LEE ROY REAMS tells RICK McKAY of BACALL, MERMAN & JESUS on BROADWAY!

Lauren Bacall the wonderful wonderful glamorous lady of the screen a star was doing yet another musical on Broadway called woman of the year because of our friendship from appearing together in applause on Broadway I was invited to the opening night at the time I was in 42nd Street and Carol cook who was also in 42nd Street was my best buddy and she knew I was going to the opening night of woman of the year and she said I was with my dear friend Ethel Merman the great Ethel Merman the reigning queen of Broadway forever she will always be the reigning queen of Broadway Carol cook said Ethel would like to go to the open night do you think that you could get two more tickets and we could go and be your Bob State I said oh I'm sure if I say ever Merman wants to come to an open-air you think I cannot get the tickets please so I called the press office of course Ethel Merman coming to the opening hey whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa of course we got tickets probably got better tickets that she was going to be with us well that was back before cellphones so we were going to go over in the limousine rented the hottest day in August that hottest day in August the show was opening that night at seven o'clock so we were gonna go over to pick up Carol in the limousine on the Westside Drive over to the east side to pick up Ethel at her place have a drink at Ethel's apartment before the show and then go see the show we started out at four o'clock in the afternoon and of course we can't go anyplace because of the traffic and you can't go through the park because it's all blocked off it was the Puerto Rican Day Parade so everything was blocked off the traffic was horrendous by the time we got Carroll we couldn't go across we had to go up to one hundred and twenty-fifth Street cross over above the park come down we couldn't get over to Madison Avenue where Ethel was because they had everything blocked off from Park Avenue so the limousine had to park at Park Avenue it's now six-thirty on it took us that long to get across town and do everything so I get out of the limousine I run to Ethel and my reinfection don't say I weren't honey then beat those drums all morning I'll be right down and so down the stairs she came we ran across on her high heels with his lime-green dress she had on and her hair all done up and again the beaded lashes that show me the beaded eyelashes that she did we get into the car we're late we're rushing to try to get through the traffic to get down to the theater we get to the theater about ten after seven there's not a car in front of the theater there's no lights there's no cameras nothing everybody's inside the theater so that oh my god the show is started so we rush and of course my armpits are soaked we get into the theater the overture starts as we're coming down the aisle so we had of course fabulous seats maybe six to eight rows back on the aisle Bob goes in Carol cook goes in Ethel goes in I'm the last one we sit down so we're sitting there and the curtain rises on the first number and everybody's singing and lauren bacall in her inimitable style with her singing voice starts to sing and hits a note of the year and Merman way Jesus true story and that that story has been said many many different ways of all the people who supposedly witnessed it I witnessed it I was there I never cursed at all until I was around Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall made you tell that mother son of a dumb well she boy did she make it sound greater the who I wanted to be like that I wonder you know I learned to cuss from Lauren Bacall boy could she do it

Channel: Rick McKay's Second Act Productions

Views: 9,229

Rating: 4.9480519 out of 5

Keywords: Lauren Bacall (Film Actor), Ethel Merman (Theater Actor), Lee Roy Reams (Theater Actor), Carole Cook (Theater Actor), Rick McKay, Broadway: The Golden Age (Film), Woman Of The Year (Award-Winning Work), Bob Donohoe, Broadway, Broadway Musicals, Theatre, Show Business (Media Genre), OPENING NIGHT

Id: QH6jnuWov2E

Length: 4min 13sec (253 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 25 2014