Kate: Grande Dame of the Theater

[George]

Wassup Guys,
I have a question which I may have asked in another forum or group, so forgive me if I have. But, out of all the stage performances that Kate gave over the course of her carrer..which one would you have loved to have seen.
For me it would have to have been the stage adaptation of "The Philadelphia Story' and any of the performances she gave at Stratford.
What about you guys?

[Judy]

Hi, George: For me, it would also have been THE PHILADELPHIA STORY first and then ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (or maybe even vice versa!). And then AS YOU LIKE it. And then all the other Shakespeare......Judy

[Kerrie]

I think I would have liked to see her in The Philadelphia story and some of her Australian productions - with Helpmann .

On the Bryn Mawr website last year there was a lady who saw Katharine perform in 1928 at the annual pageant - the lady was 8 years old at the time and she always remembered Katharine's performance . Amazing

[maddie]

hmm kate doing shakespeare. and of course the warrior's husband and the philadelphia story, which will be our school play next year or so i heard, haha more of so i told the director's to do and they are seriously considering it. ahh well, any of those would have been amazing, i love the theatre it is such a grand expirience, sad that it is so expensive these days

[Karina]

Well, apart from all of them of course , I wish I'd been alive to see "The Millionairess", especially one of her performances in the UK.
And I wish I'd been older and travelled to New York to see her in "Coco". If only.......

[karina]

Has anyone actually seen Kate live on stage, some of her later plays perhaps? Judy? I get the impression we're around the same age and maybe living Stateside you had chance to see some of her performances. Unfortunately, I've still to visit USA - and of course it's too late to see Kate now

[Judy]

Hi, Karina:

Yes, I was fortunate enough to have seen her in COCO, A MATTER OF GRAVITY and THE WEST SIDE WALTZ. Plus she also attended a star-packed event called NIGHT OF 100 STARS at Radio City. This was an evening featuring stars from every area of entertainment; some performed, some just came out took a bow to show their support of the Actors Fund. Kate just made an appearance (she was a huge supporter of the Fund) - on crutches - and then was offstage in a flash. I remember she was wearing a long black coat and had a ribbon tied in her hair - Kate's version of dress-up! - and she was standing next Hume Cronyn with a huge grin taking in the thunderous applause.

I also saw her live when the Film Society of Lincoln Center paid tribute to George Cukor in 1978. She presented him at the end of the evening and stayed with him at the podium while he spoke, prodding him to tell stories. It was very cute.

Another time I saw her live was at the Majestic Theatre for the screening of THE SPENCER TRACY LEGACY. When she reads that letter at the end? Well everyone in the theatre was sobbing.

I'm not sure where you're from, but if you can, pick up a copy of the DVD called BROADWAY'S LOST TREASURES - II. It features performances from past Tony Award broadcasts and the most amazing extra on it is the filmed scene from COCO that was shown on the Tony broadcast the year she was nominated. It is the longest segment ever to play on the show.

In it you will see true star magic. She was/is magnificent. Couldn't sing a lick. Magic nevertheless. Funny, quick, moving, vibrant.

(Make sure you get part II because there's also a part I, which is also very worth it, if you love the theatre as I do. But it's part II that has the Kate extra.)

I only saw COCO once, but saw GRAVITY and WALTZ many times, and met her briefly backstage when GRAVITY ended it's post Broadway tour in Baltimore in 1977. I had written to her while the show was on tour and told her I was going to go to Baltimore to see a matinee and evening performance (after having seen it something like eight times on Broadway) and I asked her if I could come backstage and meet her...Where I got the chutzpah to do that I don't know. She wrote back and said okay!

Still the highlight of my life. The memory of seeing her face to face and actually talking to her - small talk, nothing special and for maybe 5-10 minutes - still is burned into my brain. She was sensational looking.

I wish I was a bit older so I could have seen her onstage at Stratford. I can only imagine that she was magnificent in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. But that was not to be....So, yes, about the only good thing I have to say about having just turned 51 is that I was around for her third act that began in the late 60's.

JS

[karina]

Wow Judy - you have me green with envy just reading your wonderful account. Lucky, lucky you!

I'll look out for the DVD you mentioned, sounds great - but no guarantees I'll be able to get it unless they sell it on amazon? Otherwise, the nearest I have to any of her live performances is the LP (what a quaint old concept that now sounds!) of the soundtrack of Coco, not that I have the equipment to play it on any longer! But although she doesn't exactly sing in the conventional sense of the word, the magic still comes through even on this recording, so I can only imagine how fantastic the real live version must have been.

