Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:
Fanny Brice
In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing dedicated to the Ladies Of Comedy. Theses are the gals who made us laugh and, on occasion, brought a tear to our eyes. They are visionaries, capturing aspects of the human condition while holding up a mirror to the world. Their characters, style, and phrases have helped form our daily vernacular in ways we are not even always aware of - but that is the power of comedy and the magic these ladies all possess.
Breaking ground while breaking all the rules?
Old hat for...
Fanny Brice.
She knew what she was and what she wasn't.
What she was? Funny. So she took it and made it work.
She knew who she was.
Hitting the boards for all they were worth, time and again, working it out.
And she listened to know one. She knew what worked and what didn't.
She knew who she was.
She defied some of the biggest names in show biz. And they fired her. She didn't care. She knew what she knew. She knew her audience.
An audience that came to love her every daffy move.
The name Fanny Brice? That meant something. It meant a great show, a good time, a guaranteed laugh.
This diva accomplished it all with such a quiet grace. Sure, it was all big, goofy and loud on stage, and a bit of that accompanied her offstage as well, but she was so much more. Wise. Life could never surprise someone who'd already seen it all.
Yes, somehow she simply knew...
She knew who she was.
The gospel according to her?
Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.
The topic? The Audience
"Listen, kid. I've done everything in theatre except marry a property man. I've been a soubrette in burlesque and I've accompanied stereopticon slides. I've acted for Belasco and I've laid 'em out in rows at the Palace. I've doubled as an alligator; I've worked for the Schuberts; and I've been joined to Billy Rose in the holy bonds. I've painted the house boards and I've sold tickets and I've been fired by George M. Cohan. I've played in London before the king and in Oil City before miners with lanterns in their caps."
"There is no thrill more wonderful than that which comes with the feel of a friendly audience, and it is a thrill that comes more than once in a lifetime. It is subconscious but powerful, much like sensing the presence of a friend in the darkness. An audience reflects an actor's attitude as faithfully as a mirror. If he is relaxed and sure of himself his audience gives him its heart. But if he feels fear or works too hard for his effects there is thrown over the house the chill of discomfort."
When A Man Loves A Woman - Fanny Brice
from the 1930 motion picture Be Yourself
Why - Fanny Brice and Judy Garland
from the 1938 motion picture Everybody Sing!
A Sweepstakes Ticket - Fanny Brice
from the 1945 motion picture Ziegfeld Follies
And one last parting shot...
"I am not sorry. I will tell anybody that, and it is the truth. I lived the way I wanted and never did what people said I should do or advised me to do. And I want my children to do the same. Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?"
"Being a funny person does an awful lot of things to you. You feel that you mustn't get serious with people. They don't expect it from you, and they don't want to see it. You're not entitled to be serious, you're a clown."
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1 comment:
She was actually a pretty woman. And, I think, that she didn't know. But she comedic talent and she had business sense. Those things she did know.
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