Madeline Kahn (52 page)

Invaluable Assistance:

Profound thanks go to my editors at the University Press of Mississippi, Leila Salisbury and Carl Rollyson, and also to John Langston, Valerie Jones, Steve Yates, Courtney McCreary, Anne Stascavage, Shane Gong Stewart, and the valiant, vigilant Lisa Paddock. My agent, Rob McQuilkin, has represented this book with persistence and ingenuity far beyond what I had any reason to hope for.

I am also grateful to Scott Frankel, Brian Kellow, F. Paul Driscoll, Scott Barnes, Rebecca Paller, Anne Midgette, Donald Arthur, Clifford Capone, Carol Kane, Emily Frankel, Aulay Carlson, Carolyn Weber and Dave Stein of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, David Kaufman, Eric Myers, Andy Propst, Eddie Shapiro, Claudia Dreifus, Barry Monash, Karen Kriendler Nelson, Elizabeth L. Dribben, Steven Bryant, Susan and Liz Wagner, Alan Arkin, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Carol Lurie, Cristina McGinnis, Stephen Koch, Phyllis Newman, Rosemarie Tichler, Debra Monk, Ed Dixon, Jennifer Van Dyke, Amanda Jacobs Wolf, Glen Roven, Cort
Casady, Shelby Van Vliet, Maria Ciaravino, Ellie Koscheski, Dick Guttman, Sue Leibman, Jeff Berger, Sam Neuman, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Todd Hughes, Kara Johnson, Vivian L. Schneider, Julia Judge, Dennis Yslas, Mark Fischer, Dominick Mazza, Alex M. Stein, Holly Sklar, Christopher Hart, Michael Solomon and Washington National Opera, Andrew Patner, David Shengold, Joshua White, Mark Dennis, Anne Dennis, Richard and Carlene Ginsburg, Nathaniel Goodman and Gayle Baigelman, David Farneth and David Gilbert, David Kidd and Wendy Lawless, Joy and Randolph Partain, Dan Guller and Eric James, Janice Hall, Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, Joyce Castle, Dan and Jean Rather, Lisa Gilford, Linc Madison, Konrad Will, Jonathan C. Feldstein, Fredd Tree, Melia Bensussen, Bernard Boutrit, and Patrick McDonald.

1
. MK personal notebook.

2
. Alan Arkin,
An Improvised Life
(paperback edition, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011).

1
. Madeline Kahn (MK), Speech to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, April 17, 1989. Transcript from MK personal files. Hereinafter “AADA Speech.”

2
. Letter from Ted Barry, September 18, 1998. Capitalization in the original. MK personal files, used with permission.

3
.
After Dark
, “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn,” Shaun Considine, July 1973. This article was the first feature on Madeline in a national publication.

4
. MK personal notebook.

5
. AADA speech.

6
. “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn.”

7
. MK personal notebook.

8
. Court documents pertaining to the Mexican divorce and the alimony case found in MK personal files.

9
. Roy Harris,
Conversations in the Wings: Talking about Acting
(Heinemann Drama, Portsmouth, NH, 1994).

10
. AADA speech. Subsequent quotations pertaining to Hofstra also derive from the speech, unless otherwise noted.

11
. Madeline’s serious monologue, she remembered, was “something by Saroyan.”

12
. The announcement of a performance of Mozart’s
Requiem
in her senior year, on March 14, 1964, seems to be the first time Madeline’s name appeared in the
New York Times
(
NYT
), along with those of other “student soloists.”

13
.
NYT
, “Woses Are Wed, Madeline’s a Wow,” March 24, 1974. Puccini’s Manon is an extremely demanding vocal role. Massenet’s Manon features elaborate but lighter music, and it might reasonably have found its way into Madeline’s early repertoire.

14
. MK personal notebook.

15
. David Kaufman,
Ridiculous!
(Applause Books, New York, 2001).

16
. AADA speech.

17
. MK personal notebook.

18
.
Live from the Met
, PBS, Metropolitan Opera, January 3, 1985. Transcribed by the author.

19
.
Newsday
, “Suddenly, She Had a Fine Voice,” Mona Sarfaty, July 10, 1969.

