In a move sure to deliberately embarrass her in front of a reporter (or 1,000), acting legend — and legendary handful — Faye Dunaway, 78, has been unceremoniously dumped as the star of the new play Tea at Five, which just concluded a short run in Boston.
NYP reports that Dunaway was fired for creating a hostile work environment, which included allegedly slapping crew members and throwing things around while they were trying to get her into her wig, which led to the last-second cancellation of the show's July 10 performance.
The show received positive notices — my two friends who went loved it and her, though carped about the 60-minute running time — and starred Dunaway as fellow icon Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003). In the play, by Matthew Lombardo, Hepburn chats about her ahem love affair with Spencer Tracy (1900-1967). So I guess it's a fantasy?
To add insult to injury, while the play will no longer make it to Broadway, it will go on to the West End — with a new actress.
The laundry list of things Dunaway apparently did to infuriate everyone around her during the mercifully brief run of Tea at Five is alarming, and suggests she is not well. She has yet to comment on the story, but if she wonders why no one is particularly sympathetic, it's for reasons well known to her.
