With TV’s current crop of no drama late-night hosts maintaining such good relations, it’s been many years without a late-night war, but finally there’s a new showdown to report.
Just days after Jimmy Fallon made an on-air plea for a portrait at Sardi’s, Stephen Colbert is making it known that he’s also gunning for a caricature at the legendary Broadway restaurant.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night to promote his role in the Broadway play All In: Comedy About Love, Lin-Manuel Miranda recounted a recent visit to Sardi’s to celebrate his 45th birthday.
“I had a bunch of close friends come see the show, and then we had an afterparty at Sardi’s, like it was my bar mitzvah,” Miranda told Colbert.
Colbert then jumped in with the all-important question: “Do you have a caricature up at Sardi’s?”
“I do. They’ve got me in my Hamilton blouse,” he responded.
“I don’t have one,” Colbert shot back with mock jealously.
“First of all… you’re literally holding down Broadway here in the 50s,” Miranda told Colbert, referring to his studio’s location on Broadway between 53rd and 54th Streets. “This is the Ed Sullivan Theater.”
“Ten years,” Colbert added in agreement. “What’s a guy got to do?”
Sardi’s has been frequented by stars of stage and screen since it opened on West 44th Street in 1927. It regularly honors its famous patrons with caricatures displayed on its walls—a collection that has grown to approximately 1,200 portraits today.
So who has a better shot at getting space on the wall first? Making the case for Fallon, the host has precedent on his side. Aside from the fact that he can now call himself a Broadway actor, three of Fallon’s Tonight Show predecessors have earned a spot on the wall: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson—who, like Fallon, had his own Broadway run.
Although Colbert has yet to add a proper Broadway production to his resume, the longtime late-night host may be able to enter the pantheon of Sardi’s legends through the back door.
“I can make a call,” Miranda told Colbert. “I make one call, you’re on the Sardi’s wall.”
“Or I can just have my bar mitzvah there,” Colbert replied. “Either one, I’d be perfectly happy.”
