Well, hello, Patti (LaBelle)!- Page 3
Well, hello, Patti (LaBelle)!
#50Well, hello, Patti (LaBelle)!
Posted: 6/25/17 at 1:14am
RippedMan said: "Well, I do think they sort of shot themselves in the foot with their Tony performance. They didn't really sell the show at all, but instead made it out about who is in the show. So, I don't see it touring the country, etc. without a name in it."
Yeah, now they will only do their show in NYC with Bette Midler, recoup, and earn a profit... what were these morons thinking?!
#51Well, hello, Patti (LaBelle)!
Posted: 6/25/17 at 4:24am
As much as I can't stand to look at her, why not go the full comedic route with [mind blank--long face/big mouth--I'll fill it in when someone helps me remember]-she'd be uncontrollable--forget the 4th wall--she could play it from the foyer !
Keep the same cast/similar, until they run out of age appropiate Dollys-probably never.
#52Well, hello, Patti (LaBelle)!
Posted: 6/25/17 at 5:14am
green waver said: "Well, I was being tongue in cheek, but to take my thought seriously for a moment-first, as i'm sure you know, Herman and Stewart wrote it with Ethel Merman in mind. She was never on my list of performers who exude warmth....
"
I've seen both live and I'd say Ethel Merman is roughly equivalent to Bette Midler in the "warmth" department. They are both "great low comedians" (in Sondheim's phrase). Midler's comedy is smarter, for those who get it, but neither woman has Carol Channing's "I just want to hug every one of you" appeal, nor is either a harridan. After decades of Ethel-Merman-swears-like-a-sailor stories, she perhaps appears more strident than the characters she played on stage; we should keep in mind that Mary Martin--who played the corniest character in history in Maria Von Trapp--shared two of Merman's most popular musical comedy characters (Annie Oakley and Dolly).
I don't know why Meryl Streep would want to do it, unless they offered a movie remake or a one-night live TV "event".
Despite my remarks on Merman and Midler, I DO think Patti Lupone is too strident for Dolly. Lupone can be brilliant, but I don't believe anybody would invite her into his life in the way Horace does (along with several other characters). I know people who found her scary as Reno Sweeney!
