From Sondheim's 80th Birthday Concert with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall / Lincoln Center. Elain Stritch singing 'I'm Still Here' from Follies
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I don’t say this lightly. This is my favorite video on the internet. I have watched it time and time again: to cheer up, to gain resolve, and to revel in the absolute brilliance that is this hilarious, heartbreaking tour de force. The best performance ever of one of the best songs ever. I got through all of last year…
Stritch should have interrupted the song to answer her cell phone while of course flipping the bird at Lupone with her other hand. Lupone's inevitable sour-faced and mean-spirited reaction would have produced an expression I'd like to have seen. And if Stritch is going to rewrite the lyric for a lame riposte against Barbara Walters, why not update the other references as well? Happily, she's "no longer here" to do so.
True...once in an interview, her her mention the DAMN FABULOUS Sights of the GREATS of Broadway that she had seen and met..From Mae West to Sophie Tucker; a virtual memory bank of Who's Who...and this song...just fits.
this stage is filled with the absolute A-list of broadway women and the reverence they pay to Madame Stritch is beautiful.... This performance is magnificence. Stritch is a National Treasure.
Why am I over here with tears in my eyes? Like honestly she just made me cry. I can't be the only one! Elaine Stritch you're still "here" to me. Thanks for inspiring.
You know at the end, she means every word, the words may have been written by Sondheim, but every word of this song was true for Elaine Stritch and this is why it crossed from acting into something real, of the moment and therefore truly special and to be treasured. I am sure when people look back on her career, they will highlight this as one of her greatest performances. This song was meant to be sung by her and I am sure we will never see it performed like this ever again.
How can you not like this? It is the song of someone who has been through it all and persevered against all odds. It's knowing you're mortal. It's knowing the world doesn't owe you anything. It's about being responsible for your own actions ... damn the consequences.
Look at the faces of the great next generation [Audra, Bernadette, Patti etc] sitting on the chairs and you can see the love and admiration they have for one of the greatest of all Broadway performers,
There's no better example of Elaine Stritch's brilliance than at 4:42. The opening lyrics come round again and instead of immediately (following the accompaniment) going for a triumphant ending, she exposes her vulnerability, her fragility and it's heartbreaking. She kicks you in the guts. And then the end is so triumphant because you know it's so hard won. One of a kind and one of the greats.
Husband and I saw her in her first performance of this and then 3 other times. I’ll go to my “grave:” with those remembered experiences at the top of my list of life’s lessons English muffins be dammed.
@@ztramsey93 Yes - and Marin Mazzie also looks tearful at the opening (it might be from the previous song, not in the clip?) - but the way she hangs on every word and note is notable. And my understanding of top artists is they're sensitive, so when they're in the audience they connect to the emotions and nuances of the performer more acutely than most.
Anyone watching in 2019? I missed her so much. My favorite, 'Still, someone said she's sincere - so I'm here,' always brings tears in my eyes. Love you Elaine.
Ditto SueLin P. This is the definitive performance, better than Polly Bergen's IMO. As for the comments about her not singing on pitch--she does and always did. You can't have the kind of career she had singing off pitch. Many of the other greats sharing the stage with her are in tears, for good reason. This is really artistry. And BTW--if she replaced Brenda Frazier with Barbara Walters, who can blame her? Who knows Brenda Frazier? I didn't. The theater is dimmer without her. Luckily, we have LuPone, the phenomenal McDonald, Peters, and Murphy are gracing the stages. Get over it--Stritch was a force of nature.
I’m 70 now but I remember our drama club going to NYC to see Company when I was in high school. I still get chills when I think about Elaine singing The Ladies Who Lunch. That was when I realized the power of one person,one song, one actress commanding the entire theater. Over the years I’ve learned that this combination is rare and magical. Thank you Elaine for giving me those five minutes! Stellar.
She owns this song. Others sing it - very well - but for me, it will always be her song, her legacy. By the way, the song is about Joan Crawford, according to Sondheim. That's especially true about the line where someone said that she was sincere.
I absolutely love how the women on stage behind her get more enraptured with Elaine Stritch’s performance as she goes on. It is a testament to how amazing this woman truly is.
I feel you. I wish she was "still here." Only wish she had been more of a survivor. Her mom was that kind of survivor though. "Postcards from the Edge" has her mother figure played by Shirley MacLaine singing it. Her mom, Debbie Reynolds, sang it in her touring show. The "Bright Lights" documentary has her family riffing on the lyrics to "There's No Business Like Show Business." Elaine Stritch does that! The end song in "Bright Lights," Carrie does a torch song, right? There's a gutsy spirited song of Yoko Ono's that Carrie does which has just a snippet on an iphone You Tube clip.It is the opposite of a torch song and I think you would love it. In around 2010 at a benefit. "What a Bastard the World Is." (She had a bond with Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon.)