I understand perfectly the rush of emotions and highlight of your life feeling that you get meeting a famous classic actor (I was lucky enough to have a brief face-to-face encounter with Bette Davis towards the end of her life) but oh, how I wish I'd had the same experience with Kate.

[Judy]

Karina:

Amazon DOES stock the DVD. Here's the link:

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-7304617-0454201

But I know DVD's have to be certain Regions, right? So not sure you'll be able to use these, unless you have some sort of universal player. Are you in England? I bet Amazon UK has it as well.

Some of the highlights I remember about COCO - remember, it was 36 years ago!!! - are:

The beginning of the second act. One of the biggest laughs I've ever heard in the theatre. As the curtain comes down at the end of the first act, Coco's about to have her big show. When the second act curtain goes up, there are clothes strewn everywhere and chairs overturned, and you get the sense that it was not a success. Kate (aka Coco) walks about the stage in silence, taking in all the tumult that the fashion show has left behind and then walks center stage, looks out at the audience and blurts out: "nuts!" (I hope I can get that word through on the forum. If not, try "Sh-t!" :-) SHE MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT SAY "NUTS!" :-)

I was sitting in the front row of the mezzanine. For a moment I couldn't believe my ears. Did that word just come out of Kate's mouth? The audience was sort of amazed as well. Silence at first - for a split second - and then from my vantage point in the mezz., I heard the laughter begin. It was the oddest thing. It started in the the orchestra and then moved back as if in a wave all the way up to the balcony. I can still see her, palms on hips, feet planted onstage, bellowing out the word. Just priceless!

There were many other wonderful moments: Since you have the LP (I do, too), you must know the "Ohrbach's, Bloomingdale's, Best and Saks" number. She doesn't do much "singing" in it. Mostly it's the four men representing the department stores who perform the number, but I remember them dancing and moving with her all over the stage. Lifting her up. Singing to her. Just great.

(By the way, if you can't play the LP, the CD is also available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Dblended%26field-keywords%3Dcoco%26store-name%3Ddvd/103-7304617-0454201)

So...Bette Davis is another favorite actress of mine. Now you must tell the circumstances of your meeting with her.

JS

[Cate]

Wow I am green with envy as well. But, I was born the same year she did On Golden Pond so it was pretty impossible for me to have seen her onstage. I really wish someone would find a way to travel back in time. If it was possible... I would have loved to see her at Bryn Mawr. The Philadelphia Story, Coco (!!), and any of her Stratford performances.

Judy: What about this conversation you had with Kate? Elaborate!! How exciting. I wouldn't have had the courage. I once (not that this is comparable) had the chance to talk to Sheryl Crow but was so star-struck that I just stood there frozen. She was walking her dog outside the venue in which she was going to be playing and eventually walked him off the sidewalk away from me. I guess I'm can be a bit scary...

[Judy]

Catherine:

I wouldn't exactly call it a conversation. More like me, shaking in my boots, trying to pretend I wasn't scared to death, while she talked....And she was really sweet. I mean, really, after the end of a day of two performances, having to wait at the theatre to greet people she did not know...when all she probably wanted to do was leave...

I had brought with me a copy of the brief letter she wrote saying I could come back to see her. I thought I might need to show it to someone. I had known this was going to take place for a few months - or at least a month. Yet as I stood there before her, I had not one bloody thing to say and I was twisting and folding that note into knots....

I honestly don't remember much of the conversation - What, you say! How could that be? - I was just focusing so much on not making a fool of myself that I was sort of paralyzed.

So when we approached her and were introduced - the person who brought us over asked us to say our names (I was with a friend) immediately because she liked to know to whom she was speaking. So I told her who I was and then wanted to thank her for allowing us to come back. I indicated the note in my hand which by now was twisted beyond recognition and said: "Miss Hepburn, I was so surprised..." and wanted to continue by saying "when I received your note." But before I got a chance, all I got out was "I was so surprised..." and she butt in laughing, looking at me nervously twitsing that d**ned piece of paper (no not d**ned; Thank God I had it to keep my hands busy; otherwise I would've fainted). And she finished my sentence:"...at my good manners?"

