Yet here they all are, starring in Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a sometimes inspired and sometimes listless exploration of a path-breaking theatrical work.
Stritch, who studied acting alongside Marlon Brando at the New School, who understudied the famously never-absent Ethel Merman in "Call Me Madam" and who became a signal interpreter of songs by Noel Coward and Sondheim, picked up lessons from the theatrical titans she crossed paths with in her storied career.
If you are a composer with theatrical flair, opera would seem the logical path to follow.
Short and bald he may be, with what have been called "toby-jug features", but at 65 he is attractive, humorous and convinced that the unorthodox theatrical direction he has chosen is his true path.
The way the glow from its window illuminated the path made my think of a theatrical stage set, with a glimpse of an early riser walking his dog off stage left".
It's kind of spooky in the jungle, sweaty and dank, with deep growls of thunder adding a theatrical touch of menace to a shadowy old mule path.
Russell appeared in dozens of films and theatrical productions and wrote an autobiography in 1985 called My Path and Detours.
"Out 1" comprises long, meandering scenes of rehearsals and theatrical exercises, and the dialogue often follows a long and sinuous path that brushes by nodal points of the plot en route to incidental destinations.
Along the way, he crossed paths -- and sometimes swords -- with such legendary theatrical figures as David Merrick, whom he called "an evil genius," and the flamboyant producer Billy Rose, who he said was bright but "a bad judge of material".
The film was Frankenheimer's final theatrical release, but his career ended on a strong note with the HBO production Path to War (2002).
