I was there that night! I was part of the chorus. Elaine and Josh Groban were right next to me off on the wing before our curtain call. Elaine looked over at me and said, "it's so nice to see young people here tonight and not out in the street smoking pot!" lol I'll never forget that. We miss you Elaine!
Fabulous woman and incredible star. I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Stritch on Broadway in “Riverboat.” She received a ten minute standing ovation just by walking on stage! I’ll never forget that day! (Just as cool as when I saw Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway in “Hello Dolly!”) What a great performance. Elaine Stritch is perfection of pure talent. Genius is the only word for her.....
This is the definitive performance of this song. Ms. Stritch is a legend! There is no one, I repeat, no one can pull this song off as well as she does. You feel the pain, the excitement, the nerves, the wanting it so bad, and everything else about what it's like to be an aspiring and struggling actor in theatre in NYC. She is just incredible!
Noone sung this song like ELAINE I saw her show AT LIBERTY at OLD VIC LONDON many years ago... MAGICAL! RIP X ( LADIES WHO LUNCH FROM COMPANY ALSO THE DEFINITIVE VERSION)
I love that Ms. Stritch didn't merely learn the song and parrot it back. This performance is so different from her appearance in the 1985 Follies concert. A good performer stays honest and fresh, and she certainly has done that. What a pro.
Thanks so much for this. I saw Elaine when she was over in London performing at the Old Vic. Absolutley one of the best theatre evenings of my life, and now I see AT LIBERTY is on DVD. Fantastic. This video is a gem. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Ms Stritch is one of a kind.
i was also there and was actually backstage at intermission and after the show, and it was one of the greatest moments in my life, not just to see the stars but to see elaine stritch walk around proudly in her underwear!
OMG! How have I never seen this? I saw her sing "Ladies Who Lunch" when I was maybe 15 at my very first Sondheim show. Little did I know how much joy and excitement and gratitude and appreciation this wonderful wonderful woman would make me feel throughout my life. They're looking for a woman to honor and put on the currency? Search is over - this one right here!
Did you see her solo show At Liberty? She did this one in that show too. Saw it on Broadway and then when she toured it to Toronto. So amazing and i fellt so lucky to see a Broadway legend do some if the songs associated with her.
Thank you SO much for this posting. It's not the music of my generation really, but in the last years I've been taught by a certain Mr. Andreas in Norway and also inspired by a certain American satirist. This is a brilliant performance, and Sondheim is the greatest!
OMG! i saw rita moreno perform this when they did follies at the oakland paramount theatre. one of my dance mentors was dancing and my teacher, Ronn Guidi, coreographed the piece.
She's a legend so she can do anything. I think we all agree a bunch of artists don't all improve with age, but we love them cause they're legends. Plus. she's funny.
I'm generally a total snob when it comes to singing but Elaine Stritch puts so much into her performance that she could get every note wrong and I would still love every second of it. Fabulous performance. : )
OH---MY---GOD ! WHAT A PERFORMANCE !!! she is totally amazing . She makes me laugh so hard ... and talent like this makes me cry ... so you can imagine !?! lol I m just crazy about this lady ! (Will this night ever be on DVD ?) . "STRITCHYYYYY ... YOU ARE FAAAANTASTIC AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU !"
Watching and listening to Elaine do this number reminds me of the original 'Hattie Walker' role character created by Ethel Shutta, in the premier run of "Follies", back in 1971. Coincidentally, Ethel was actually once a 'Follies Girl', back in the day. That is why Sondheim chose her for the role, a true 'Broadway Baby"!
@JTropp92 Truth be told, I preferred Elaine's Armfeldt to Lansbury's. I love them both. I just thought that Elaine understood the character in a much deeper way.
Ohhhhhh. I so miss you..knowing that there will be no more ribald and succinct remarks. When they made you - they broke the mould…Damn it - there was and will never be again such a feisty wonderful old broad. And I say that with love and respect. You will always be in my heart. And if you are reading this I guess you are saying - eff off. BUT i meant it
She makes this HER song. The definitive rendition of all ever done This is not a strip tease,as a sex kitten from Ozone Park in Queens ,New York does it, but a lament, a desperate desire to somehow succeed in show business, as Sondheim meant it to be presented! I've seen a dozen different versions done of this song over the past thirty years and, when it comes to Elaine Strich singing it,as Carly Simon would say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Nobody does it Better"
This was written for an original follies girl, who was well into her 70's at the time. So it wasn't meant for a twenties something, but rather for a world weary woman like Elaine plays it here. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it bad, just means you don't appreciate it. No fault there. We can't all like all the great artists, doesn't make them any less great. BTW, they say it was a show stopper even in rehersals everybody would stop and come watch her perform.