We laughed, I said "no, of course, not" just that I was so happy to meet her...And we talked a bit about the play. She was a champion of it and said how much better it was than so much of what was around. And an example she gave was "Equus," which she said was so much "twaddle, just twaddle."

Then we spoke a bit more and since we were the last to have been brought back to see her, she let us walk with her to her car.

I asked her how she was feeling, because she had damaged her ankle while on tour (this was not the later car accident injury) and had played the part in a wheelchair. Then when she was healed, she liked the chair so much - felt it was so right for the character - that she kept it in the show. So when I saw these final 2 performances, she played them in the chair. But then at the curtain, she strode out strong as can be and I think she took great delight in the gasps that elicited from the audience.

So I asked her how her ankle had mended and in typical KH style, she said, "Oh, all better" - just pooh poohing it and not paying it any mind...

I often wish we had recorders in our heads so at moments like these we could just flip a switch and record it all to look back on...Wish I could remember more...

The lasting memory for me was (a) how kind she was and how she didn't act like she was being forced to stay and talk (after all, who could force her to do anything?) and how she made an effort to put us at ease because she could not have helped noticing how nervous we were and (b) how incredible she looked; just stunning.

JS

PS Oh, one more thing....The person who brought us backstage to see her took us ONTO the stage and we walked across the set to get backstage...For a theatre nut like me, that was heaven.

[Cate]

That's incredible! Do you still have the letter?

[karina]

This gets better & better - thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us, Judy. I love it that great stars find the time to write back personal replies to letters and to spend time meeting & chatting with their fans. Although I suppose if they want public fame & recognition as well as professional status amongst their peers, then they have to be prepared to put in that sort of effort, 'cos where would they be without us fans?

BTW, my meeting with Bette Davis was very tame in comparison. Just a couple of sentences exchanged at a booksigning in London. But I too, was amazed at her stamina and sheer determination to stick it out - she was very frail at the time but stayed until the very last book had been signed, no mean feat with over a thousand fans in line. Despite her declining health, she too looked marvellous and by sheer force of will pushed her way through the crowds towards her limousine with all that power & energy seen on the silver screen - amazing!

And even though I was born the year Kate turned 50, I guess location was the main reason I never got to see her in person. I'm from the UK but somehow never had the chance to travel to USA. I'm now based in the Middle East but I'm going to go & check amazon.uk (Don't have any US credit cards) for those DVDs

[Judy]

Catherine:

I do still have the letter....but it was so brief, don't think you could even call it a letter...

I actually have two letters from her...I'm sure many people have more since, starting in the seventies, she began responding to fans' letters...

The first one I have is dated in 1976, when she was in GRAVITY on B'way. Her driver, Fisher, who'd come to recognize me from being at the stage door so often (I was not unusual in that regard; he came to recognize a lot of folks) took to telling people that if they would leave a Playbill in a self-addressed, stamped envelope, she would be happy to sign and return it.

So the next time I saw the play, I did just that - and at the last minute thought to include a note to her - I was a pretty shy kid so this was a big step for me and I just prayed she would not think it silly. My letter described what it felt like to be waiting in the cold at the stage door for her to come out. How there was such excitment in the air and how everyone in the small crowd felt about her, how happy we all were to be there, to have been able to see her onstage, and how I had felt about her since I was 13 (I was then 22).

I still get goose-bumps when I remember coming home from school only a week later and seeing that Playbill-sized envelope with my handwriting on it in our mailbox. I rushed to open it, expecting only the signed Playbill. But in addition to it, there was a letter from her - on that small note paper with her KHH monogram at the head - responding to mine.

Just as Glenn Close said at the SAG awards about HER letter from Kate, mine has been framed and hanging on my wall ever since. It was clear from her letter that she had read mine, so that made me very happy....still does when I think about it, which this message has made me do. :-)

But the second note I was talking about - the one where she said it would be okay to come backstage in Baltimore - is a kick to have as well. Not only for her signature, but for the no beating about the bush, no nonsense aspect - so typically KH. It read (I have it memorized): Dear {insert my name} - Fine. Come back. PS After the evening performance.

C'est tout!

Geez, I miss her.

[mariluna]

I've just receive this morning the DVD BROADWAY'S LOST TREASURES - II, and I've already watched it, well three times before starting work. Ohhhhhh! The only thing Ican say is THANKS A LOT, JUDY for your information. It's lovely and hallucinatory and TOTAL.
Mariluna