As I've mentioned here a few times, my first memory of liking something I saw performed on the live stage is of a touring production of My Fair Lady that my mother took me to in downtown L.A. to when I was a wee lad. It starred a gentleman named Michael Evans who, I see this morning, has just left us. I don't particularly recall anything about his performance other than that he performed…but that was for me a magical road marker in my life. So I wanted to take note of his passing.
The Los Angeles Times obit mentions two things I found interesting. One is that it quotes a 1961 Times review of his performance. In previous mentions here (like this one), I said that I saw the show in 1959 or 1960. Well, maybe it was 1961, when I would have been nine years old. That sounds right to me.
The second thing is the mention of him appearing in the movie of Bye Bye Birdie, a film I've seen dozens of times. Evans played the classy gent who's competing with Dick Van Dyke for the affections of Janet Leigh…and I guess I knew that the actor who played that role was named Michael Evans. But I somehow never made the connection between that Michael Evans and the guy I saw playing Henry Higgins. I'm not sure why that should matter to a person at all but if I'd made that connection in 1963, it would have meant a lot to me. That was also the first movie musical I can recall ever liking.