Sweet Charity 60 No. 7 - Closing the Show

Lauryn Johnson
3 days ago
1 min read

Excerpts from an article in LIFE Magazine “The Show Must Go On-- But Not Too Long” Published in July, 1967, just after Sweet Charity closed on Broadway after 608 performances and 18 months.

“Longtime long-runner Gwen Verdon has missed so many nights as Sweet Charity that the show will close much sooner than expected (right now, Miss Verdon is ill and out of the show.) And many big-name stars are simply refusing to sign a contract for more than six months, which is not even long enough for the producer to recoup his investment.

“Why should stars revel? A relative newcomer to Broadway, Lauren Bacall, says about the long-run system: ‘It’s inhuman and against every creative instinct any decent actress must have!’

“And redhead Gwen Verdon, who has thousands of Broadway performances to her credit, says she’ll never do another Broadway show, although she pulls down better than $9,000 a week.

“Exhausted, Gwen Verdon unhappily returns to her dressing room after another three hours of flat-out dancing.”