Review by Ron Fassler…
The timing of Sunday being World AIDS Day made for a welcome excuse to bring Ann Talman’s one-person cabaret show “Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile” to Don’t Tell Mama for two performances at 2:00 and 7:00. Dedicated to the beloved actress and activist, Talman knew Taylor well due to being cast as her daughter in the 1981 Broadway revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes. The pair remained good friends for thirty years, until Taylor’s death in 2011 at the age of seventy-nine. A wonderful singer, Talman has developed her tribute show weaving her own personal story alongside the advice and gift of friendship Taylor bestowed upon her. Not only renowned for her personal generosity and philanthropic endeavors on a global scale, but Taylor also had the reputation for being hysterically funny and the stories Talman shares here are gems.
It was her resemblance as a young woman to the young Elizabeth that presented the twenty-three year-old Talman with what was the opportunity of a lifetime in which to make her Broadway debut. After its four-month limited engagement in New York, she toured with Little Foxes in Fort Lauderdale, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Los Angeles and London, remaining with the show for a full eighteen months. During that time, Taylor becoming a surrogate parent as Talman’s own mother had died after a long illness when Talman was just twenty. This beautiful show has been co-crafted with Lina Koutrakos, whose subtle guidance and direction pay off splendidly. Matched with musical director Alex Rybeck—always right on the money—all the song choices are perfectly in tune with the journey.
The background of the show’s title and song “The Shadow of Your Smile” is interesting. Written by Johnny Mandell (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics), it won the 1966 Grammy for Song of the Year over Lennon and McCartney’s “Yesterday” (it also took the Academy Award that same year). It’s connection to Taylor is that it was composed to run over the credits for The Sandpiper (1965), one of the many films she made with her on-again/off-again husband, Richard Burton. The warmth of its main lyric is a perfect encapsulation of the relationship Talman shared with Taylor:
Now when I remember spring
All the joy that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile.
Already a highly empathic person as she grew up alongside a special needs older brother, the life lessons Talman absorbed from Taylor infuses the wisely chosen material performed in the show. I found it significant that the only lyricists represented by more than one song are the work of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, underrated practitioners of this fine art. “Long Before I Knew You” from Bells Are Ringing(1956) and “Make Someone Happy” from Do Re Mi (1960), stood out for their longing and gentle caresses upon beautiful melodies from Jule Styne.
Other songwriters represented are Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, the Gershwin brothers, Bob Merrill, Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman, Amanda McBroom, Jerry Herman, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen … it’s quite a selection. All segue way into delightful anecdotes in which Taylor’s compassionate companionship is highlighted, often while eating ice cream and drinking wine with her young co-star in matching bathrobes until the wee small hours of the morning. If that sounds charming to you, then you’ll be in seventh heaven while Talman spins her yarns.
At the 7:00 pm performance at which I attended, Tom Viola, the longtime Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS made a lovely introduction at the top of the show acknowledging not only it being World AIDS Day, but how much Elizabeth Taylor meant to the cause. She was the sole Hollywood star to stand up for her gay friends when no one else would and she put her money where her mouth was, fighting tirelessly to seek a cure and better treatment for those afflicted. She should always be remembered for that in addition to the quality she brought to so many class A films. That Ann Talman has made it possible to give back in such an entertaining fashion is a glorious tribute to her friend and mentor. The next time she’s performing this show, do yourself a favor and see it.
“Ann Talman: Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile” was presented at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46t Street, NYC. For information on future programming there, please visit https://donttellmamanyc.com.
Photos by Ron Fassler.
Headline photo: Alex Rybeck and Ann Talman.
