"What a thrill it was to play opposite Maurice Evans in this brilliant, dazzling musical, based on the life of two of the greatest personalities in stage history"
About this Quote
The line is polished gratitude with a backstage agenda: it’s less a diary confession than a carefully framed tribute that positions Dinah Sheridan inside a lineage of theatrical prestige. The opening, “What a thrill,” performs excitement in the classic show-business register - emotion as credential. It signals not just enjoyment but legitimacy, the kind that comes from proximity to an established name.
Naming Maurice Evans does heavy lifting. Evans wasn’t merely a co-star; he carried Shakespearean authority and a certain mid-century gravitas. By emphasizing she played “opposite” him, Sheridan subtly claims parity and seriousness, suggesting she wasn’t just in the cast, she was in conversation with craft at the highest level. The phrase “brilliant, dazzling” reads like press-kit language, but that’s the point: it participates in the promotional ecosystem that sustains theatre, where praise is both sincere and strategic.
The most revealing move is the escalation to “two of the greatest personalities in stage history.” That superlative isn’t about biographical accuracy; it’s about myth-making. Musicals based on famous performers trade in nostalgia and veneration, turning real careers into consumable legend. Sheridan’s wording aligns her with that reverence while keeping her own role tasteful, secondary, and therefore believable.
Contextually, it reflects an era when public speech by actors was expected to be gracious, brand-safe, and deferential to theatrical institutions. Subtext: I belonged to something important - and I knew how to say so in the language the business rewards.
Naming Maurice Evans does heavy lifting. Evans wasn’t merely a co-star; he carried Shakespearean authority and a certain mid-century gravitas. By emphasizing she played “opposite” him, Sheridan subtly claims parity and seriousness, suggesting she wasn’t just in the cast, she was in conversation with craft at the highest level. The phrase “brilliant, dazzling” reads like press-kit language, but that’s the point: it participates in the promotional ecosystem that sustains theatre, where praise is both sincere and strategic.
The most revealing move is the escalation to “two of the greatest personalities in stage history.” That superlative isn’t about biographical accuracy; it’s about myth-making. Musicals based on famous performers trade in nostalgia and veneration, turning real careers into consumable legend. Sheridan’s wording aligns her with that reverence while keeping her own role tasteful, secondary, and therefore believable.
Contextually, it reflects an era when public speech by actors was expected to be gracious, brand-safe, and deferential to theatrical institutions. Subtext: I belonged to something important - and I knew how to say so in the language the business rewards.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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