Friday, November 30, 2007

'Desperate' But Not Serious

No surprise here that the West End musical version of "Desperately Seeking Susan," set to Blondie's back catalog and based on the 1985 movie of the same name, will close on Dec. 15, just one month after the show's opening night at the Novello Theatre. Just one look at the lead actresses in "character" and you knew this was coming.

In the play's defense, however, it did last longer than Debbie Harry's one and only Broadway show. "Teaneck Tanzi : The Venus Flytrap," which co-starred the least funny person of all time, Andy Kaufman. The 10-round "wrestling match" opened with the matinee and closed after the evening performance back on April 20, 1983, at the Nederlander Theater. If any of you happened to see this (there were also 13 previews that Deb swears were great -- "it was really hysterical. I’m telling you, it was really funny" -- I'd love to hear from you. (Playbill)

Ringmasters: Debbie Harry is still rasseling the world of entertainment, but her "Teaneck Tanzi" costars, Andy Kaufman and Caitlin Clarke, have both retired to the wrestling ring in the sky. Kaufman died of lung cancer the year after the play in 1984 and Clarke succumbed to ovarian cancer 20 years later, in 2004.

1 comment:

D'luv said...

Jesus! I feel like I just read about this coming to Broadway here on your site...?