My favorite Merman quote- Page 3

[elmore3003]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 4:53pm

Merman had my friend Paula Laurence fired from SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS for upstaging her.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 4:57pm

Paula probably deserved it.

Posted: 8/18/06 at 5:46pm

I don't know if this one's been posted, but:

When asked why she didn't talk to Gypsy co-star Sandra Church, Merman replied, "Of course I talk to her. Every night after the curtain comes down I tell her, 'Go **** yourself!'"

[Horton]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 5:52pm

And we wonder why Merman was married so many times.

[vjRichie]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 8:00pm

Jennifer Holiday said (on the Rosie show I beleive) that Merman came backstage after Dreamgirls and told Jennifer she would never make it being so fat and with that voice!


or something like that, I wished I saved that episode!

[morosco]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 9:21pm

"Jennifer Holiday said (on the Rosie show I beleive) that Merman came backstage after Dreamgirls and told Jennifer..."

Holliday said that Merman told her that she couldn't sing. That's all.

[mike L G]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 9:58pm

When they had a tribute benefit in the the late ninties
for aids . The show opened "Something For the Boys" in like
village people customs and they dubbed in from "Call Me Madam"
what she is saying to the steatsmen . Not Dollar ,Not a Quarter,
Not a dime. Course if you like to stick around for a few beer's.

[mike L G]

Posted: 8/18/06 at 9:58pm

When they had a tribute benefit in the the late ninties
for aids . The show opened "Something For the Boys" in like
village people customs and they dubbed in from "Call Me Madam"
what she is saying to the steatsmen . Not Dollar ,Not a Quarter,
Not a dime. Course if you like to stick around for a few beer's.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 4:58am

The "bitchy" stories are more fun, but when we interviewed her for a weekly radio show I produced she was funny and delightful.

One story she told was that when she played the London Palledium in the 1970s a fan from Scotland send her down a sprig of white heather, for luck. She said "She couldn't even come down and see the show, but it was so sweet and I couldn't even write her and thank her because there was no return address."

[allofmylife]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 11:40am

I still think "Call me Mrs. Birdseye, honey, but this show is frozen" is inspired.

[ILUVTOMG]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 11:50am

A friend of mine (now deceased) worked on the 1977 Merman/Martin benefit and said that Mary walked into rehearsal late one day - Ethel was onstage singing. When Merman spotted Martin sneaking in she stopped the orchestra and bellowed 'Hey Mary how come you're late? Hope you got some **** last night 'cause I got a great piece of dick' LORD I LOVE THAT STORY.

Posted: 8/19/06 at 11:52am

^
i cant think of what "****" represents in this instance.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 12:01pm

This is a personal story I heard from my teacher, Lenora Nemetz, that has produced one of my favorite quotes, Merman or otherwise:

So, when Pittsburgh opened Heinz Hall, all of these big names showed up (I guess) and Merman was one of them. The conducter totally screwed up her arragement and the music itself got all messed up and she started yelling at him, while performing for the audience. Then, after the show, she marches up to her dressing room. And, as Lenora said, "She liked me for some reason and she told me to come up with her. She turns to me and says, 'LEE! THAT SONUVABITCH IS TRYING TO SAAAABOTAGE ME!" And we started counting her music. She would say, '1' and I would reply with '1' and so on and so forth. Then, this little boy walks in and asks for her autograph. She says, 'Fine.' She signs it, and keeps on counting. '18, Best Regards Ethel, 19.' It was truly like a sitcom."

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 5:01pm

I love these Merman quotes! Thanks to all who posted

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 8:51pm

I can't remember where I read it, but Stephen Sondheim says the line "You ain't gettin' 88 cents from me, Rose!" on the original cast album of "Gypsy" and he said that he used his annoyance at her to fuel his reading of the line.

[Horton]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 10:01pm

I had never heard that Sondheimboy, can anybody confirm that?

Posted: 8/19/06 at 10:07pm

^
its in the liner notes for the remastered version of the OBCR.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 10:16pm

Re: GYPSC OCR

It's true. What happened was the actor playing Rose's father was not called to attend the recording session and when Goddard Lieberson decided he wanted to use that bit of dialogue, Sondheim filled in. (Before I knew this it always sounded to me like the guy playing her father was too young. Now I know why!)

Sondheim's reading is barely adequate: He puts emphasis on ME instead of 88 CENTS. But Merman screams back "Then I'll get it someplace else, but I'll get it, and get my kids OUT!"

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 12:35pm

Bump #2 for Zamedy

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 4:48pm

When Merman first sight read the Gershwins' Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, she didn't understand the song's now famous running gag and gave the repeated words the exact same pronunciation.

As you might expect, she went full throttle into the refrain:

You say potato! And I say potato!
You say tomato! And I say tomato!

Potato..... (quizzically, she slowed tempo).... Potato...
(completely disoriented) Tomato Tomato?!?!

(she then stopped short).

"STUPID SONG!"
Updated On: 10/7/11 at 04:48 PM

[zamedy]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 9:53pm

Awwwww! Thanks PalJoey! You have made my night! How many of us have been literally LOLing reading this thread! Love her. Love it!

[jv92]

Posted: 10/9/11 at 2:59pm

I heard this one on a YouTube video:

Some stage door Johnnies were waiting for Merman at the stage door at GYPSY way back when. They waited nearly an hour and a half. A limo pulls up. The stage door swings open and there she is.

The fellows gawk and say, "Ooh, hello Miss Merman!"

She hollers back, "HI BOYS!" and strides into the limo without giving an autograph.

The stories go that she disliked giving autographs because they always made her late for where she had to be.

In any event, I found that one funny.

[crewdude]

Posted: 10/9/11 at 3:30pm

"It's not a cult. It's a Religion. ~ Mitt Romney

That's the best Mormon quote I know.

OOOOOH, MERMAN. Umm, never mind.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/9/11 at 9:10pm

Actually, this thread should be called The Book of Merman.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/11 at 11:20pm

The Book(s) of Merman:






























THE MERMAN MEDLEY
http://youtu.be/HJ708f-xsR0