’70s Memory of the Great Gig Young

“And then–I introduce them to Harvey. And he’s bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And–when they leave, they leave impressed.”                                             

“Ah–well, some people are blind. That’s very often brought to my attention.”                    -Elwood P. Dowd (in Mary Chase’s comedy Harvey, about an imaginary 6 foot high white rabbit)              

Once a busy, popular movie star, Gig Young had turned to doing dinner theatre and appeared here in town at the old Stage West at the Mayfield Hotel. We had front-row seats and there he was playing Elwood P. Dowd as if he was born to play the role. (Young had an alcohol problem from middle age on so playing Dowd was pretty close to home for him.) He was perfectly cast, absolutely charming and alternately sad and funny. It was a tremendous show and you could see he really enjoyed himself. This was one of the best live show performances I have ever seen. Such a neat guy in a classic, moving comedy.

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