Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT- Page 4
Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
#76Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 5:32pm
I'm so happy there are people like MichaelBennett, PalJoey, SonofRobbieJ who can actually intellectually and rationally engage with someone like Phyllywhat'shis/hername. I pretty much have been wanting to call him/her a racist Asshole for most of this thread, but that's no way of engaging with someone.
The only good thing to come out of this thread (besides celebrating Uggams) is the fact the seed was planted for the immensely talented Anika Noni Rose to play EVITA. Can you imagine? She'd be the definition of "dynamite" in that role. She'd reinvent the role a la Alan Cummings in CABARET.
Oh and reverse racism is one of those terms racist people like to throw around to justify whatever racist comment they are about to make, like "let's just have a PORGY & BESS with Sutton Foster." It reminds me of those people who are against gay marriage who immediately say "what's next? I'll just have a wedding with my dog then." To which I say, F*CK off...see? Someone classier than me needs to intervene.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#77Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 6:22pm
I didn't see the production however did anyone catch the revival of 110 IN THE SHADE with Audra McDonald as Lizzie? Did you have a problem getting into the story line because of Audra's casting? When I saw the Lincoln Center production of CAROUSEL I had no problem accepting a black Carrie or Nettie. The sheer majesty of their voices immediately won me over.
I use to go to school with a young actress who auditioned as a replacement for young Louise in the original production of GYPSY. She was very talented, had the required looks and was called back three times. Ultimately she was rejected because they feared she was already a bit too tall for the role and might shoot up in height. Now a young Louise taller than the actress playing the older Louise would probably be a problem for me (and possibly if one Louise was of one race and the other of another) but I still believe it would be a momentary transition for me. So as others have already mentioned it still seems to be more a matter of how willing one is able to suspend their belief in accepting an actress/actor in a role. For me race is not a problem. If the performer is talented enough I become invested in their performance.
Personally, I'd love to see Lea Delaria play Rose. I know the real Rose was supposedly petite and pretty but I could easily appreciate seeing Delaria as much as I could Uggams. Granted there is a point where no matter how talented a performer is, they just may not be right for a role. I recall in the book HELLO GORGEOUS, it was mentioned a young Barbra Streisand auditioned for the role of Lizzie in 110 IN THE SHADE but was rejected for being too Jewish. Agreed yet I would have loved to have heard her OLD MAID.
#78Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 6:28pmWhy are you people so obsessed with age?? Good god, it's the theater. Suspend belief. Go with it and judge the performance not the AGE of the performer. If a few wrinkles scare you, remember it is not the movies- there are no close ups. I never heard such nonsense. You all must be fifteen year olds weaned on awful movies and worse tv and who know nothing about theatrical performing.
#79Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 6:29pmI don't know what thread you're reading, but if people are obsessed with anything on this thread, it's race, not age.
#80Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 6:34pmReginald, I stopped reading this dreck after the first page carrying on about Uggams' age. I'm glad I went no further if it turned to their outrage and ignorance concerning colorblind casting.
#81Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 6:52pm
We've all seen white people play every race imaginable, from "legit" portrayals to parody.
I don't see anything wrong with returning the favor now, and that includes "legit" performances and parody.
Someone earlier suggested Audra McDonald for Mary Todd Lincoln. I would LOVE to see that. Maybe Morgan Freeman could be her Abe Lincoln.
I do have more of a problem with age, completely. For one huge reason: they usually (with VERY few exceptions) can't pull of the performance. They don't convince. More often than not, people that are too old for their roles look like Norma Desmond or Baby Jane Hudson. They come off as foolish instead of young. The energy and awareness are not the same. If they're too young for a part, they look like bratty little kids trying to put on a show in a barn. They're playing dress-up. It doesn't work. They are ill-equipped, and that's the big difference.
It's all about convincing me that you're the character. So convince!
But race rarely, if ever, bothers me in a role. To each his own.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 4/21/14 at 06:52 PM
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#82Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 8:43pm
I wish I could make it up to Connecticut to see her in it. I don't care if she isn't the precise age Rose actually was, or the same ethnicity. The play takes place over a long period of time so nobody could be the absolutely accurate age the entire play. As long as the energy's there, who cares? I'd watch a 90 year old play her if she delivers a compelling performance.
As for her ethnicity, again who cares? Nobody knows Rose's actual ethnic makeup, but I can bet LuPone, Peters, Lansbury, Merman and the other famous ladies who's played her don't match that exact background. Why should Uggams be any different? Sure the real Rose was white, but her ethnicity isn't mentioned once in the text, so it's pretty much irrelevant. And as others have said, it's so fictionalized that historical accuracy goes out the window pretty fast.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
Updated On: 4/21/14 at 08:43 PM
#83Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 9:15pm
Gypsy has the subtitle of "A Musical Fable."
Fables are traditionally told with animals.
Maybe Rose should be a goat or a hen.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#84Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 9:20pmThey could use the farm yard costumes from "Chantecler" and the meaning of Caroline the Cow would of course take on come tell new meaning. I like it.
#85Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 9:48pm
Besides, if you're going for historical authenticity, the real Rose Hovick was a murderess, a pimp and a lesbian.
NOW who are you going to cast, Philly?
#87Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/21/14 at 11:21pmAhhh ha ha ha ha ha haaa! Thanks for the laugh, Reginald.
#88Leslie Uggams to play Mama Rose in CT
Posted: 4/26/14 at 7:12pm
Other than seeing Uggams in Roots, I was not that familiar with her work. Then you folks introduced me last year to her "June is Busting Out All Over" so now I am so excited to see her as Mama Rose. I have already purchased my ticket for 7/15 and look forward to the schlep. I'll even pack my Oil of Olay.
