20 May 2005

in my mind some things never change

in the fall of 1917 the Plymouth Theater opend on Broadway. in its early decades its stage held such luminaries as Nazimova   John Barrymore   Barbara Stanwyck   Lila Lee   Tallulah Bankhead   Mae West. it was at this same theater where I saw Alec Guiness play Dylan Thomas & Jane Lapotaire portray Edith Piaf.

a decade after the Plymouth opend   West 45th saw a new theater calld the Royale which wd host Ethel Waters & Eartha Kitt   James Dean & Laurence Olivier before I saw my first play there   "Night of the Iguana."

this month Plymouth & Royale were rechristend. both now carry names of producers.

for me it's sad. at least the theaters didn't go the way of the wrecking ball. but still I dislike these new names. ever since the Little Theater was given the name of the least lady of the American Theater I've been unable to call it anything but the Little. likewise with Theater DeLys. so I guess I'll show my age -- & proudly so -- & keep on referring to the Plymouth & the Royale.

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