She has an endless repetoir (sp) a list of shows and things she's been in. You should see her one woman show, she talks of how Marlon Brando tried to get her back to his room, he didn't succeed with what he'd hoped. She was quite a beauty once, too.
Another coincidence ... when Ethel Shutta first sang "Broadway Baby" in the original company of "Follies", she was in her mid-to-late seventies, almost as old as the present Miss Stritch.
6funswede, do nyou live in Norway? Or are you even Norwegian? You see; I'm also a huge Sondheim fan (he is the greatest of all time) and it's so fun to meet someone who thinks that too, specially in Norway, 'cause I'm Norwegian myself, and I think there are way too many who don't know who Sondheim is....
Of course she couldn’t actually sing a note - but My God, she could put across a number like no one else! Stritch was in Woody Allen’s, “September,” and it’s a shame it bombed - she was by far the best thing in the picture, just walked away with it.
GOD BLESS THIS OLD BROAD! What an entertainer! Year after Year Always a brilliant performance from being a nurse in A Farwell To Arms and SAIL AWAY Early in her career to these many years of giving us moments of enjoyable entertainment! SHE REALLY IS A "BROADWAY BABY"!
god do i love her. And about her supposedly shouting notes...shes singing in character. Its supposed to be funny because a woman of her age and distinction is singing a song about a young, unexperienced thing making her way in the business.
It's not vocally that she's better. It's her passion, her making you feel the sheer desire to be SOMEBODY on Broadway! She builds to desperation, a joyous desperation and somehow you're left knowing for sure she will make it indeed.
@mclaire12 That was nasty-its not about Stritchy. i happen to be a lieder singer with a perfect soprano voice and an impeccable technique and i worked for it. You are rude and out of place and need a lesson in courtesy. Dont contact me again .
The original lyrics said, "HELL, I'd even play a maid." Why do so many of these later renditions wimp out and say HECK, instead. It's so childishly prudish.
I happen to LOVE theatre and most broadway shows and songs. I am currently in a SONDHEIM cabaret group, and this is one of the songs in it. The girl who sings this song in my group is AMAZING, all this video did for me was destroy this amazing song. And as for cartoon clips, well yes. I would actually like to watch those more than this travesty. But I would also like to see someone perform this song without butchering it for cheap laughs.
Well you're terrible comment was sixteen years ago so you're probably dead by now anyway but you have no idea what performing is about who don't think Elaine stritch is magnificent. Whoever you are you are clueless but it's 16 years ago so who cares why did I even bother to write this just want to get it off my chest nobody'll ever say it anyway
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I was there that night! I was part of the chorus. Elaine and Josh Groban were right next to me off on the wing before our curtain call. Elaine looked over at me and said, "it's so nice to see young people here tonight and not out in the street smoking pot!" lol I'll never forget that. We miss you Elaine!
Aren't you lucky. She was one hell of a broad!
the definition of being IN THE MOMENT
no wonder she constantly has every audience in the palm of her hand
I had the great pleasure of being in the audience that night. What an amazing show!
Fabulous woman and incredible star. I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Stritch on Broadway in “Riverboat.” She received a ten minute standing ovation just by walking on stage! I’ll never forget that day! (Just as cool as when I saw Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway in “Hello Dolly!”) What a great performance. Elaine Stritch is perfection of pure talent. Genius is the only word for her.....
Elaine Stritch--the ultimate Broad... way Baby!
What a perfect performance!
This is the definitive performance of this song. Ms. Stritch is a legend! There is no one, I repeat, no one can pull this song off as well as she does. You feel the pain, the excitement, the nerves, the wanting it so bad, and everything else about what it's like to be an aspiring and struggling actor in theatre in NYC. She is just incredible!
Noone sung this song like ELAINE I saw her show AT LIBERTY at OLD VIC LONDON many years ago... MAGICAL! RIP X ( LADIES WHO LUNCH FROM COMPANY ALSO THE DEFINITIVE VERSION)
This show's you how a legend does it.
I love that Ms. Stritch didn't merely learn the song and parrot it back. This performance is so different from her appearance in the 1985 Follies concert. A good performer stays honest and fresh, and she certainly has done that. What a pro.
SO excited to be seeing this crazy dame in "A Little Night Music" in three weeks!
Broadway royalty, God bless you Elaine your one of the last of the legends still with us.
Too good! Almost peed my pants she is so funny. I just love the way she does this song.
