Theatre Trivia about the late Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite, once named the "most trusted man in America," passed away yesterday at the age of 92 leaving behind an incredible legacy as a journalist and news anchor. Many other and more worthy news sites will be eulogizing the broadcasting legend, so I will leave that charge to them, but wanted to touch very briefly on his Broadway connection.

He and his late wife were avid theatregoers in New York; often seen on the red carpet at many opening nights on Broadway. His daughter-in-law is stage and screen actress Deborah Rush, who is currently on the boards as Mrs. Bradman in the revival of Blithe Spirit that closes tomorrow.

But I wanted to share this interesting tidbit from the TCM biography of Mr. Cronkite:

"Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine wanted Cronkite to play the Narrator role in their stage production, Into the Woods, but Cronkite declined. In 1995, he provided voice-overs, however, for the musical revival of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Matthew Broderick."

I knew the latter piece of information, as Mr. Cronkite's voice over narration is on the revival cast album, but I never knew the former.

And that's the way it was...