{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"How Elizabeth Taylor Became a Mother Figure to a Young Broadway Actor","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":581,"description":"Ann Talman was just 22 when destiny — and a striking resemblance — landed her onstage with Hollywood royalty.The Broadway actor, filmmaker and singer was cast as Elizabeth Taylor’s daughter in the 1981 revival of The Little Foxes. It was her first major role. It became the start of a lifetime friendship.“We met on the very first day of rehearsal, and from that moment on she was the most warm, wonderful sort of stepmother,” Talman said. “She sensed that I was motherless — my mother had just died — and she instinctively took me under her wing and mothered me for the rest of her life.”Talman toured with Taylor for 18 months and remained close with her until the icon’s death in 2011. Now, Talman is sharing that story through song and memory in her acclaimed cabaret show, Elizabeth Taylor and the Shadow of Her Smile. She performs it this Saturday and Sunday at The Parlor in Narrowsburg as part of The Parlor Presents series.A connection written long before BroadwayTalman laughs at the notion of fate — but it’s hard to ignore in her story.“From the time I was a toddler, my mother noticed I looked exactly like young Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet,” she said. “People would stop me to say it. Then I auditioned for The Little Foxes, and when Elizabeth met me, she hugged me and whispered, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m looking at myself from National Velvet.’”The show intertwines Talman’s own coming-of-age with intimate scenes from Taylor’s life — including a side of Taylor the public rarely saw.“She was hilarious — a great practical joker with a famous cackle,” Talman said. “But she was also very authentic and down-to-earth. She loved being a mother and a grandmother.”Music as storytellingThe cabaret features Broadway standards and selections from the Great American Songbook — each chosen to reflect Talman’s bond with Taylor.“One of the first songs I picked was Long Before I Knew You,” she said. “I felt like I always sort of knew her, even before we met.”Other favorites...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}