鈥淗ey, you want a yogurt?... How about some juice?鈥�
Lauren Bacall鈥攕ultry, sophisticated lady of the screen and stage鈥攊s rifling through the contents of the mini-refrigerator in her dressing room, looking for something to quench her thirst. She settles for a fruit juice and drops her lanky, casually clad self into a brown chaise that crowds the room.
It鈥檚 lunch time but Bacall 鈥� back on Broadway, starring in the musical version of Woman of the Year 鈥� isn鈥檛 interested in food.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 eat lunch,鈥� she says off-handedly, throwing her head back for a deep swig out of her juice bottle. 鈥淚n the theatre you don鈥檛 eat lunch. Ha!鈥� she harrumphs, 鈥渋n the theatre you鈥檙e lucky if you eat.鈥�
Bacall is not complaining. Not by a long shot.
Ten years ago she put her career on the line for the theatre. That鈥檚 when she made a bid for admittance into the tight fraternity of professional stage actors. That鈥檚 when she threw caution to the wind and took center stage in her very first Broadway musical. It was called Applause; it was the musical version of the classic Bette Davis film drama, All About Eve, and there were folks who sat out in the audience, opening night, who really doubted that Bacall would have the stuff in her to make the musical soar.
They were wrong. Bacall鈥檚 career gamble paid off鈥� in spades.
Through Applause, Lauren Bacall won the Best Actress Tony Award and a new career as a legit stage actress and Broadway asset.
鈥淟isten, I know I鈥檓 a goddamn lucky lady,鈥� she says of her second chance career as stage star. 鈥淚 had all those years in Hollywood. And, although I wouldn鈥檛 say I had a stellar career, I had my times out there.鈥�
Indeed, Bacall turned into an instant hit following her movie debut in 1944, opposite leading man (and soon-to-be husband) Humphrey Bogart. That first film was To Have and Have Not, and in it Bacall introduced the smolderingly sensual, temptingly sardonic lady that she would recreate in a string of other films including The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo.
鈥淚 was this big hit discovery at 19,鈥� the native New Yorker recalls with amusement. 鈥淭he critics loved me with Bogie in To Have and Have Not.鈥� She hoots at the recollection: 鈥淭hen they wanted me sent back to wherever I came from when they saw me in Confidential Agent. After The Big Sleep came out, I was their darling all over again. I mean, talk about being a ping pong ball.
鈥淔ilm uses you as long as you can last. And that,鈥� says Bacall, 鈥渄epends on your will and your talent, your luck and your perseverance.鈥�
After a while, all of the above began to wane for Bacall. 鈥淭he movies sloughed me off,鈥� she says, matter-of-factly. Most actresses would have taken dismissal as defeat and promptly shriveled into oblivion. But not Bacall. 鈥淭o survive you鈥檝e got to be strong. Besides, I don鈥檛 believe in becoming a victim of whim.鈥� So she kept her hand in. Movie here and there. A stage triumph with Cactus Flower, and her critically acclaimed, best selling autobiography, Lauren Bacall By Myself.
Lauren Bacall was not ready for a fadeout. 鈥淔irst of all, I love to work. I wasn鈥檛 about to give that up. I鈥檓 an actress, and I think that鈥檚 pretty special,鈥� says the still handsome 56-year-old woman who鈥檚 feeling very much at her peak.
鈥淚n the theatre I feel as if I鈥檓 home and as if I really belong. I never much liked the piecemeal work of movies. What a thrill it is each night to go the whole route with a character and a play. I love the contact with the audience. I love the excitement.鈥�
The fact that big-name Broadway talents like John Kander, Fred Ebb, Peter Stone and Robert Moore have come together to tailor a flashy sassy musical specifically for Bacall, doesn鈥檛 hurt her enthusiasm any.
