Farewell, Also, To Theodore Bikel!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 I am sorry, darlings, but I have to talk about the photograph first.  Look at that superb coloring and visual composition.  This is as much a tribute to Theodore Bikel, as to the kind of things Broadway did in the 1950s, and does not do anymore.

                                  This is the last moment from the original, 1959, Broadway production of "The Sound Of Music," which opened on November 16, 1959.  Mary Martin is front, to the photo's left, while Bikel heads up the end, to the right.  In between are the Children--Kathy Dunn,  the late Marilyn Rogers, Joseph Stewart, Mary Susan Locke, William Snowden, Lauri Peters, and, carrying Evanna Lien on his shoulders, at the rear, is Bikel, as Captain Von Trapp!  Oh, my GOD, isn't this visually scrumptious, darlings????????  And look at that fabricated Austrian-ism!!!!!!!!!!!!  And those nuns!!!!!!!!  I am getting excited, just right now!!!!!!!!!!

                                  Christopher Plummer may have become an icon as a result of playing Captain Von Trapp on film, but it was Theodore Bikel who originated it, and for whom the song, "Edelweiss" was said to have been expressly written, to showcase his folksinging voice.

                                     It is the Cast Album of this musical, plus his appearance in the film version of "My Fair Lady" (1964) as Zoltan Karpathy, for which I remember Theodore Bikel. But he was a social activist, as well.

                                     And so, at 91, he passed away, yesterday.  His contributions were many, memorable, and are saluted here.

                                       Rest In Peace, Theodore Bikel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        But, oh, my GOD, that photograph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!