with applause. The audience demanded her reappearance, and would not allow the show to continue otherwise. Verdon apparently was in her dressing room, having taken off her costume, and now only wore a robe. This is supposedly how she walked back onto the stage, led by Feuer. One source reverses the appearance of the Apache number and the ballet in the show’s running order, writing that “The Apaches” is in the show’s first act and not the second as otherwise described. The error implies that the audience would have been rewarded with Verdon’s return performing in the ballet, as opposed to just having her appear on stage to receive the applause before the show continued with its three final numbers.
Portrait of Verdon in the stage show Can-Can (1953).
According to another source, the applause came for Verdon after “The Garden of Eden Ballet,” which is somewhat more believable. The ovation for Verdon is said to have lasted for seven minutes, and had the audience chanting “We want Verdon! We want Verdon!” Shelah Hackett says that Verdon was in her bra and panties after she had finished “The Apache” and that it was Kidd who told Verdon that she had to go back onstage for another bow. Verdon apparently told him that she couldn’t go back because “I’m naked.” He threw a towel over her and led her out onto the stage. Verdon said that she was in her dressing room wearing opera-lengths with a zipper that didn’t work. When she was called to come on stage to answer the applause, she said she held her costume in front of her. She also apologized to the two actors whose act she had interrupted and claimed to have spoiled.
Verdon thought that the audience had determined that she was the underdog and reacted like that because they had initially been denied the opportunity to applaud. Verdon later told dancer Harry Evan that she hated getting standing ovations. The reason was that once, when her son Jimmy came to visit her when he was a boy, she sent him to a matinee of an Ethel Merman show. When he came back, Verdon asked him what he thought. He told her that he thought it was very strange that this old woman came out onto the stage and people stood up and she hadn’t even done anything. Time magazine also reported that Verdon’s experience only made her more humble, not allowing personal success to give her a swelled head. Her memory of being a girl in corrective boots made her self-conscious about attention and uncomfortable in public. It was said that she would rather walk through fish markets than sign autographs at Sardi’s, and was happy to remain backstage as part of the show.
The applause supposedly irked star Lilo since she had the first act’s final number, “Allez-Vous En.” In William McBrien’s book on Cole Porter, he wrote about Lilo’s jealousy of Verdon receiving the applause. Making her Broadway debut, the French star had been brought over from Paris by Cy Feuer, and Porter wrote the song “I Love Paris” specifically for her to sing in the show. Assuming that the leading lady should be treated like the star, Lilo reacted to what she saw as the misplaced reception as “The battle of Verdon.” In his review, Brooks Atkinson had praised Lilo but apparently this was not enough for her. As a result she had her costume in the show’s finale changed from what she saw as an inappropriate old calico dress to a beautiful white evening gown. Verdon was diplomatic enough to comment that Lilo was an extraordinary performer “who made some mistakes on opening night.” She would also comment that she didn’t really blame Lilo for her behavior when she was afraid that Verdon was stealing the show, since she was its star; “In the theater, that’s like another woman in a marriage triangle.” She would also comment that part of the problem was that Lilo came out of the French music hall where the star never had anybody around who was better than second-rate.
The new star was reportedly
Portrait of Verdon in the stage show Can-Can (1953).
According to another source, the applause came for Verdon after “The Garden of Eden Ballet,” which is somewhat more believable. The ovation for Verdon is said to have lasted for seven minutes, and had the audience chanting “We want Verdon! We want Verdon!” Shelah Hackett says that Verdon was in her bra and panties after she had finished “The Apache” and that it was Kidd who told Verdon that she had to go back onstage for another bow. Verdon apparently told him that she couldn’t go back because “I’m naked.” He threw a towel over her and led her out onto the stage. Verdon said that she was in her dressing room wearing opera-lengths with a zipper that didn’t work. When she was called to come on stage to answer the applause, she said she held her costume in front of her. She also apologized to the two actors whose act she had interrupted and claimed to have spoiled.
Verdon thought that the audience had determined that she was the underdog and reacted like that because they had initially been denied the opportunity to applaud. Verdon later told dancer Harry Evan that she hated getting standing ovations. The reason was that once, when her son Jimmy came to visit her when he was a boy, she sent him to a matinee of an Ethel Merman show. When he came back, Verdon asked him what he thought. He told her that he thought it was very strange that this old woman came out onto the stage and people stood up and she hadn’t even done anything. Time magazine also reported that Verdon’s experience only made her more humble, not allowing personal success to give her a swelled head. Her memory of being a girl in corrective boots made her self-conscious about attention and uncomfortable in public. It was said that she would rather walk through fish markets than sign autographs at Sardi’s, and was happy to remain backstage as part of the show.
The applause supposedly irked star Lilo since she had the first act’s final number, “Allez-Vous En.” In William McBrien’s book on Cole Porter, he wrote about Lilo’s jealousy of Verdon receiving the applause. Making her Broadway debut, the French star had been brought over from Paris by Cy Feuer, and Porter wrote the song “I Love Paris” specifically for her to sing in the show. Assuming that the leading lady should be treated like the star, Lilo reacted to what she saw as the misplaced reception as “The battle of Verdon.” In his review, Brooks Atkinson had praised Lilo but apparently this was not enough for her. As a result she had her costume in the show’s finale changed from what she saw as an inappropriate old calico dress to a beautiful white evening gown. Verdon was diplomatic enough to comment that Lilo was an extraordinary performer “who made some mistakes on opening night.” She would also comment that she didn’t really blame Lilo for her behavior when she was afraid that Verdon was stealing the show, since she was its star; “In the theater, that’s like another woman in a marriage triangle.” She would also comment that part of the problem was that Lilo came out of the French music hall where the star never had anybody around who was better than second-rate.
The new star was reportedly
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