If one had placed money on Elaine Stritch performing, as Eubie Blake had done, well into her 90s, it wouldn’t have been considered a sucker bet. At 87, Stritch performed a one-woman show and, despite complications due to diabetes, she looked and sounded as strong as ever. Preparations for the show, “At Home at the Carlyle: Elaine Stritch Singin’ Sondheim…One Song at a Time,” were documented in 2014’s excellent film “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me.” True to the character of its subject, this documentary presented a warts-and-all portrayal of a woman celebrating her 70th year in show business.
Watching her in powerful action at the Carlyle Hotel, where she once famously resided, one couldn’t be faulted for thinking the Michigan native might defy the odds and live forever. Alas, as any Broadway baby knows, every show, no matter how great, eventually closes. On life’s grand stage, Elaine Stritch took her final bow today. She was 89.
Stritch was considered the premiere interpreter of Stephen Sondheim, who in 1970 wrote her signature song, “The Ladies Who Lunch” for the show “Company.” The song was a cynical yet triumphant bit of truth-telling, a perfect fit for Stritch’s acerbic, …read more