20
. Geiss, who died in 2011, went on to write for
Sesame Street
and the animated films
The Land Before Time
and
An American Tail
, in the second of which Madeline plays Gussie Mausheimer.

21
. AADA speech.

22
.
NYT
review, May 13, 1965. Madeline isn’t mentioned in the article.

23
. James Gavin’s
Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret
(revised and updated edition, Backstage Books, New York, 2011) has been an invaluable resource in my research for this chapter. Quotations from Madeline and from Dixie Carter come from Gavin’s book, unless otherwise noted.

24
. Produced in house, the record albums of Madeline’s Upstairs revues are collectors’ items today. Some tracks have made their way to YouTube and other Internet sharing sources.

25
.
NYT
, “Upstairs at Downstairs Aims at ‘Mixed Doubles,’” Sidney E. Zion, October 25, 1966.

26
. Among Paula’s credits, there’s some overlap with Madeline’s, and thus greater credibility. Notably, both listed study with Patricia Neway. An operatic soprano, Neway earned fame on Broadway in Menotti’s
The Consul
and as the Mother Abbess in the original cast of
The Sound of Music
. Paula also listed summer-stock credits with producer Jay Harnick, whose wife and son co-starred with Madeline in
Judy Berlin
.

27
. As an industrial short,
A Song of Arthur
isn’t listed among Madeline’s credits at
IMDb.com
. The film came to light when Hoffman posted it on YouTube in late 2013. It can be found at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6VvCVkKWDo
.

28
. “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn.”

29
.
NYT
, “Theater: ‘New Faces,’” Clive Barnes, May 3, 1968.

30
. Ibid.

31
. Mel Brooks contributed material to
New Faces of 1952
.

32
.
NYT
, “Broadway Goes All the Way to 7th Ave. for a Touch of Chic,” Enid Nemy, April 13, 1968.

33
. Miles Kreuger’s liner notes are reprinted in the compact disc edition of
New Faces of 1968
, DRG Records, 2005.

34
. A great year for Bergman parodies, 1968 also saw the publication of Woody Allen’s short play
Death Knocks
in the
New Yorker
issue of July 27.

35
. “Suddenly She Had a Fine Voice.”

36
. “Madeline Kahn: Too Pretty to Be Funny?” Rex Reed, syndicated column, published April 7, 1974. Also collected in
Valentines and Vitriol
(Delacorte Press, New York, 1977).

37
.
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
, January 8, 1986, author’s transcript. Found on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZYw6M304BM
.

38
. I assisted Dan Rather on several appearances on
Late Night with David Letterman
in the 1990s. Rather would spend hours on the phone with producers for the show; only rarely did Letterman even allude to the prepared material. Letterman’s approach proved stressful for everybody concerned, except perhaps the host himself.

39
.
Charlie Rose
, PBS, December 16, 1996, transcribed by the author.

40
. “Woses Are Wed.”

41
.
New York Daily News
, Review of
Promenade
, James Davis, June 5, 1969.

42
.
NYT
, “Theater: Wickedly Amusing ‘Promenade,’” Clive Barnes, June 5, 1969.

43
.
NYT
, “Hooray! He Gives Us Back Our Past,” Walter Kerr, June 15, 1969. Marilyn Miller (1898–1936) was a popular star of sentimental Broadway musicals.

44
.
NYT
, “Letters,” July 6, 1969.

45
. At the time of my interviews with Fredericks, the Music Circus website described Madeline as “a rather comic Magnolia.” Ellie Koscheski, a spokesperson for the theater, confirmed that the copy was written by someone who did not see the production in 1969. Evidently the assumption was that if Madeline Kahn played something, it had to be funny.

46
.
NYT
, “The Night: Sorry, It’s an Eco-Thing, Show Thing, Hunk Thing,” Bob Morris, October 9, 1994.

47
. “Madeline’s training is in the classical opera. She finds that music ‘fulfilling, challenging, rewarding.’ But Madeline is a Today girl who likes to be moved by the music she sings and the characters she plays. ‘If I thought I had to do opera in a stilted way, I wouldn’t do that, either.’”
Sacramento Union
, “Not Tradition Bound,” Jackie Krug, August 4, 1969.

