Bea Arthur at the Savoy

Our Review:

16 September 2003

Though in this country she's best known for her seven-year, Emmy Award-winning stint as Dorothy Zbornak in television's The Golden Girls, Bea Arthur in fact has a not inconsiderable theatrical pedigree.

She started out her career understudying Tallulah Bankhead, starred opposite the legendary Lotte Lenya in the 1954 US premiere of Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera, originated the role of Yente the Matchmaker in the original 1964 Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, and won a Tony Award for her performance as Vera Charles opposite Angela Lansbury's Mame in 1966. Until she first did this one-woman show in New York in 2002, the last of those was also the last time she appeared on a Broadway stage for a serious theatrical run.

It's that 37-year absence - as Arthur abandoned the stage for the greater riches and celebrity of television sitcom - that registers as something of a loss not only to the New York theatre, ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (212.158.218.66) - 15 October 2003:

If you saw Elaine Stritch's one woman revue, Bea's comes a poor second. But give the old broad her dues - she's a game bird (80+), feisty and has a good way with a story. It's all pleasantly entertaining but she breaks into song far too often - a mistake given that her voice sounds like she's gargled with gravel and is hardly music to the ears. Shame - but with a tighter script, sharper anecdotes and less obscure songs it could have shown off her talents so much better. ...

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