鈥淗a!鈥� she laughs. 鈥淚 guess you鈥檇 have to say I鈥檓 stage struck. I鈥檝e been away from Broadway ever since Applause, and God, I missed it. I kept waiting for something right and good to come along. And there wasn鈥檛 anything 鈥� until this. [Producer] Larry Kasha called me and said, 鈥榃hat do you think about Woman of the Year?鈥� What I thought,鈥� she booms, 鈥渋s 鈥榃onderful! Terrific!鈥� We got Kander and Ebb, Peter Stone, Bob Moore. I couldn鈥檛 be working with better people.鈥�
Woman of the Year is the musical stage version of the classic 1942 movie that starred Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. In the stage version, Lauren Bacall is perfectly at home with the role of the dazzling Tess Harding, an extraordinarily successful TV newscaster (a la Barbara Walters), who locks romantic and professional horns with Sam Craig, a crusty-but-loveable newspaper cartoonist.
Even the pressure to succeed and make this big-money Broadway vehicle a smash hit doesn鈥檛 get Betty Bacall down. 鈥淟isten,鈥� she says, levelly. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never going to be perfect first time out. You take it out-of-town knowing it鈥檚 too long, knowing there are changes to be made.
鈥淵ou make those changes after you start playing to an audience. Out-of-town is the great experiment. And, yeah, it鈥檚 tiring. And sure, I get tense and nervous. But I鈥檓 always nervous before I go on. I honestly don鈥檛 know how not to be. Still, I鈥檓 more in control now, mainly because I proved myself. I proved I could do Applause, I proved I belonged. My peers welcomed me after they realized I wasn鈥檛 an impostor or just a Hollywood lady dipping into an experience in the theatre. Not that any of that has turned my head.鈥� Bacall insists. 鈥淚 have never had a big ego. Only imbeciles have giant egos. But I am sure secure about my work, and about what I鈥檓 doing on the stage. Ah, but you should see me before the curtain goes up. My hands shake and my lips twitch and I have this stomach ache. I say 鈥榃hy are we doing this?鈥� And then the music comes up鈥� and the lights go down鈥� and the curtain rise, and the people are out there and you know why. Theatre is magic. It鈥檚 what takes us all out of the kitchen of life we鈥檙e trapped in. It鈥檚 what makes us reach for something better.
鈥淵ou know what? I love getting out there and giving 500 percent of myself each performance. It鈥檚 tough work but you develop such pride in what you do and in who you are. I鈥檓 disciplined about working. You bet! It鈥檚 part of being a professional actor. God, I think actors are terrific. They are brave, aren鈥檛 they. I mean, they get out there eight times a week and put their lives on the line. And people think we鈥檙e freaks. Sure, people invite us to their parties. Actors are terrific to decorate the room. But do we really want to take them seriously? Well鈥� we take the work seriously. And I just stay home from those parties where I know I鈥檓 invited to decorate the walls. That鈥檚 one of the advantages of getting older,鈥� says Bacall, 鈥淵ou can say no and you don鈥檛 have to please everyone, and you can save you energies for what鈥檚 important: the performance.鈥�
As for all the attendant star stuff that comes with having your name in lights, above the title on the marquee, Lauren Bacall claims their lures are not for her.
鈥淚 feel I鈥檝e earned the right to say I don鈥檛 like it, if something comes up in the show, and that鈥檚 a tremendous advantage. But no, I refuse to think about myself as The Star.鈥� She says it with mock awe. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 boring and I鈥檓 not interested. I want to do good work with good actors. The point of this profession is to share the experience and the fun. I鈥檓 not of the school that says a show should be built all around a person. One-star vehicles are for the birds,鈥� Bacall insists. 鈥淏esides, you look a damn sight better with good people around you than with bad.鈥�
鈥淣aw,鈥� she says in that trademark throaty voice of hers, as she finally drains the juice bottle she鈥檚 been nursing. 鈥淵ou can keep the star stuff. I know I have to show up eight times a week. But hell,鈥� Bacall laughs, 鈥淚鈥檇 do that if I were in the chorus line!鈥�
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