The 2009 Tony Awards were given out this past Sunday night, and amid all the hype and fanfare surrounding uberproduction Billy Elliot, the most wonderful moment came when Angela Lansbury won her fifth Tony - best featured actress - for her role as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. If the open emotion she displayed is any indication, Ms. Lansbury was not expecting this accolade, which ties the record for the most Tonys won set by Julie Harris. I missed the broadcast of the awards ceremony myself, but thanks to a YouTube poster going by the name Indy7888, I was able to find a video of her acceptance speech online. Here's what she said:
"This is amazing …who would have thought? Who knew, at this time in my life, that I should be presented with this lovely, lovely award. I feel deeply grateful. I can’t believe that I’m standing here. And because I am standing here and some of you are sitting there I must take this moment to send my love and my congratulations to the other nominees in this category. It wasn’t fair. Bless you all. Thank you to all of my costars in Blithe Spirit, our producer, Jeff Richards, everybody in concern. They said at the party before the Tonys, 'Don’t talk about anybody just say how you feel.' Well, you know how I feel – I am the essence of gratitude and happiness and joy, and being back on Broadway and being with all you Broadwayites is the greatest gift in my old age that I can possibly imagine. Thank you for having me back."
Afterwards, Ms. Lansbury took questions in the press room backstage; a video of her remarks was also posted online thanks to Tom O'Neil. This is what she had to say in the wake of the event:
In response to the inevitable question, "How do you feel?"
"How do I feel? About three feet off the ground at this point, really. ... It [Tony #5]'s going to be great on this little shelf that I have in my living room, because I needed that fifth to fill it out … I’m only kidding. I never believed in my wildest dreams that I’d have another opportunity to get another Tony, and therefore this is such a complete surprise and thrill for me, shall we say, allowed to come back to Broadway at this time of my life, and to have another opportunity to do a piece of good work. After all, you know, Blithe Spirit is an old-fashioned play, but it has a great role in it, which is Madame Arcati. And I just never envisioned myself doing it – it just fell into my lap, and this is how life is sometimes – you don’t always know where the good stuff is coming from. So I am very, deeply grateful."
The next question she took was about her reaction to tying Julie Harris's record for the most awards in Broadway history:
"Well, I had no desire to tie Julie because I have such great admiration for her. However, I feel I’m in the best company because she was and still is in all of our minds just the greatest actress in the world of theater in our time so I am very lucky and happy to be there along with her having five Tonys. Of course, four of them were for musicals and leading roles, and this was for a featured role – it doesn’t make any difference, it’s still silver, it’s still got my name on it – it’s okay, it’s big stuff."
Another questioner asked how the 2009 award ceremony differed from the other ones she had attended:
"Oh, it’s huge. I was enormously impressed with the numbers, with the musical numbers going back to the old numbers and showing pieces of the new. It’s really wonderful, and it’s so great for me to be on Broadway with so many of the new young stars who are just on their way up, you know, and they’re doing great work, and they’re so brilliant in every possible way. It’s great to have Elton John composing for us on Broadway in a show like Billy Elliot with those kids, it’s a thrilling show, and Hair, bring back Hair at this time and having it such a huge success is wonderful for Broadway."
And then someone asked, "What are you going to do next for your sixth one?" "Don’t count on that," she answered wryly, but continued,
"I really have no idea. You know, I go where the work is oftentimes, and I feel that there are some roles that I can still play, so I’m going to keep an open mind and ear, and hopefully be back on Broadway or off Broadway, just working and keeping at it because that’s the only thing I really know how to do."
The next question: "If you could work with anyone …"
"Who would it be? That’s a good question. I’d love to work with James Gandolfini – that would be very nice. I’m such an admirer … But there are so many people – goodness Jeffrey Rush - there are so many wonderful actors at this moment working on Broadway, and just being in that community is terrific, heady stuff for all of us. We all feel it and share it together, and talk about it. Broadway life is pretty special."
Indeed it is.
