God bless her!
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FranLovesBetteD — 21 years ago(November 30, 2004 01:38 PM)
Totally agree. She was GREAT in both movies you mentioned. Does she really was a cabaret singer? I really didn't hear about it.
Thank you, Crisso, for your reply to my thread about the beloved Geraldine
Fran.-
How do you do, Miss West?
How do you do WHAT? -
churei — 20 years ago(December 28, 2005 10:22 AM)
My wonderfda0ul friend Geraldine Fitzgerald always wanted to sing, but she had no idea of its direction. When she joined us in the founding of the Everyman Company of Brooklyn, the groundbreaking street theater unit that was born in Coney Island, she worked on every phase of the production with the late Brother Jonathan Ringkampf Jr., and with such gifted pros as choreographers Elizabeth Kean and Rudy Benda and, importantly, vocal instructor Andy Anselmo. The cast of the street unit, however, was basically amateur, save for the very gifted Michael Darden (who had been in the stage and film versions of 'The Miracle Worker'). When the show powered up for a sadly brief off-Broadway run at the Ethical Culture Bldg. on Central Park West, Geraldine really gained the first experience of singing on a stage (she had taken on the role of a street fortune teller). Then, with Anselmo's assistance, she worked diligently on plans for a cabaret show that would focus on the kinds of songs and stories that had come out of the shelters in which Londoners had gathered during the Blitz of that great city. She brought her great skills to this cabaret venture and used her voice with great theatrical expression and with unusual and wondrous characterizations of the people in the shelter. Subsequently, she performed this show in many venues including clubs and off-Broadway. She also did segments, if not the whole thing, at fund-raisers and other events. She was priceless magnificent to work with, a joy to be around. and so very happy in this musical part of her career. I hadn't thought I would love her even more as time went along, but the cabaret show and her reactions to the reception were so warm and winning, that the love I felt for her deepened. I do miss her so. She had even semi-agreed to let me write her biography, and encouraged me in my theatrical work as writer-producer and, she had implied, a desire to see me act on the stage again. What an inspiring woman to all who knew her and one with a sense of humor that I find rare in performers of such stature. She was a GREAT LADY!!
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FranLovesBetteD — 21 years ago(August 26, 2004 03:08 PM)
Totally agree. I think she was a great lady -and a great actress. She also looked as a very nice woman.
I know she was one of the best Miss Davis' friends during '30s and '40s, and you must take in account that she was QUITE selective about the friendship issue.
Again, GOD BLESS GERALDINE FITZGERALD!
Come and meet those dancing feeeeeet,
On the avenue I'm taking you to,
Forty-Second Street