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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 briefAngela 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?