There are plenty of reasons to catch “An Evening With Shirley MacLaine,” the actress’s live retrospective on her six decade career happening at Bass Hall 8pm Saturday (Apr 30). Of course, the 76 year old performer is extraordinarily versatile — skilled in both drama and comedy as well as being an old school hoofer trained by Broadway, Vegas and Hollywood musicals. She’s worked with some of the most influential actors, directors, musicians, politicians, and world leaders from the last half of the 20th century. (By her own admission, she’s slept with a few of them, too). The oft-maligned “New Age” philosophies in her books are not new at all and are shared by hundreds of millions of believers around the world.
So what’s one reason to be wary of Shirley’s evening at Bass Hall? MacLaine’s getting gripey in her senior years. The name of her latest book, I’m Over All That, should give you a clue. In it she provides a list of all the things that annoy her. These include: People who say boring things; people who repeat themselves; people who are too rigid in their political views; entitled youngsters; the news media; airport security measures; the state of the environment; and on from there.
As a rule, I don’t begrudge anyone a skeptical, even grumpy old age. But I also don’t want to spend $33-$110 to hear a legendary movie star shout “Get off my lawn!” all night. So c’mon, Shirley, bring the good crazy, not the pissed-off kind.
Her best role was in The Apartment when she was passed out drunk and not talking for once.