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Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?- Page 3

Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?

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Sirius Black
#50Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 3:27pm

The obvious choice to me is Phylica Rashad who has proven that she can do damn near anything.
The actress who never had the chance was Lynne Thigpen. If only.

Also - thank you for mentioning not to call her "Mamma Rose" which is des rigueur these days. I want to stab someone when I read that.

#51Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 3:32pm

Oh please. That "don't call her Mama Rose" argument is as tired as the "She was WHITE" garbage.

Jon
#52Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 7:33pm

re: Evita - I was not aware that Latinos were not caucasian. There are light-skinned Hispanics and dark-skinned Hispanics. As far as I know, "Evita" is not a show about race.

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best12bars
#53Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 7:35pm

Since Rose was a lesbian, I'm hoping Herbie will be played by a woman. That'll open things up.


"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

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morosco
#54Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 9:38pm

"...thank you for mentioning not to call her "Mamma Rose" which is des rigueur these days."

Merman always referred to the character as Mamma Rose. That's good enough for me.

zamedy
#55Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/9/11 at 10:25pm

I love Phylicia Rashad. Amazingly talented and true actress. But, can she sing.. and sing that score? I'd personally love to see Darlene Love belt it out, but admit other performers could likely deliver a much stronger performance acting-wise.

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TheLadyoftheWood
#56Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 1:27am

Dear zamedy,

Please look up some episodes on the Cosby show. Miss Rashad sing in a lot of them. She also performed on Broadway in many shows including Into the Woods, Dreamgirls (as understudy to Deena), and Bernarda Alba. I doubt she would have been cast if she couldn't sing. I don't know if her voice has held up to sing the Gypsy score but I have no doubt she can still hold a tune.
Into the Woods Tony Performance

Gothampc
#57Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 9:21am

All that "Don't call me Mama Rose" started when Bernadette played the role. See the wars that start when actresses are miscast?


If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

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Pippin
#58Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 9:35am

Oh stop. Let's not revisit THAT old chestnut.....


"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."

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madbrian
#59Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 9:51am


Don't Call Me Mama


"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

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JRybka
#60Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 10:21am

I think Miss Rachad would be wonderful!
I mean if Janet from Three's Company can do it why not her?

And the whole colorblind casting thing is crazy.
There was an amazing all Asian Production of Falsettos in SF I saw (White JEWS!)
And there was a deaf Big River... and remind me but I don't recall anywhere that Huck Finn was deaf... but it worked.


"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

Jon
#61Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 10:48am

Again, there are no lines in FALSETTOS like:

GEE, IT'S GREAT BEING A NON-ASIAN!
I'M SO GLAD I'M CAUCASIAN!

The show is not about race. I've seen African-American actors as Whizzer and Charlotte.

If the show is NOT ABOUT RACE, then it doesn't matter what race the actors are. That is COLOR BLIND casting.

Casting someone of the wrong race in a race-themed show like Ragtime or Big River or South Pacific is JUST PLAIN STUPID casting.

Gothampc
#62Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 12:35pm

I think we have to designate Mama Rose so that people don't get confused and think Ethel Merman played Rose Grant Alvarez or Rose Vibert.

Imagine a conversation like this:

"Wasn't Merman's Rose the best?"

"Even though Andrew Lloyd Webber blamed her for the poor critical reception of the show, her Anything But Lonely was haunting"

"Gower did the best with what he had to work with, but Merman as a Latina was only marginally believable."


If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Updated On: 3/10/11 at 12:35 PM

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JRybka
#63Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 3:26pm

Wait a minute.. You are saying Falsetto's is not about RACE? Um what Falsettos are YOU watching. The opening song is called Four Jews in a Room Bitching.

Last time I checked unless you went thru the whole conversion thing... Most Jews are not a> Asian or b> Black (Yes there are exceptions).....

No where in the show does Rose say "Oh I am so glad I am a white mother to these children... either so why not?)

So you argument then would be that Big River being done by deaf people is wrong casting...


"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

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Wishing Only Wounds
#64Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 5:22pm

Queen Latifah.

'nuff said.


Formerly: WishingOnlyWounds2 - Broadway Legend - Joined: 9/25/08

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PalJoey
#65Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 9:39pm

I can think of many Christian, Asian, black and Latino actors and actresses who would be excellent in Falsettos, including and particularly during the opening number ("Four Jews in a Room Bitching") and the other numbers that refer to Judaism.

Some of those performers were actually already brilliant--some even IN THE ORIGINAL CASTS.

Next question.

Last time I checked unless you went thru the whole conversion thing... Most Jews are not a> Asian or b> Black

Your glib comment marginalizes the indigenous Jewish communities in Africa and Asia, some of whom have been living there since before Jesus' time.


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canmark
#66Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 10:55pm

Indeed, the 'happiest man in American' is an Asian-American Jew.

----------
The New York Times asked Gallup to come up with a statistical composite for the happiest person in America, based on the characteristics that most closely correlated with happiness in 2010. Men, for example, tend to be happier than women, older people are happier than middle-aged people, and so on.

Gallup’s answer: he’s a tall, Asian-American, observant Jew who is at least 65 and married, has children, lives in Hawaii, runs his own business and has a household income of more than $120,000 a year. A few phone calls later and ...

Meet Alvin Wong. He is a 5-foot-10, 69-year-old, Chinese-American, Kosher-observing Jew, who’s married with children and lives in Honolulu.
----------

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/weekinreview/06happy.html?_r=2


Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)

Elphaba43
#67Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/10/11 at 11:32pm

I think Phylicia Rashad would be a great Rose :)


I am a bagel on a plateful of onion rolls. If you know what I'm talking about, good. If you don't, you're on your own!

Reginald Tresilian Profile Photo
Reginald Tresilian
#68Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 1:25pm

Also, JRybka, are you arguing that those roles in FALSETTOS can only be cast with Jews? Or simply with people who, to your mind, can "pass"?

#69Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 1:29pm

"Jewish" is not a race.

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Reginald Tresilian
#70Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 1:55pm

^ There's that, too.

LondonNow
#71Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 2:48pm

Exactly, thank you. Jewish is not a race. There are Jewish people of all races, colors, from all corners of the world, some via conversion or adoption, many not. I think that fact often gets lost because in the US, in general, the Ashkenazi Jewish (Jews who came from Eastern/Central Europe/Russia) population and culture is more predominant/visible than Sephardic or other Jewish communities in/from around the world.
As for the original question of this thread, I like the idea, posted by Wishing Only Wounds, of Queen Latifah as Rose.

Jon
#72Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 3:08pm

The perfect example of color-blind casting was the revival of CAROUSEL. A white man and a black woman had a brood of seven children who were white, black, and Asian. The plot of the show has nothing to do with racial issues, so it didn't matter.

On the other hand, you can't do that with SOUTH PACIFIC, since race is a central issue of the plot.

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Mister Matt
#73Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?
Posted: 3/11/11 at 5:05pm

Sammy Davis Jr. would have been an fantastic Whizzer.

On the original topic...Fuschia Walker.


"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian


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