‘HE was like Peter Pan, in a way. A kind of demented Peter Pan, and Betty had to be Wendy to keep him in line.”
That’s Arthur Laurents’ apt and loving description of the celebrated Broadway writer Adolph Green, who died in his sleep Wednesday night at the age of 87.
“Betty,” of course, is Betty Comden, Green’s writing partner of 65 years and with whom he’ll be forever linked as “Comden and Green.”
They were not, as many people believed, married (Green’s wife of more than 40 years, Phyllis Newman, survives him), though they frequently joked that they saw more of each other than they did their respective spouses.
They met practically every morning (and were doing so up until last week) to work on the show at hand or rack their brains for an idea for a new one.
“It’s not very glamorous,” Comden once said. “I look at Adolph. He looks at me. I say, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ He says, ‘No, do you?’ I say, ‘No, but would you like a grape?’ “
Still, they slogged away – out of “hunger,” Green used to joke – and managed to come up with a few winners over the years, including “On the Town,” “Wonderful Town,” “Bells Are Ringing,” “Peter Pan” and “The Will Rogers Follies.”
They also co-wrote two classic Hollywood musicals, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Bandwagon.”
They never discussed who wrote what, and the nature of their partnership was always a bit of a mystery around Broadway.
Laurents – a director and bookwriter who collaborated with them on the musical “Hallelujah, Baby!” – says they worked well together because they were opposites: he, daffy, rambunctious, a bit undisciplined; she, practical, centered, steady.
“Adolph’s feet rarely touched the floor,” Laurents says. “And when there was work to be done, Betty had to be the mother and bring him down.”
The impish Green was a fixture at opening nights, usually turned out in a blindingly red tie and zanily patterned sport coat.
“He walked the sartorial edge and never fell off,” says Tommy Tune, who directed “The Will Rogers Follies.”
Though in poor health and legally blind for the last few years of his life, he never lost his sense of humor.
In fact, he and Newman made a running joke out of his handicap.
Dolling herself up for a Broadway opening, she’d turn to Green and say, “How do I look, Adolph?” and they’d both dissolve into laughter.
His humor was always whimsical, sometimes bizarrely hilarious.
“We were having a very serious interview about ‘Will Rogers’ at Sardi’s with a major newspaper,” recalls Tune, “and all of us were saying very serious things, except for Adolph, who didn’t say a word. Then the interviewer turned to him and said, ‘Mr. Green, as co-lyricist of this show, what do you have to say?’ Adolph put down his soup spoon and said, “Goo.’ “
BROADWAY is also mourning the death this week of veteran producer and general manager Marvin Krauss, 74.
A Runyon-esque character who always wore exquisitely tailored pinstripe suits, sunglasses and a tan, Krauss oversaw such Broadway shows as “The Will Rogers Follies,” “Passion,” “Grand Hotel” and “Dreamgirls.”
He looked like a Mafia don, but was in fact a “benevolent father figure,” said veteran press agent Judy Jacksina.
He was also a shrewd dealmaker and a tough negotiator and fighter for his shows.
But when the deal was done and the show went on, he acted like a big kid.
“On ‘Grand Hotel,’ he spent several days straight hammering out an excruciating deal,” Jacksina said. “When it finally went through, he lay down on the floor, kicked his feet into the air and screamed, ‘Yahoo! Yahoo!’ “
CASTING news: Peter Sarsgaard and Elisabeth Shue will replace Edward Norton and Catherine Keener in “Burn This” beginning Nov. 19.