48
.
Sacramento Union
, “‘Remarkable’ Musical: ‘Show Boat’ Ride Goes Beautifully,” Richard Simon, August 6, 1969. The 5th Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away” was a popular hit at the time.

49
. Sacramento Music Circus,
Show Boat
program, courtesy of Ellie Koscheski, California Musical Theatre.

1
.
NYT
, “The Funny Thing Is that They Are Still Feminine,” Judy Klemesrud, January 14, 1970.

2
.
Washington Post
, “A Beautiful Mimì,” Paul Hume, March 7, 1970. Hume was rough on everybody, with the exception of Evelyn Mandac, who sang Mimì.

3
. Met broadcast, January 3, 1985, cited in Part I.

4
. Newspaper clipping, undated and unmarked, MK personal files.

5
. Details on
Comedy Tonight
episodes, guest stars, and material can be found in TV listings. I relied on the
Kokomo (IN) Tribune
(July 5); the
Anderson (IN) Herald
(July 25); the
Anniston (AL) Star
(August 2); and the
Ludington (MI) Daily News
(August 7 and 21).

6
. In act 2, Goldie lets her hair down and dresses like the family, in subdued colors and patches and tatters.

7
. See
Boston Globe
, “‘Two by Two’ Lacks Real Sparkle,” Kevin Kelly, Oct. 4, 1970. Kelly praises Willison as “sensational,” adding that Madeline is merely “a cut below that.” At the time of the review, she was still singing “Getting Married to a Person.” Apart from Kaye and Copeland, Kelly lists the rest of the cast, describing them as “good, too.”

8
.
NYT
, “Stage: ‘Two by Two’; Danny’s the One,” Clive Barnes, November 11, 1970.

9
.
New York
magazine, “Divine Didactics,” John Simon, November 23, 1970.

10
. By coincidence, Joe Layton directed
Sherry
, the musical version of
The Man who Came to Dinner
, on Broadway in 1967. The experience didn’t prepare him for Danny Kaye.

11
. Photographs from the recording session for the cast album show Madeline wearing an especially large belt for support.

12
. MK personal notebook.

13
. “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn.”

14
.
Connoisseur
, “Madeline Kahn: A Talent Riddled with Self-Doubt,” Linda Winer, January 1989.

15
.
Charlie Rose
, December 16, 1996.

16
.
Valentines & Vitriol
.

17
. Ibid.

18
. “Madeline Kahn: Maybe Now She’ll Relax at Sardi’s,” Fran Weil. Undated clipping, no publication credited; found in MK personal files.

19
.
Time
, “Popular Mechanics,” Jay Cocks, April 10, 1972.

20
.
NYT
, “What’s Up, Doc?” Vincent Canby, March 10, 1972.

21
. “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn.”

22
. Walter Willison was similarly “put on hold” for
Candide
and is the source for this background information.

23
. Chapin, now the president and chief executive of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, confirms the outlines of this story.

24
.
Village Voice
, “Madeline Kahn: The Kook who Said ‘Enough,’” Arthur Bell, June 14, 1973.

25
. MK personal notebook.

26
. “Woses Are Wed.”

27
. “The Kaleidoscopic Madeline Kahn.”

28
. Ibid.

29
.
Valentines & Vitriol
.

30
. NEA syndication service, “Madeline Kahn Looks Beyond Funny Roles,” Dick Kleiner, March 31, 1975.

31
. NEA syndication service, “Dick Kleiner’s Showbeat,” Dick Kleiner, December 4, 1972.

32
. “Madeline Kahn: Maybe Now She’ll Relax at Sardi’s.”

33
. “The Kook who Said ‘Enough.’”

34
. “Woses Are Wed.”

35
. Ibid.

36
.
New York
magazine, “Pleasure Trove,” Judith Crist, May 21, 1973;
Time
, “Depression Diorama,” Jay Cocks, May 28, 1973; “Maybe Now She’ll Relax at Sardi’s.”