| re: Speaking of 'Tovarich' ... | |
| Posted by: FleetStreetBarber 12:24 pm EST 01/27/25 | |
| In reply to: Speaking of 'Tovarich' ... - WaymanWong 02:24 am EST 01/25/25 | |
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| I saw "Tovarich" from loge seat D113 at the Saturday matinee of February 9, 1963 at Philadelphia's Erlanger Theatre. My ticket cost a whopping $5.75. Miss Leigh was indeed a true star and you couldn't take your eyes off of her when she was on stage. I loved the lavish sets, the Russian-inflected orchestrations and the zany supporting cast, which included Margery Gray (who later became Mrs. Sheldon Harnick) and George S. Irving). But apparently the show did have growing pains on its way to Broadway. Taina Elg was replaced by Louise Troy and John Emery was replaced by Alexander Scourby, along with director Delbert Mann who was replaced by Peter Glenville. The musical reportedly cost $500,000 to bring to NYC which was at the high end of capitalization in those days. Miss Leigh's breakdown and departure from the show was a critical blow. Most of the publicity and press had focused on her and the NY souvenir book's back page of the critics' summaries almost invariably began with praise for the leading lady. Miss Leigh died four years later of TB, but over time it was revealed that she had suffered for decades from manic depression, long before the term "bi-polar" was common and at a time when the only treatment was electro-shock therapy. Leigh returned to Broadway once more in John Gielgud's production of "Ivanov" and was in rehearsals in London for "A Delicate Balance" when she passed away in 1967. | |
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