A dream come true!

Y'all...

Yesterday, I got to see one of the most magnificent actress of our time in Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA.

The one and only: Angela Lansbury!

Because she is amazing, that's why.

The only time I was THIS excited about seeing a live play was seeing Judi Dench in Hay Fever by Noel Coward at the Haymarket Theatre in London back in 2006. While I was pretty stoked about seeing Danny Devito and Judd Hirsch in The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA in 2014, I prefer my English Dames.

You have to understand WHY I think Angela Lansbury is so stunning. Besides the fact that I just saw her kicking and dancing herself around the stage in near darkness at the age of 89!

While my generation primarily knows her from JB Fletcher Murder, She Wrote (which did run for 12 seasons 1984-1996) and Ms Potts from Beauty and the Beast (1991), she has a long and rich history in theatre on both Stage and Film.

Angela began acting as a coping mechanism due to the death of her father when she was nine. She moved to Hollywood with her mother and her brothers and got in with MGM. She earned an academy nomination for best support actress in her first movie role Gas Light as the Nancy Oliver, the maid. She signed a contract with MGM for 7 years. Over the course of those years, she was consistently cast in minor roles, in roles far older than her actual age and in roles that, as she put it, were "venal bitches". She ended her contract when it was up as she was not getting the sort of roles she wanted.

Singing in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945

The Princess Gwendolyn with the wonderful Danny Kaye in The Court Jester 1955

Singing at the Oscars in 1959 with her fellow English women about not being nominated.

She did numerous movies during and after her contract with MGM, but typically as a supporting character. She received the role as Auntie Mame in Mame at the age of 40 in 1966. The public was surprised as she was older and not well known so this was her first major role. For those of you not aware of the show, Mame Dennis has numerous dance numbers  as well as songs and over twenty costume changes. Check her out when she and Bea Arthur did a revival on my favorite number.

One of my absolutely favorite movies while I was growing up (and still) was Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1970) which, coincidentally, stars Dame Angela. 

Here is my favorite song from the movie:

She went on to do a revival of Gypsy in 1973 and win tons of awards for it, like you do:

Let's talk about her as Miss Lovett in Sweeney Todd in 1979. Better yet, let's watch it: 

"The Worst Pies in London" from Sweeney Todd

"By the Sea" from Sweeney Todd

I was initially introduced to her initially by way of my Mother and Grandmother 

watching Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996). Here she is talking about it...

In 2000, she received her Kennedy Center Honors:

She took a break from face time on screen to do more voice acting as well as doing more stage work all over the world, such as Driving Miss Daisy with James Earl Jones in Australia.

Remember, I have just scraped the surface of her career.

 I just didn't want to overload the servers with ALL the video content. 

 Let's wrap this post with some fun:

If you want to hear about her life from the best source available, enjoy this: