Elaine Stritch's twilight renaissance continues unabated. In addition to the Emmy Awards she's racked up in the last few years for her one-woman show on HBO and her recurring role as Jack Donaghy's mother on 30 Rock, she's now being honored "for her achievements and humanity" on February 7, at Theater for the New City's 6th Annual Love 'n' Courage benefit for that group's Emerging Playwrights Program. No doubt some of her former co-stars might take issue with the latter citation, but she's still growin' and crowin', so kudos to her.In addition to the octogenarian Stritch, the evening will also feature Charles Busch (Die Mommie Die!) and Julie Halston (Sex and the City) as hosts—ones who will not try to steal Stritchie's laughs, hopefully—fellow Golden Age of Broadway alumnus Tammy Grimes (The Unsinkable Molly Brown), and a bunch of exceedingly random, exceedingly old theatrical types (Fritz Weaver, Vinie Burrows, and composer David Amram, whose combined age is on the far side of 300) who don't quite equal Stritch's star wattage. But hey, it's a benefit for a good cause, and $125 gets you into the National Arts Club in the company of a living legend who managed to turn a sardonic rasp into an emblem of Broadway.
Photo by Denise Winters.
