Elizabeth Aldrich, her understudy, allegedly said in a since-deleted 2020 tweet, “She was absolutely awful to me and ensemble.”
“She made fun of the workers and threatened to terminate anybody who didn’t agree with her. Her cruel and deceptive actions used to make me weep every night. She was twelve. She was dangerous,” Elizabeth said.
5. According to reports, Maya Angelou tried out for the part of Pearl Bailey’s understudy in Hello, Dolly! in 1967.
“For my mother, it would have meant living continuously in New York without leaving me for at least a year, and it was regular money.”
Maya’s son Guy Johnson said in American Masters – Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise in 2017. She was adored by both the producer and the director.
