Mixed Drink Monday: Roar!

Mixed Drink Monday: bringing together two of my favorite things: theatre history and booze. (Poured after The Kid has gone to sleep, of course!) Don't we all need a healthy quaff after a hard day of work on Mondays? 

Today In Theatre History...In 1895, Bert Lahr--best known for playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz--was born Irving Lahrheim in Manhattan.

After dropping out of school at fifteen to appear in a juvenile Vaudeville act, Lahr's Broadway career began with Harry Delmar's Revels, a Vaudeville musical revue that ran from November 1927-March 1928. Musical comedy after musical comedy followed, punctuated by revues. One of his biggest hits, Du Barry Was a Lady, premiered in 1939, and Lahr transitioned to straight theatre in 1956 when he appeared as Estragon in the short Broadway run of Waiting for Godot.

Though the Cowardly Lion is Lahr's claim to popular fame, his film and television careers were not as storied as his life on Broadway. His film debut was in 1931's Flying High, but his mannerisms--while appropriate for the stage--were seen as "too big" for the screen. "After The Wizard of Oz," he quipped, "I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions." He did originate the line "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" in Meet the People (1944), which was later popularized by Snagglepuss.

Lahr died of cancer in 1967, while filming The Night They Raided Minsky's. Upon hearing of his death during a concert, Judy Garland dedicated "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to "my lion." 

Today's Mixed Drink...

How could I tribute Bert Lahr with anything other than a lion-themed cocktail? The Cowardly Lion was the only character in The Wizard of Oz to have two mostly-solo songs; even Dorothy only has "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," while the Lion has "If I Only Had the Nerve" and "If I Were King of the Forest." Lahr suffered and ad-libbed through an incredibly hot costume--if anyone deserved a cool after-work cocktail, it would have been him.

(Recipe courtesy Esquire.)

The Red Lion

1 ounce London dry gin
1 ounce Grand Marnier
1/2 ounce orange juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice 

Shake well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass whose rim has been rubbed with lemon juice and dipped in sugar.

And For Your Listening Pleasure...

Please enjoy First Aid Kit's "The Lion's Roar."