It was with great sadness this week that Broadway, Hollywood, and legions of fans marked the passing of one of the greats — Angela Lansbury. She would have been 96 years old this weekend. What a life and career. By now, many of you will have undoubtedly read or seen one or more of the many tributes to this remarkable performer. And here at Steady, we wanted to honor her as well. If anyone was a steady presence in the performing arts, it was Lansbury, whose remarkable performances ranged from a TV detective who solved murders (“Murder, She Wrote”) to the business partner of a murderous barber (in “Sweeney Todd”). Each generation seemed to have its own Lansbury moment. For children, parents, and grandparents of a certain age, one of her most iconic roles was as the voice of Mrs. Potts, the head housekeeper who has been cursed into the form of a teapot in Disney’s animated rendition of “Beauty and the Beast.” We thought that perhaps this would be a welcome time to remember how much joy Lansbury brought to the world and how long she was able to do it. This video here is from six years ago, for the 25th anniversary of “Beauty and the Beast.” And Lansbury is singing the classic song about how we can learn to love one another, despite our differences. She is singing to her son in the movie, Chip, before his bedtime. But really she is singing to all of us. We imagine that as with a lot of what we feature in our “reason to smile” offerings at Steady, there may be some tears as well. But what we are mourning is the happiness and beauty Lansbury brought to so many. And that is a reason to smile. |
