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Matthew Bourne: why I love Angela Lansbury | Matthew Bourne: why I love Angela Lansbury |
(about 2 hours later) | |
When I was 13, my mum took me to see Angela Lansbury in Gypsy. It was 1973, and all I could think about was that I was going to see the woman from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I took along my souvenir brochure from the film for her to sign and hung around the stage door before the show. I remember Angela signing it and saying: “Oh, this show is very different to that film. I hope you enjoy it.” It was an indication of her versatility, even then. | When I was 13, my mum took me to see Angela Lansbury in Gypsy. It was 1973, and all I could think about was that I was going to see the woman from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I took along my souvenir brochure from the film for her to sign and hung around the stage door before the show. I remember Angela signing it and saying: “Oh, this show is very different to that film. I hope you enjoy it.” It was an indication of her versatility, even then. |
Her performance changed my life. She was incredible as Mama Rose: strong, almost frightening. She made her entrance from the back of the stalls. I have this vivid memory of sitting there, watching her, just a few feet away. It was a lesson in the fact that musicals needn’t just be fun, fun, fun. Sometimes there can be something deeper. This, I realised, was the world I wanted to work in. | Her performance changed my life. She was incredible as Mama Rose: strong, almost frightening. She made her entrance from the back of the stalls. I have this vivid memory of sitting there, watching her, just a few feet away. It was a lesson in the fact that musicals needn’t just be fun, fun, fun. Sometimes there can be something deeper. This, I realised, was the world I wanted to work in. |
The word “reinvention” is used a lot today, about the Madonnas, Chers and Lady Gagas of this world, but usually it just means dressing differently. Angela, however, is a woman who has properly reinvented herself several times. She began in the movies: at 18, she starred in 1944’s Gaslight and was nominated for an Oscar. She plays a maid whose mistress, Ingrid Bergman, is convinced her husband is trying to drive her crazy. Angela manages to imply that her character is colluding in this, even though she isn’t – it’s all in Bergman’s head, and suggested by Angela’s performance. Straight away, you can see that this is someone with enormous talent, not just a pretty girl who got the part because she looks great. | The word “reinvention” is used a lot today, about the Madonnas, Chers and Lady Gagas of this world, but usually it just means dressing differently. Angela, however, is a woman who has properly reinvented herself several times. She began in the movies: at 18, she starred in 1944’s Gaslight and was nominated for an Oscar. She plays a maid whose mistress, Ingrid Bergman, is convinced her husband is trying to drive her crazy. Angela manages to imply that her character is colluding in this, even though she isn’t – it’s all in Bergman’s head, and suggested by Angela’s performance. Straight away, you can see that this is someone with enormous talent, not just a pretty girl who got the part because she looks great. |
In The Picture of Dorian Gray a year later, she looks absolutely beautiful and gets another Oscar nomination. After that, they don’t know what to do with her: she does MGM musicals, bits and pieces, costume drama. Eventually, she tries the stage and becomes this enormous star. She finds she can sing and dance – and becomes probably the most revered performer in musicals. | In The Picture of Dorian Gray a year later, she looks absolutely beautiful and gets another Oscar nomination. After that, they don’t know what to do with her: she does MGM musicals, bits and pieces, costume drama. Eventually, she tries the stage and becomes this enormous star. She finds she can sing and dance – and becomes probably the most revered performer in musicals. |
Today, Angela’s best known for her TV career, for Murder, She Wrote, but that kind of passed me by. It’s not her pinnacle. I love the fact that, at 89, she’s still so energetic and forward-looking. She’s just finished Blithe Spirit in London’s West End and didn’t miss a single performance. Now she’s planning an American tour and thinking about her next show. Working on the stage is tough, and she’s the real thing. That’s the joy of it: the total commitment of someone who refuses to grow old. | Today, Angela’s best known for her TV career, for Murder, She Wrote, but that kind of passed me by. It’s not her pinnacle. I love the fact that, at 89, she’s still so energetic and forward-looking. She’s just finished Blithe Spirit in London’s West End and didn’t miss a single performance. Now she’s planning an American tour and thinking about her next show. Working on the stage is tough, and she’s the real thing. That’s the joy of it: the total commitment of someone who refuses to grow old. |
I’ve met her a couple of times. The first time was at the Olivier awards a few years ago. She’d read an interview in which I’d mentioned her and put it in a frame at home. Apparently, the first thing she said when she got off the plane on her way to the awards was: “Will Matthew Bourne be there?” I was and we met, which was a thrill, and then she came to the New York opening of my version of Sleeping Beauty. | I’ve met her a couple of times. The first time was at the Olivier awards a few years ago. She’d read an interview in which I’d mentioned her and put it in a frame at home. Apparently, the first thing she said when she got off the plane on her way to the awards was: “Will Matthew Bourne be there?” I was and we met, which was a thrill, and then she came to the New York opening of my version of Sleeping Beauty. |
Has she influenced my work? Her spirit has. She gives a lot on stage: I can’t imagine she would ever phone in a performance, or give a weak matinee turn, and I’ve seen many big stars do that. You get very disappointed when they don’t live up to their reputations. But Angela never seems to disappoint. | Has she influenced my work? Her spirit has. She gives a lot on stage: I can’t imagine she would ever phone in a performance, or give a weak matinee turn, and I’ve seen many big stars do that. You get very disappointed when they don’t live up to their reputations. But Angela never seems to disappoint. |
• Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands is at Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, from 2 December to 11 January 2015. Box office: 0844 412 4300. | • Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands is at Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, from 2 December to 11 January 2015. Box office: 0844 412 4300. |
Angela Lansbury in brief | Angela Lansbury in brief |
Born: London, 1925. | Born: London, 1925. |
Way in: Gaslight for a creepy, assured performance that holds its own alongside Ingrid Bergman; Bedknobs and Broomsticks for her chirpy Disney era; Murder She Wrote on TV; and she’ll be touring the US in December as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. | Way in: Gaslight for a creepy, assured performance that holds its own alongside Ingrid Bergman; Bedknobs and Broomsticks for her chirpy Disney era; Murder She Wrote on TV; and she’ll be touring the US in December as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. |
Key work: All of the above – plus her Australian stint in Driving Miss Daisy, alongside James Earl Jones. | Key work: All of the above – plus her Australian stint in Driving Miss Daisy, alongside James Earl Jones. |
In three words: “Vigour, versatility, class.” | In three words: “Vigour, versatility, class.” |
Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones: how we made Driving Miss Daisy | |
Quiz: Noël Coward or Murder, She Wrote? |
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