Let's Name A Theater for Ethel Merman

With so many great hits including and especially Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Call Me Madam, Anything Goes, Girl Crazy, Panama Hattie, and her legendary performances in the Jerry Herman musical Hello Dolly in the waning months of the original Broadway run, it is time for the theatrical powerhouses in New York City to insist that a Broadway theater be renamed the Ethel Merman. It is a glaring and unacceptable oversight not to have this recognition for Miss Merman, and she is much more deserving than some recent theater community people who have achieved this status and honor. The span of her career, the illustrious shows that rode on her talent, the eminent songs of Porter, Berlin, and Styne that she brought to fame, the prominent critics, colleagues and audiences which thrilled at her work, and her abundant allocation of shear fortitude and spirit have earned Ethel Merman a lasting recognition of her efforts on Broadway. It is past time to name a Broadway theater for Ethel Merman
Let's Name A Theater For Ethel Merman

I like this idea. :) I love Ethel Merman, so I am all for it.

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Merman is great and clearly deserves a tribute of this kind, but I would personally favor a theater named for Alfred Drake - hence my choice of names to post here.

The point of naming theatres isn't to name them after names that people might recognize. The majority of people might not know who Gerald Schoenfeld is, but his contributions to Broadway are outstanding and worthy of a theatre.

Updated On: 4/1/07 at 07:00 PM

Great suggestion!!

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I would rather see a theatre named jointly:

The Merman-Martin Theatre.

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To echo kean on kean,

Merman is great and clearly deserves a tribute of this kind, but I would personally favor a theater named for Jerry Herman. If I could pick one, it would be the Schoenfeld, the first place a Herman tune greaced a Broadway stage.

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Since Merman's biggest hits were at the Alvin (ANYTHING GOES), the Imperial (ANNIE GET YOUR GUN & CALL ME MADAM), the 46th Street (PANAMA HATTIE) and the Broadway (GYPSY) Theatres, one of those would be the most appropriate to rename for her. Since the Alvin is now the Neil Simon and the 46th Street is now the Richard Rodgers, it would seem to be the Imperial or the Broadway Theatres that could be re-named for her.

The Majestic was the home of SOUTH PACIFIC, Martin's biggest hit, so that would be a great theatre to rename for her.

And when is Sondheim getting his theatre?

Just my thoughts.

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Updated On: 4/1/07 at 09:43 PM

You're not grading papers, hon.

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Xenia High School proudly presents Mr. Mark Manley, in the show he was born to star in:

John Kane's "Call Me Merman!"

With musical accompaniment by Mr. Brent Manley.

Costumes and lighting self-designed by The Manley Brothers, LLC

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