when movie legends sing and dance - on stage!

When movie  actresses reach a certain age and are no longer in demand for lead roles, some of them give in and accept supporting (read: old lady) parts, while a precious few take singing lessons and put on tap shoes.

Lauren Bacall, at 46,  famously revived her career back in 1970 - on March 30, to be specific - when she took over New York's  Palace Theatre in a new musical based on the 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz  "All About Eve."

Besides the pedigree of the Oscar-winning movie that inspired it, "Applause" came with A-list participants: Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the show's libretto, and the lyrics and music were by Lee Adams and  Charles Strouse, respectively (of "Bye Bye Birdie" fame).

The show, which cast Bacall in the Bette Davis role and paired her with Len Cariou, ran for  900 performances (including four previews), closing on May 27, 1972 - but not before winning Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Actress for Bacall.

Ron Field both directed and choreographed the production.

But Bacall's singing-dancing debut is not exactly news, largely because of the success of "Applause" (which also spawned a TV version.)

Other movie legends tried following suit but with less memorable results. For starters, there's Katharine Hepburn. That's right. Katharine Hepburn, age 62.

An icon herself, she starred as the iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel in the simply titled "Coco" (sans the usual exclamation point), written by Alan Jay Lerner, who teamed with André Previn on the show's score.

The sets and costumes were designed by no less than Cecil Beaton. Michael Benthall directed and Michael Bennett did the choreography. The producer: Frederick Brisson (aka, Mr. Rosalind Russell). Only the best for Hepburn, whose co-stars included George Rose, Jeanne Arnold and Rene Auberjonois, who won a Tony as best featured actor in a musical.

"Coco" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on December 18, 1969 and ran for 329 performances.

Next we have the one and only Bette Davis, who almost came to Broadway when she was 66 in a musical based on one of her favorite films (but one for which she was not nominated for an Oscar) - "The Corn Is Green," directed in 1945 by Irving Rapper. And, yes, I did say "almost."

Titled "Miss Moffat" in its new song-and-dance incarnation, the show opened October 7, 1974 at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia - and, alas, closed there on October 17, cancelling its schedule Broadway opening. (I was working in Philadelphia at the time but the show closed before I got to see it. A missed opportunity.)

Again, a legend has first-class back-up. Joshua Logan directed "Miss Moffat" and wrote the show's book with Emlyn Williams (who wrote the stage play from which the '45 film was adapted). Williams also wrote the lyrics for the music composed by Albert Hague.

Davis' fellow cast members included Dody Goodman, Nell Carter, Anne Francine, Dorian Harewood, Avon Long, Marion Ramsey and David Sabin. Donald Saddler is the choreographer who tried to teach Davis a few fancy steps. Which I would have loved to see.

Next up, Blanche DuBois herself - Vivien Leigh, who won a Tony for her performance in a 1963 musical based on Anatole Litvak's 1937 film, "Tovarich," which starred Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer (and which, in turn, was based on a 1935 French play). She was 50.

Jean-Pierre Aumont co-starred opposite Leigh in the Boyer role, with George S. Irving, Louise Troy, Alexander Scourby and Louise Kirtland in support.

The musical, also titled "Tovarich,"was directed by the estimable Peter Glenville, with the choreographic duties going to Herbert Ross. David Shaw wrote the book and Lee Pockriss and Anne Croswell penned the music and lyrics.

"Tovarich" ran for only 264 performance but had three homes on Broadway, It opened at the Broadway Theatre on March 18, 1963 and tranferred to the Majestic Theatre and then Winter Garden Theatre.

Unlike Hepburn and Davis, Leigh got to record a cast album, so her singing voice has been safely preserved.

Last but certainly not least, Melina Mercouri, age 47, elected to do what Davis did - recreate a film role in a new musical. "Illya Darling" was based on the popular 1960 Greek film "Never on Sunday" ("Pote tin Kyriaki") that Mercouri made with her husband Jules Dassin and for which she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance as an incorrigible prostitute named Illya.

Dassin wrote the libretto for the musical and also directed the production, which opened April 11, 1967 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and ran for 320 performances. 

Manos Hadjidakis, who wrote the popular theme song for "Never on Sunday," composed the show's score, with lyrics by Joe Darion. (Billy Towne wrote the English lyrics for the title song, "Never on Sunday," recorded by numerous artists, including Andy Williams and Petula Clark.)

The Dassins had a terrific team working with them. Oliver Smith designed the sets, Theoni V. Aldredge was responsible for the costumes and reliable Onna White created the choreography.

Mercouri's co-stars included Orson Bean (playing the role that Dassin himself essayed in the film), Titos Vandis, and Despo (recreating their roles from the film), Rudy Bond  Hal Linden, William Duell, Harold Gray, Joe E. Marks and Nikos Kourkoulos. United Artists, which released the film stateside, was also involved in the production.

 

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