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"At the matinees," says Harrison, "a lot of very old people come to see us to see how we're standing up."

ballyhooed accordingly: "Look hard and look fast!" trumpeted the ads. "The likes of these two may never pass your way again!"

It's not known whether that line of ad copy ticked them off or not, but the fact is they've spent the past seven years very conspicuously in the public eye. Colbert boomeranged back to Broadway to play a curious mix of Agatha Christie and Barbara Cartland in A Talent for Murder (1981), and Harrison has paraded by twice, rather triumphantly too, in revivals of My Fair Lady (1981) and Heartbreak House  (1984). Now, Rex and Claudette - even the sound of their names together makes a kind of music - have joined hands once more and charged back to Broadway in Aren't We All? They may never pass your way again, but don't put any money on it.

Nothing brings the bloom back to a star's cheeks better than a five-star, five-alarm hit like the one these two professional charmers are going through right now. It's good for the complexion, and it's good for the soul. "At the matinees," says Harrison, "a lot of very old people come to see us to see how we're standing up." He roars at the notion because he knows, at 77, he stands up under scrutiny very well indeed.

Colbert is older (81) and, if possible, even more confident on that score. Fact is, she tests her confidence nightly and twice on Wednesdays and Saturdays when she makes her stage entrance. She swoops into view, to tumultuous applause - and straight into the line, "Upon my soul, you become younger very day!" If the audience is any gentleman, it'll second the motion with more tumultuous applause. (It never fails, in fact.)

"I feel so at home in the theatre," Colbert declares. "I started here, you know. And, to this day, whenever I walk out on that stage, that's where I feel right. I never had that feeling for the camera. When you're doing movies, your audience is your director, your sound man, your photographer, the crew. Everybody's into their own special little technical problems so you can wind up working by yourself. You can't learn comedy timing from a camera. You need a real audience to gauge yourself by."

Aren't We All? is a little brush-up course for the advanced class, and it packed 'em into London's Haymarket Theatre all summer long. Duncan Weldon, who runs the Haymarket, was the one who pitched the play to Harrison in the first place. "He said to me, 'Have you ever read this play of Freddy's?' I said, 'I don't think I have, but I know it was one of his favorites.' So I read it and I thought, 'Well, it's very slight, but it's got a nice feeling to it. It's a very old, sentimental piece - and that I think is something the public loves. They love it here. They did in London, too. We extended about four weeks - from 12 to 16 - and we came off to capacity business. Interestingly enough, last summer in England, our audiences I would say were almost half American because there was an enormous amount of tourists last summer because of the dollar being so strong.

"Claudette," Harrison declares in a voice that underlines, "was my idea. I thought she might like to do it, so I sent the play to her in Barbados. To my surprise and happiness, she said she would like to. And, of course, the management was thrilled to get her."

Colbert, a little surprised herself at herself, remembers the bait she rose to. "What Rex actually said was, 'Wouldn't you like to play London?' The last time I played London was 56 years ago - The Barker with James Kirkwood and Norman Foster. I married Norman Foster, as a matter of fact, during the London run. How could I possibly say no to playing London?" Done.

"Together Again!" just as the old movie 

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Transcription Notes:
not necessary to include italic indications; have removed have transcribed "ballyhooed" in full to start page, to avoid breaking words between pages, per transcription rules