr. Jamie Ross, who played Sam; it didn't make sense.
I enjoy the score. Minor Kander and Ebb is better than major many other people. The pleasures are many and varied, and we've talked about them often here. It need not be revived, but I understand why everyone from Barbara Eden to (fill in the blank) scored in stock with it. The role fits a certain profile, and the trajectory in the thin story allows a lot of shtus, sturm and drang, and that ending, which is ludicrous.
I sometimes play the overture. And I love "Sometimes a Day Goes By."
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#22Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/26/12 at 10:19pm
If ANYONE is going to to WOMAN OF THE YEAR ANYWHERE, it should be Allison Janney who even sang Dolly Parton's own rip off of "One of the Boys" with the same title in 9 TO 5.
#23Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/27/12 at 1:28amI think "Sometimes a Day Goes By" is one of Kander and Ebb's most beautiful songs.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#24Woman of the Year
Posted: 8/27/12 at 2:37am
I saw all three leads on Broadway. Saw Bacall's final performance. It was a fun "vehicle" show. Also saw Barbara Eden do it at some summer theater in the round in Long Island. I believe it toured some summer stock theaters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntto194YwK0
HUSSY POWER!
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Updated On: 8/27/12 at 02:37 AM
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