i love barbara harris

Here’s an old classic clip of theater great Barbara Harris in a somewhat obscure little musical called “The Apple Tree.” (It was revived a few years ago on Broadway starring Kristen Chenoweth, whom I love, but you can’t beat Barbara Harris.)

I first encountered this musical when our drama department performed it in high school. It’s an odd little piece, uneven, but totally endearing to me.

It’s a musical in three acts — the same male and female playing the leads in all three acts. That’s usually how it’s done, although, to utilize more people and to limit pouting and hissy fits, our director cast different people in each act. I suppose that was smart given the rampant immaturity he was dealing with. (I was Ella/Passionella. Oh, you’re about to meet her.)

The first act is “The Diary of Adam and Eve” based on Twain’s short story. The second is “The Lady or the Tiger?” based on the short story by — honestly, I had to look this up — Frank Stockton. And the third act, from which this clip is taken, is called “Passionella,” a re-imagining of the Cinderella tale — written by Jules Feiffer — with a Marilyn Monroe twist.

In this clip — from, oh, 1967? I think? — we meet Ella, a chimney sweep who has the universal dream of all chimney sweeps — to be a movie star.

Barbara Harris is a genius. Just …. a genius. The clip is old, as I said, but she, SHE is magic. Her voice, her body — she is a total goof and I adore her. She moos; she howls. It’s hilarious. She lip-syncs a high note at one point. She just quits the stage at the end. It all feels like an old musical variety show and I love that it’s so of-an-era. It’s a longer clip, yes, but I hope you’ll watch it all. I guarantee this will cheer up the bluest of blues. I’m thrilled that I even found it. She won the Tony for “The Apple Tree” that year.

A true gem.

5 Replies to “i love barbara harris”

  1. “…she is a total goof…”

    You could even say she acted kinda “Freaky”… (how sad that it is only THAT performance that I recognize her from)

  2. Then again, I’m a trivia geek, I only remember the “famous” (or infamous roles) of an actor, not those based on their genius when it comes to acting.

  3. Ya know, Disney NEVER did a good job with this movie… had they stuck close to the book, especially the Barbara Harris/ Jodie Foster version, it would have been a classic. Unfortunately, they pushed the camp and slap stick rather than the real emotions of the book.

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