Someone finally stood up to Elaine Stritch and her expense antics.  Read about it in The Post here. I laughed out loud when I read this today, because it brought back a lot of memories.

As the former Associate Company Manager for the Broadway production of Livent’s Show Boat, I can tell you that a lot of these exact same bills crossed my desk every week.  If Elaine went outside of the hotel room where she lived, we got charged for hair, limo, massages, the works.

My favorite Elaine memory was the day I got a letter from her with a receipt for close to $200 from Orso, at least six months after she left the show.  There was a note attached.  “Dear Steve,” (she called me Steve, don’t ask me why), “Garth  and I were supposed to have dinner this week, but he canceled his trip.  So… he told me to have dinner on him.  Here’s the bill.”

The real funny part?  We were instructed to pay it.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons the company that produced some of the  grandest productions of its time went bankrupt. You gotta love Elaine.  Talented and ballsy.

Maybe she should give up acting and produce, with mad skills like that.  I’d like to see what she would do if someone submitted hair bills to her.

And good for Michael Riedel of The Post (and of  Theater Talk) for slipping this tidbit to Page 6 on the other side of his office.