R3 OP here. Barbara and Elaine had such a fascinating dynamic. They were about the same age, both blonde, both came to New York around the same time to make it on Broadway, but they could not have been more different despite the fact that their careers paralleled each other and intersected at multiple points over almost 60 years. They worked together as early as 1955, when Elaine was an understudy for Shirl Conway in Plain and Fancy, but they were already acquainted at that point. My ultimate fantasy would be some sort of Feud-esque miniseries to examine their relationship, how it changed over time, and why there always seemed to be tension between them, simmering just below the surface. Barbara dedicated several pages to Elaine, more than anybody else in her memoir, which covers a lot of ground in very few pages. The passage begins:
"I listed our extraordinary Follies cast above, but there was also one other cast member of particular note: singing 'Broadway Baby' was none other than Elaine Stritch. Elaine Stritch. A major, major piece of work... I could write four chapters on Elaine alone but a few anecdotes will have to suffice."
One (condensed) highlight:
"I had thought for a long time that we should organize concerts together... We were so vastly different, and we respected each other's work. I also thought she knew I wasn't afraid of her, which I wasn't. I told myself, 'I can deal with her.' Well, I was wrong. Big time.... Although she often had good ideas, she was like a steamroller. She was so impossible that at one point she was actually trying to tell me how to sing a song. I finally said, 'For Christ's sake, Elaine, don't try to tell me how to sing the fucking song. I've never sung the fucking song before. I don't know how I want to sing the fucking song. I need to find out-- so just leave me the fuck alone!'... The next day I told my manager, 'I never, ever want to be inside a theater with her again, even for a benefit. If she's in a benefit, I'm not gonna do it. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore.'...As time passed, I got over a lot of my anger, and in some ways I felt sorry for her... In the end, I just decided to get over my frustration with her. She was never going to change, and I realized that so long as I didn't work with her, when I saw her it would be easy enough to be nice."
"Elaine would call me from time to time, and the surprising thing was that she would greet me as if we were bosom buddies. It was as if she assumed we were closer than we really were."
When Barbara covered a concert date for Elaine, who was booked in A Little Night Music:
"The evening was a success and also was the occasion of the most memorable opening patter I've ever had with an audience. After my opening number I looked out at the audience and I said, 'I know some of you may have expected to see Elaine Stritch. But, you're not missing much. All she does is talk about all of the famous people she's fucked. I've fucked a lotta people, but they're not famous, so I don't talk about it!' The audience gasped-- and then burst into wild laughter. I thought the building would explode! They may have expected that from Elaine, but definitely not from me.'
