The Ladies Who Lunch by -Bev-

-Bev- - The Ladies Who Lunch

-Bev-

May 31, 2025 11:25am

<img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXehaG6RkRE5rjtrKI--dDU9guuTvhsIStuUkdVOAxyFucXlkw80i8sE1MT6bB9LHTMuW038LhFUfTEkJL1BOcSCedKj-UHL-9nD_BrsiGZhvkrJ3u9LECJaxl6-HCzRq_ElcBr0?key=GQmRJTie46vG2mMdhQkYtg" height="83" width="473">ROUND THREEFor this round I have chosen the theme CYNICISM This is a duet but really should be a solo I sang both parts This song is from Sondheim's Musical 'Company' The Character singing this song Joanne is very cynical and sarcastic...Right up my alley ...I love playing these sort of characters...and have done in the past...on Stage in an Amateur production....I had fun with this one and simply loved Elaine Stritch....she was perfect for this role We all have cynicism in us and as we age life often does this to us....I know I can be very cynical about things..but try to keep an open mind <img 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iIOKIigEREBERARERIiIgoREQFQiIN0eC5J4ZqR/1L/2C2ZQm7bnfKiLmn8nRX8XKRxzLjdVFeEx05NKvNEVoQ4ze4tFeNGnElM3l7Lm+uY/0iK0KX6a9O6c0RXZSIiKECIikVFEQVERB//Z" alt="Elaine Stritch, Broadway's Enduring Dame, Dies at 89 - The ..."> TriviaElaine Stritch famously starred in the Broadway musical Company, particularly known for her performance of the song "The Ladies Who Lunch". The song, written by Stephen Sondheim, became a signature piece for Stritch, who portrayed the cynical, wealthy character Joanne. Stritch also starred in the original London production of Company, reprising her role from the Broadway cast. Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and comedienne, known for her work on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_theatre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Broadway</a> and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films and television series. Stritch was inducted into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Theater_Hall_of_Fame" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">American Theater Hall of Fame</a> in 1995.Stritch made her Broadway debut in the 1946 comedy Loco and went on to receive four <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tony Award</a> nominations: for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Inge" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">William Inge</a> play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_Stop_(play)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bus Stop</a> (1956); the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No%C3%ABl_Coward" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Noël Coward</a> musical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_Away_(musical)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Sail Away</a> (1962); the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Stephen Sondheim</a> musical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_(musical)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Company</a> (1970), which included her performance of the song "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladies_Who_Lunch_(song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">The Ladies Who Lunch</a>"; and for the revival of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Edward Albee</a> play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Delicate_Balance_(play)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">A Delicate Balance</a> (1996). Her one-woman show <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Stritch_at_Liberty" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Elaine Stritch at Liberty</a> won the 2002 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award_for_Best_Special_Theatrical_Event" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event</a>.Stritch relocated to London in the 1970s and starred in several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_End_theatre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">West End</a> productions, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tennessee Williams</a>' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Craft_Warnings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Small Craft Warnings</a> (1973) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Simon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Neil Simon</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gingerbread_Lady" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">The Gingerbread Lady</a> (1974). She also starred with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sinden" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Donald Sinden</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_(TV_network)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">ITV</a> sitcom <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two%27s_Company_(British_TV_series)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Two's Company</a> (1975–79), which earned her a 1979 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAFTA_TV_Award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">BAFTA TV Award</a> nomination. She won an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Emmy Award</a> in 1993 for her guest role on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_%26_Order" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Law & Order</a> and another for the 2004 television documentary of her one-woman show <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Stritch_at_Liberty" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Elaine Stritch at Liberty</a>. From 2007 to 2012, she had a recurring role as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleen_Donaghy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Colleen Donaghy</a> on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">NBC</a> sitcom <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_Rock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">30 Rock</a>, a role that won her a third Emmy in 2007. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustle_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bustle magazine</a> gives this synopsis: "'The Ladies Who Lunch' is a song that mockingly judges the rich and wealthy women who waste their middle-aged lives doing nothing meaningful, sung by Joanne (Stritch) while out at a nightclub with her third husband Larry and their friend Robert"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">The Guardian</a> described Stritch's performance of the song in the 1972 London production:<blockquote>Then Stritch's Joanne gets her solo, "The Ladies Who Lunch", and it's terrifying. She hits the sustained blasts on the words "Everybody rise [...] rise", the awe-filled summons to toast those ladies, and it's impressive, but it's the calm way Stritch delivers the rest of Sondheim's summary of post-marital female decline, of the long littleness of life, that's a revelation. So far, I've been under the happy illusion that dames are cool because they're rising above their knowledge of the truths that everyone else in the plot keeps ignoring. But I can hear in Stritch's delivery, in the hard burn of her notes, that – no matter how many vodka stingers she downs – her character can't escape failure, boredom and loss. So, I thought, you aren't born a dame; it takes bad experience, not just borne but wrought into humour, to become one. It's an earned honour. There should be a medal.</blockquote>The site compared it to a performance she gave in 2002, writing in this performance "the song is an anthem of forgiveness. Whatever those ladies had been doing was just human, and she's tolerating it, wryly, dryly. The dame has forgiven everybody: she has forgiven herself".