Sondheim always wanted actors who could sing, and he wrote songs that had to be performed, not just sung. This song and the performance by Elaine Stritch is simply perfect.
Elaine Stritch is so F*ckin Phenomenal! I was blessed to see her one woman show live in New York in 2001, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty. A simple loose silk shirt with her long hosed legs and gentle heels. She held the space with such a delicious mix of irreverence, timing, energy, vulnerability, humor, and theatrical dexterity. She was (and her spirit still is) a Wonder! ✨🙌🏾💕✨
I’m so grateful for Tina Fey for introducing me to Elaine Stritch via 30 Rock. And I’m grateful for The Algorithm and The Universe for serving me up this video! I love the women behind her too x
@@paulwalsh8459 I was at the piano for one of those performances and I was her helper for the evening: "Are you gonna help an old lady get down from here." After that I was her lifter/descender for the evening.
David Schalk Did you see the doc Always at the Carlyle? There's a part where the lights go out during some interviews & they all agree it's Elaine making contact 😘👻
Elaine’s, Patti’s and Donna’s performances on sondheim’s birthday make me fucking cry every single time. These are true artists with true talent. This is true entertainment.
This is the song I played for my dog when she passed because, I don't know, she really reminded me of Elaine Stritch. That might sound stupid but this song and this woman are such an inspiration to me I watch this video probably once a week and it never gets old.
I don't think there's a better rendition that can match the passion and fire of this song. Elaine truly lived thru a lot and that experience shines thru every aspect of this performance. When she says, "But I'm here," I believe it. God I miss her. Look at the respect she gets from the rest of the performers behind her, and Jesus, that line-up's nothing to scoff at: Donna, Marin, Patti, Audra, Bernadette? Holy shit.
I’m not a Broadway kinda guy at all. But I happened upon this video randomly yesterday and I’ve watched it 3 times. And each time I tear up a bit. One of my many regrets will be that I never got to see her live. What talent.
A year has passed since you posted this. I hope that in that time you have found and seen or heard "At Liberty" or the RU-vid posts of Company's Original Cast Album ("The Little Things You Do Together" and the soul-shattering "Ladies Who Lunch") or Elaine's later concert performances of "Ladies." If not, please do so! Each, you will find, is time well spent. She will come to throbbing, roaring life every time you watch her.
She may not have had a classically beautiful singing voice but she was utterly authentic, a brilliant interpreter of whatever she sang, completely and wonderfully unforgettable. And damn it, she was here!
It's 2021, the Oscars are over, and I can honestly say it'd be a damn shame if the Tonys don't put this in the show. After all that happened last year, we're kind of overdue for this reassurance
REST in FOREVER HONORED PEACE, STEPHEN SONDHEIM -- You passed away yesterday and we're all REELING here ... ELAINE STRITCH - RIP, too! You are the most moving creature on the planet in so many ways here ... THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING us ALL! Y'all KNOCKED IT OUTTA DA BALLPARK. T'anks! (ALL those lyrics and not ONE FLUFF! -- WHEEEEW!)
Probably watched this video 20 times now. I am convinced that Elaine Stritch was the most talented and coolest person on the planet. This has got to be my favorite 6 minutes of life. Jesus effing Christ. How incredible is this glorious woman.
There have been many excellent performers that do this song, but Elaine really blows them all away here. You can tell by watching the women in the background focused in absolute rapture and admiration. They are all professionals that have seen it all, and the fact that even they clearly know this is really special is clear. Thanks for posting!
Many years ago, I had a conversation with Stephen Sondheim about this song and the various people who have performed it. He told me that Elaine Stritch had really wanted to sing it in the concert version of Follies, but that he had nixed that idea because he didn't think Stritch was up to the task vocally. I saw Stritch perform (and slay) this song several times over the years and always liked to imagine that at least some of the defiance and bravado in her performances stemmed from that earlier snubbing.
@@ericholck272 I mean to be fair the song here is taken down a few steps cause he was right she couldn't vocally do it but the thing about her is that she doesn't just sing, she performs and that's what makes her a once in a lifetime talent, she really took what she had (superb acting talent and a sub-par singing voice) and just made it work.
@@ejgotcher1011 Yes, absolutely that. Some of Elaine's contemporaries like Channing & even Merman didn't approach their songs with the grace of an operatic angel, they brought a bulldozer of CHARACTER & CHARM to every note. They knew they weren't Garland or Andrews, hitting every note with laser-focused accuracy & pitch, and they never tried to be that. These were PERFORMERS & ENTERTAINERS which is a class in & of itself. If you wanted a Broadway legend to wring out every drop of truth & raw integrity in their performance, Elaine Stritch was among the best.
