SHORT TAKES : Bacall: Broadway’s Appeal Lost

PORT HURON, Mich. — Tony Award-winning actress Lauren Bacall says the theater is still her first love, but Broadway just isn’t the same anymore and she’d rather work in smaller venues outside New York.

Bacall complained during a talk at Town Hall here Monday that Broadway’s emphasis on reviving old hits in recent years has limited opportunities for actors.

“I’m tired of revivals. I would rather be on stage in Chicago or in a good repertory theater in Seattle than be doing some of the things available on Broadway,” she said.

Bacall, who won Tonys for “Applause” and “Woman of the Year,” credited her late husband Humphrey Bogart for her success. He starred opposite her in her first movie, “To Have and Have Not,” in 1944.

“Bogie was the best teacher I had,” she said. “He showed me the ropes. Until I met him, I believed everything I read.”