More years ago than I care to remember I saw Angela Lansbury in the pre-Broadway tryout of the musical Mame in Philadelphia.When Lansbury danced a jitterbug number in the rollicking "That's How Young I Feel" I couldn't believe how light and adept she was on her feet.
Now, I saw Angela Lansbury in another Broadway production last Saturday.
This time Lansbury dances what the New York Times calls a "neo Nijinsky dance" where she vibrates "sometimes like a tuning fork and sometimes like wind chimes in a monsoon."
Yes, Angela Lansbury is 83 years old.
But she's still "dancing" and still stealing the show - this time as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's classic drawing-room comedy, Blithe Spirit.
What a joy it is to see Angela Lansbury back on Broadway!
She is one of the great stage actors - one of the great entertainers - of our time. Movies, television, theatre, song, dance, drama, comedy; she does it all.
In fact, is there anything Angela Lansbury can't do?
Mame, Dear World, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd all brought Tony awards for Lansbury and she's nominated once again for Blithe Spirit.
Murder She Wrote brought her several Emmy Awards.
And who can forget her screen appearances in such memorable roles as the diabolical mother in The Manchurian Candidate?
This new production of Blithe Spirit at the legendary Shubert Theater is a winner all the way around with Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersol and Jayne Atkinson in the other starring roles. The show is finely paced and loaded with laughs.
But I must warn you: This is a classic comedy that's true to the original. It hasn't been "speeded up." So there are no dramatic scene changes, no special effects and lots of old-fashioned elements.
Which is just another way of saying, sit back, relax and take your time to enjoy - indeed, to savor, the wit of Noel Coward, the seductiveness of Christine Ebersol, the mischievous sophistication of Rupert Everett and the triple-threat luminescence of Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit.
Hurry - Broadway magic awaits!
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