My gosh, why did this make me cry? Oh I know why. Because this is the epitome of broadway. It's about selling emotion to everyone from the front row to the balconies, not (necessarily) about signing runs and other vocal acrobatics. Such a powerful performance. Thanks for posting it.
Omigosh, yes! Sometimes I want to scream when I read the comments below a video of whoever is the current pop star flavor of the month, comments that say "Oh, look, there's a tear. She has so much emotion. Nobody else does that!" But instead of screaming, I offer a link to this, or any of the other performances by the ladies at that concert.
Nobody ever deserved to sing this brilliant Sondheim song more than dear Elaine Stritch, especially at that point in her career. What a talent, sorely missed!
Finally got my husband to watch this. He never got into musicals growing up. But at least now he understands why I yell "STRITCHYYYYY" whenever she turns up on 30 Rock.
Dammit, Sondheim! Your compositions and lyrics are magic! Stritch brought these words to life in a way we'll not witness again, I'm sure. There's something to be said about a technically perfect performance, but something entirely different when you lose the line between performer, character, and... something bigger: A perfect intersection of the two. And that.. is pure magic. 🎉 God, thank you for Ms. Elaine Stritch.❤
The problem is that this is how this song deserves to be performed by everyone, but only the icon Elaine Stritch can do it like this! She just got up from a chair, wearing normal clothes, and made everyone feel something like she’s been on stage setting this up. Legendary. And Patti LuPone lip syncing behind her is the greatest.
Anyone else loving how much fun the conductor seems to be having in this song? That's fun to me, that he's enjoying making this great musical event so much!
What a terrific ole' B'way broad babe Elaine Stritch was. Who would have thought that Elaine could still knock this song out of the box at this stage of her life? Elaine Stritch was one of the best B'way stars of my time as were such as Mary Martin or Ethel Merman were a few decades ago. If there is a special place for special stars in Heaven, Elaine Stritch has made it up there. God bless her soul.
She’s been through it all and toward the ends she got sober to find she didn’t need a crutch in the first place . She found out that her unique talent was one of a kind - the ability to communicate deeply with her audience through humor . She said in an instant one can change a downer day to a great day with humor . Thank you Elaine for lifting many of my days . That’s about the greatest gift one can give another . The “ I got through all of last year “ sprung up emotion in me that I didn’t give permission for but am grateful for . All of us are human and life at times is rough but it’s ok . Just laugh and you’ll look down on the problem instead of looking up at it , helpless . No one is truly alone . Life hits everyone.
When it comes to this particular song, Elaine Stritch's performance is the VERY best. She is a trooper and a survivor, and she really HAS been through it all.
I love how those 5 women absolutely adore Ms. Elaine. What a fabulous group!!! Patti was loving every Performance. Her face said it all! You go Florene!!!! LOL!
Good times and bum times, I've seen them all And, my dear, I'm still here Plush velvet sometimes Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I'm here I've stuffed the dailies in my shoes Strummed ukuleles, sung the blues Seen all my dreams disappear but I'm here. I've slept in shanties, guest of the W.P.A., but I'm here Danced in my scanties Three bucks a night was the pay, but I'm here I've stood on bread lines with the best Watched while the headlines did the rest In the depression was I depressed? Nowhere near, I met a big financier and I'm here I've been through Gandhi, Windsor and Wally's affair, and I'm here Amos 'n' Andy, Mah-jongg and platinum hair, and I'm here I got through Abie's, Irish Rose, Five Dionne babies, Major Bowes Had heebie-jeebies for Beebe's, Bathysphere I got through Shirley Temple, and I'm here I've gotten through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover Gee, that was fun and a half When you've been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover Anything else is a laugh I've been through Reno, I've been through Beverly Hills, and I'm here. Reefers and vino, rest cures, religion and pills, and I'm here Been called a 'Pinko', commie tool, got through it stinko by my pool I should've gone to an acting school, that seems clear Still someone said, "She's sincere", so I'm here Black sable one day, next day it goes into hock, but I'm here Top billing Monday, Tuesday, you're touring in stock, but I'm here First you're another sloe-eyed vamp Then someone's mother, then you're camp Then you career from career to career I'm almost through my memoirs, and I'm here I've gotten through, "Hey, lady, aren't you whoozis? Wow, what a looker you were" Or better yet, "Sorry, I thought you were whoozis Whatever happened to her?" Good times and bum times, I've seen 'em all And, my dear, I'm still here Flush velvet sometimes Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I'm here I've run the gamut, A to Z Three cheers and dammit, C'est la vie I got through all of last year, and I'm here Lord knows, at least I was there, and I'm here Look who's here, I'm still here
