A Broadway Farewell? That's Entertainment (original) (raw)

Theater|A Broadway Farewell? That's Entertainment

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/theater/a-broadway-farewell-that-s-entertainment.html

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Dec. 4, 2002

See the article in its original context from
December 4, 2002

Section A, Page

1Buy Reprints

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.

Lauren Bacall was there, recalling days with ''Adolph and Bogie and I,'' and skipping the stage in an imitation of what she called ''The Adolph Trot.'' Joel Grey worked the whole stage, too, doing his best Gene Kelly to the closing strains of the song ''Singin' in the Rain.'' The Broadway up-and-comer Kristin Chenoweth represented a younger generation, singing the song ''If,'' a number she concluded by comically beating a fellow actor with his own hand.

But this was not your average musical revue. Instead it was a matinee memorial for the lyricist Adolph Green, who died on Oct. 24 at age 87 and who, with his partner, Betty Comden, wrote the lyrics for some of Broadway's most revered musicals, including ''On the Town,'' ''Wonderful Town,'' ''Bells Are Ringing'' and ''Peter Pan.''

The event at the Shubert Theater, home of the long-running musical ''Chicago,'' featured everything one expects from what has become the standard Broadway farewell to one of its own. There were roses and poems and mayoral proclamations. But more than the pomp, the 1,300 people who filled the Shubert yesterday came to watch legendary and newborn stars continue a long Broadway tradition where saying goodbye means a song and dance, not a hail and farewell. They turned out to watch Broadway grieve in its special way, with a brassy show.

''I think Adolph would have loved it because it was everything he was: eccentric and funny and live,'' said Phyllis Newman, Mr. Green's wife. ''I think the only thing he would have hated is that he wasn't able to perform himself.''

But some two dozen performers did, paying tribute in ways probably uncommon in more formal services. There was a roving three-man backup chorus and moments of high lunacy, like Ms. Comden's performance of ''Take Me Out to the Ballgame,'' performed to the tune of the French national anthem, a gag dating back to her and Mr. Green's early cabaret days.

The Broadway memorial falls squarely in the tradition of the Irish wake and the New Orleans-style jazz funeral, where music and laughter mix with emotion and loss. Like those rituals, the tradition dates back quite some time, to private functions from decades ago at Broadway watering holes like Sardi's.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT