Gone, But Not Forgotten

It's hard to believe it, but it was five years ago today that we lost the great Dorothy Loudon to lung cancer. I was never privileged to have seen Loudon perform onstage (her final performance was the first preview of Dinner at Eight at Lincoln Center less than a year prior to her death), but thank God for her cast albums, her Tony-winning legacy and in this instance, youtube, for keeping the memory of this extraordinary talent alive. I'll never forget the following spring at the 2004 Theatre World Awards when Peter Filichia made a special mention of her toward the end of the ceremony bringing about a full house standing ovation in her memory.

Here is her performance of "Fifty Percent," the eleven o'clock number from Ballroom, from the 1979 Tony awards telecast.