Thanks so much for this. I saw Elaine when she was over in London performing at the Old Vic. Absolutley one of the best theatre evenings of my life, and now I see AT LIBERTY is on DVD. Fantastic. This video is a gem. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Ms Stritch is one of a kind.
Wonderful!!! She still knocks em dead!
i was also there and was actually backstage at intermission and after the show, and it was one of the greatest moments in my life, not just to see the stars but to see elaine stritch walk around proudly in her underwear!
I wish I could have seen this performance...I just love her performance...what a wonderful treat this is
OMG! How have I never seen this? I saw her sing "Ladies Who Lunch" when I was maybe 15 at my very first Sondheim show. Little did I know how much joy and excitement and gratitude and appreciation this wonderful wonderful woman would make me feel throughout my life.
They're looking for a woman to honor and put on the currency? Search is over - this one right here!
Did you see her solo show At Liberty? She did this one in that show too. Saw it on Broadway and then when she toured it to Toronto. So amazing and i fellt so lucky to see a Broadway legend do some if the songs associated with her.
Thank you SO much for this posting. It's not the music of my generation really, but in the last years I've been taught by a certain Mr. Andreas in Norway and also inspired by a certain American satirist. This is a brilliant performance, and Sondheim is the greatest!
And she was almost 80 when she did this?? AMAZING!!!LOVE this broad!! Something burlesque in the way she does this
Beautiful, just.... BEAUTIFUL!
OMG! i saw rita moreno perform this when they did follies at the oakland paramount theatre. one of my dance mentors was dancing and my teacher, Ronn Guidi, coreographed the piece.
Wow! Now this is CLASS.
talk about stage presence!! i have loooved elaine for a long time...post more! :-)
She is simply wonderful. What a great lady. Only one to this day that can reignite my Broadway dreams.
She's a legend so she can do anything. I think we all agree a bunch of artists don't all improve with age, but we love them cause they're legends. Plus. she's funny.
I'm generally a total snob when it comes to singing but Elaine Stritch puts so much into her performance that she could get every note wrong and I would still love every second of it. Fabulous performance. : )
Thank-you to whom ever posted this! Genius!!
Seff gjør vi det! Mannen er et geni!
07/17/14: R.I.P. Elaine Stritch :'(
Hello buddy how are you long time
OH---MY---GOD ! WHAT A PERFORMANCE !!! she is totally amazing . She makes me laugh so hard ... and talent like this makes me cry ... so you can imagine !?! lol I m just crazy about this lady ! (Will this night ever be on DVD ?) . "STRITCHYYYYY ... YOU ARE FAAAANTASTIC AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU !"
Watching and listening to Elaine do this number reminds me of the original 'Hattie Walker' role character created by Ethel Shutta, in the premier run of "Follies", back in 1971. Coincidentally, Ethel was actually once a 'Follies Girl', back in the day. That is why Sondheim chose her for the role, a true 'Broadway Baby"!
All I can say is this gal's got HEART!!! What a joy!!
If I stick it long enough...Go Elaine!
I love this 'bluesy, burlesque' slower version of Broadway Baby.
The. Best. Period.
She is a great one of a kind performer
@JTropp92
Truth be told, I preferred Elaine's Armfeldt to Lansbury's. I love them both. I just thought that Elaine understood the character in a much deeper way.
Oh my God she is amazing!!!!!
Elaine Stritch is Elaine Stritch.
She's a living legend.
She played it in the Concert Version they did, I think in the eighties...
Ohhhhhh. I so miss you..knowing that there will be no more ribald and succinct remarks. When they made you - they broke the mould…Damn it - there was and will never be again such a feisty wonderful old broad. And I say that with love and respect. You will always be in my heart. And if you are reading this I guess you are saying - eff off. BUT i meant it
Thanks for the info, Orvgg
At 80 she can still belt out a number better than most half her age.
What a broad!
She's the greatest!
BRILLIANT!
She makes this HER song.
The definitive rendition of all ever done This is not a strip tease,as a sex kitten from Ozone Park in Queens ,New York does it, but a lament, a desperate desire to somehow succeed in show business, as Sondheim meant it to be presented!
I've seen a dozen different versions done of this song over the past thirty years and, when it comes to Elaine Strich singing it,as Carly Simon would say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Nobody does it Better"
[Huge thunderous ovation]
Stritch: Here, watch me earn that...again....and again....and again.
This was written for an original follies girl, who was well into her 70's at the time. So it wasn't meant for a twenties something, but rather for a world weary woman like Elaine plays it here. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it bad, just means you don't appreciate it. No fault there. We can't all like all the great artists, doesn't make them any less great.
