Lane Bradbury
Let Me Entertain You Again
Mary D. Fisher Theater, Sedona, AZ, June 5, 2022
Reviewed by Shannon Hunt
It’s been more than six decades since Lane Bradbury originated the role of Dainty June in Gypsy, but given her buoyant energy she doesn’t seem to have aged a day. Her latest offering, Let Me Entertain You Again at the Mary D. Fisher Theater, recaptures the spirit and exuberance of her 1959 Broadway run, taking the audience for a musical spin down memory lane. At 84, the legendary performer has twice the sparkle and stamina of many of those half her age.
In her recently retooled show performed among the red rocks of Sedona, the lively octogenarian opened with two Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim songs from the iconic musical that started it all. The crowd sat spellbound as she gracefully danced, twirled, and pirouetted her way onto the stage (in heels, no less!) while performing “Let Me Entertain You.” (She credits her ballet background for preserving her youthful vitality, and she still attends dance class in New York regularly.) Then she was joined on the stage by an up-and-coming local high school student Erin Schumacher for a duet on “If Mama Got Married” that was clever, comical, and just plain fun. As the young June and Louise, the vibrant veteran and talented newcomer performed so well together that the almost 70-year age gap between the “sisters” instantly disappeared within the first few notes. Schumacher is poised for a successful future career ahead of her, and their playful, upbeat number was one of the highlights of the night.
The show was part cabaret, part Q & A, with interview questions posed by host and show producer Stephen Hanks in a similar format similar to that of Inside the Actor’s Studio. This was fitting, since Bradbury had been the youngest person ever accepted into the famed Actor’s Studio back when she was a starry-eyed teenager fresh from the suburbs of Atlanta. It was while studying under the famous Lee Strasburg that she soon found herself cast in her first Broadway show, J.B., directed by Elia Kazan (and she shared a story about him that made more than one audience member’s jaw drop). She auditioned and was turned down for Gypsy, but she was suddenly hired as a last-minute replacement just days before previews began, giving her a mere 72 hours to frantically learn all the blocking and choreography and even how to twirl a baton. Some people on set were kind and helpful to her; others—Ethel Merman and Jerome Robbins—were definitely not. (Bradbury dishes on them both, but for the stories, you’ll need to see the show!)
After taking on some additional theater roles, including one in the original production of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana with Bette Davis (who did not, she recalls, warmly welcome her younger co-star), the animated actress found success in Hollywood. She has now more than 70 shows to her credit, from the TV classics like Gunsmoke, The Waltons, and Kung Fu to Showtime’s Billions, and the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which she played Harvey Keitel’s abused and long-suffering wife.
While Hanks and Bradbury continued their breezy banter, the screen above them displayed photos and film and TV clips showcasing her extensive career. The audience chuckled as they watched a young, unimpressed Bradbury shutting down a lovesick David Cassidy on The Partridge Family. “I didn’t really have to act, because I never found him that interesting,” she recalls. That was followed by a gut-wrenching clip from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which Keitel busts through a door and attacks her, a scene that rattled the entire audience as well as Bradbury herself. “I hadn’t seen that movie in years. I’m surprised how it affected me to relive that,” she said, visibly shaken. “I remember that Harvey was such a nice, lovely person. But when we started shooting it, I was really terrified, I didn’t even have to act. We got that in one take, thank goodness. I don’t think I could have done it again.”
The final part of the program focused on her recent foray into cabaret. The sprightly singer sang selections from Mon Histoire en Chansons Françaises (My Story in French Songs), a show she originally performed at Pangea in New York City’s East Village. You could see how much fun she was having belting “Les Champs-élysées” (Pierre Delanoe/Mike Wilsh/Mike Deighan), a bubbly, bouncy number delivered entirely in French (her dream, she says, is to be a chanteuse in a Parisian nightclub). Bradbury is also a writer (in addition to her other talents) and she treated the crowd to a charming, catchy song she composed herself, “Sweetwalkin’ Dream,” from a musical she hopes to get produced eventually.
She closed out the 90-minute show with “I’m Grateful,” a song that was written specifically for her by Michael Roberts, her music director and accompanist. This autobiographical ballad recounted her life’s pivotal moments, from growing up as a Southern belle in Georgia, to her stage and screen career, to her later role as mother to two daughters, and now as a grandmother. It wasn’t just the lyrics that were custom-made for her; the personalized tune was tailored especially for her voice, accentuating its best aspects and allowing her to truly shine. When the song ended and the lights dimmed, the crowd enthusiastically jumped to its feet to give the leading lady a rousing standing ovation; it was obvious that they were grateful to have spent the evening with her.
