(Mark Lawson’s article appeared in the Guardian, 10/16; via Pam Green.)
People like to pass landmark birthdays in meaningful places, so it seems right that Dame Angela Lansbury should be celebrating her 90th on American television and on Broadway, where she will receive the Oscar Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement in musical theatre this weekend.
These honours acknowledge the London-born performer’s contribution to the small screen, where she played writer turned crime-fighter Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote for 12 years and to the evolution of the American musical, winning five Tony awards for roles in Stephen Sondheim’s productions including the cannibalistic baker Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd and acclaimed revivals of older female parts in Gypsy and A Little Night Music.
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