BTW, they say it was a show stopper even in rehersals everybody would stop and come watch her perform.
Anyone who thinks that this is not brilliant can't possibly have a theatrical bone in their body. Ms Stritch IS Broadway. Bravo!!
Yup, that's right, I'm a Norwegian. I don't know about the (very) young Norwegians, but a lot of people in Norway know about Sondheim's music :-)
Someone told me they spend an hour with her recently, and when she's not "on," the "tough" stuff disappears and she's gracious and pleasant.
Sing it Elaine!!!
Respect....
Ethel Shutta, the original cast member for this song, gave an incredible performance. she was that character
She has an endless repetoir (sp) a list of shows and things she's been in. You should see her one woman show, she talks of how Marlon Brando tried to get her back to his room, he didn't succeed with what he'd hoped. She was quite a beauty once, too.
Awesome as always. Question though: If she did this Song, then who did Ladies Who Lunch ???
Another coincidence ... when Ethel Shutta first sang "Broadway Baby" in the original company of "Follies", she was in her mid-to-late seventies, almost as old as the present Miss Stritch.
No, Ethel Shutta played Hattie in the original production in 1971. Stritch played a leading role in Sondheim's Company, though.
Her best song is Ladies who Lunch from Company
the ultimate badass broad.
there isnt anyone who can match her in this genre
mclaire12
Ethel Shutta did sing this song in the original production.
6funswede, do nyou live in Norway? Or are you even Norwegian? You see; I'm also a huge Sondheim fan (he is the greatest of all time) and it's so fun to meet someone who thinks that too, specially in Norway, 'cause I'm Norwegian myself, and I think there are way too many who don't know who Sondheim is....
Of course she couldn’t actually sing a note - but My God, she could put across a number like no one else! Stritch was in Woody Allen’s, “September,” and it’s a shame it bombed - she was by far the best thing in the picture, just walked away with it.
GOD BLESS THIS OLD BROAD!
What an entertainer! Year after Year Always a brilliant performance from being a nurse in A Farwell To Arms and SAIL AWAY Early in her career to these many years of giving us moments of enjoyable entertainment!
SHE REALLY IS A "BROADWAY BABY"!
KIN🕊G🕊S🕊HIP
So tell me, which “Weisman”?
I can think of (at least) three -
Broadway has its Magi,
I’d wire for one, happily.
@JTropp92
Why would you be worried about that?
god do i love her.
And about her supposedly shouting notes...shes singing in character. Its supposed to be funny because a woman of her age and distinction is singing a song about a young, unexperienced thing making her way in the business.
she's been sober since 1987
Did she originate this role?
LOL imagine her and Merman doing this as a duet?
They just don't make them quite like her anymore. I hope I have that much spunk at her age.
Don't forget Carol Channing.
?? What happened to the tempo on this number?
She nailed it better in Follies in Concert. But Stritchophiles rejoice ;)
I don't think she ever played this role, at least on Broadway.
Actually, Elaine never really stopped drinking. At her Carlyle show, she was really knocking the back the cocktails.
check out my rendition - 'baby this time' and lemme know what u think!! :D
Better than Bernadette Peters...by leaps!!!
It's not vocally that she's better. It's her passion, her making you feel the sheer desire to be SOMEBODY on Broadway! She builds to desperation, a joyous desperation and somehow you're left knowing for sure she will make it indeed.
Wasn't this her first sober performance and she was terrified?!!
horrible sound....her mic went out.
@mclaire12 That was nasty-its not about Stritchy. i happen to be a lieder singer with a perfect soprano voice and an impeccable technique and i worked for it. You are rude and out of place and need a lesson in courtesy. Dont contact me again .
The original lyrics said, "HELL, I'd even play a maid." Why do so many of these later renditions wimp out and say HECK, instead. It's so childishly prudish.
She knocks it out if the park, and that's what you're worried about?
She looks overawed....
Horrible playing from the orchestra
I happen to LOVE theatre and most broadway shows and songs. I am currently in a SONDHEIM cabaret group, and this is one of the songs in it. The girl who sings this song in my group is AMAZING, all this video did for me was destroy this amazing song.
And as for cartoon clips, well yes. I would actually like to watch those more than this travesty. But I would also like to see someone perform this song without butchering it for cheap laughs.
DMoogle, I hope that 9 years later have brought you to a new vision about performing.
Well you're terrible comment was sixteen years ago so you're probably dead by now anyway but you have no idea what performing is about who don't think Elaine stritch is magnificent. Whoever you are you are clueless but it's 16 years ago so who cares why did I even bother to write this just want to get it off my chest nobody'll ever say it anyway