"And....think of how I adore you,
Think of how much you love me,
If I were perfect for you, wouldn't you tire of me?
Soon.......all too soon........dear old........."
--Victoria Mallory as Anne Egerman, singing
"Soon," in "A Little Night Music," Music and
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
I just found out today, dolls, that on August 30, Victoria Mallory, at the age of 64, passed away, due to pancreatic cancer.
This gave me pause for reflection. When it came to lyric Broadway sopranos of the Seventies, Victoria was IT. Why she never became the Barbara Cook of her generation only she knows, for she had both the voice and the technique.
The original Broadway production of "A Little Night Music," with that Legendary Cast, was one of my early theatrical visits. It was filled with any number of memorable moments, but chief among them was Mallory's voice, rising in the above lyrics, and holding that note on "Soon," as the strings underscored. I am telling you, darlings, at that moment, the entire theater audience swooned. You know I did, girls!!!!!!!!! And every time I play the Original Cast Album, this moment still takes my breath away.
Who could forget Victoria on the cast album of "Follies," which she was also in, on "One More Kiss," when she plaintively trilled, "On, then, with the dance/No backward glance, or my heart will break/Never look back/Never look back." Oh, my God, darlings, I am getting faint just writing about it.
Instead of following her Broadway path, Victoria was a fixture on "The Young And The Restless." History was repeated, when Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones revived 'Night Music' on Broadway, on December 13, 2009, and the role of Anne was played by one Ramona Mallory, daughter of Victoria and Mark Lambert, the show's original Henrik, whom Victoria married in 1975. Bet Ramona's trills could not match her mother's!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Her death is a blow to Theater Queens, and Broadway should dim its lights for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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