Here's To the Lady Who Lunched: Dozens of Broadway Stars Remember Elaine Stritch | Playbill

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News Here's To the Lady Who Lunched: Dozens of Broadway Stars Remember Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch, the theatrical icon who took home a 2002 Special Tony Award for Elaine Stritch at Liberty, died July 17. Broadway stars sent personal messages to Playbill.com and took to Twitter to remember the beloved member of the theatre community.
By Michael Gioia
July 17, 2014
//assets.playbill.com/editorial/479db9473e707e6af74ed51ab60856e6-stritch200_1365193586.jpg
Elaine Stritch Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Actor Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, a friend and collaborator on the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, told Playbill.com via email, "So many people have been reaching out this afternoon with apologies and condolences, but I haven't had a single cry yet — I am the most blessed actor and human alive to have had the opportunity to get to know Elaine Stritch in the capacity that I did. We first met in 2010 when she joined the Broadway production of A Little Night Music that I was in — and from day one we were inseparable. She told a joke backstage one night, and I was the only one that laughed at the punch line. That's all it took!! She taught me so much, but most importantly, she taught me who I was. She taught me to always search for the truth and that there was nothing more important than the love that can exist for other people in this world. She was the closest person in my life, and I wish everyone in this world could have had the chance I had to get to know her. She was a gift to this world."

Bernadette Peters, who co-starred with Stritch in A Little Night Music, said, "She was a dear friend — a tremendous talent and really smart — one of the most remarable people I've ever known, and I loved her very much."

Liza Minnelli said of Stritch's passing, "Elaine was a magnificent woman in every sense of the word…a true trail blazer. Her talent and spunk will be greatly missed by so many of us."

A statement from The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, a home away from home for Stritch, reads, "We are deeply saddened by the news of Elaine Stritch's passing today at her home in Michigan. We have been so fortunate to consider her a part of our family, not only as a long-term resident and supporter of The Carlyle but also as a performer to sold out crowds in the famed Café Carlyle. She will be missed by so many, but her legacy will certainly live on."

Friend, actress and television personality Joan Rivers said, "I adored Elaine Stritch. She was witty, sarcastic, a great New Yorker. Anyone that missed seeing her perform missed a legend like no other." In April 2013, Playbill.com reached out to members of the community to pay tribute to Stritch before she bid New York adieu. Read their responses here.

Playbill.com celebrated the actresses' life in videos here.

Below are tweets and messages from the Broadway community and beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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