Mrs. Anna Preference

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:26am

Irene Dunne, Deborah Kerr, Jodie Foster, Haley Mills, Donna Murphey, Sandy Duncan?
(I don't think any of us here has seen Gertrude Lawrance.)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:27am

Deborah Kerr - and I don't CARE if she was dubbed - welcome to the magic of movie-making.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:30am

Donna Murphey

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:32am

I understand the Deborah Kerr thing but I do love me some Irene Dunne.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:58am

Glebb - I truly appreciate Ms. Dunne's performance, as well - and I have no objectivity about Mr. Harrison, he's one of my favorites. My preference is perhaps colored by the fact that that particular score is on my short-list of the all-time greatest. In the end, perhaps it's an apples/oranges kind of thing.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 10:43am

Broadwaystar2b, did you see Lou Diamond Phillips with Ms Murphey?

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 12:20pm

Goodness, this is a hard question....

I love Irene Dunne. Definitely one of my all time favorites.
I love Hayley Mills. I grew up watching "The Parent Trap" and "Pollyanna", so to me she is my childhood.
I LOVE Donna Murphy. I think she is absolutely brilliant and her voice is wonderful. A true diva.

BUT.....

Deborah Kerr is unbeatable. I love her so much, especially as Mrs. Anna - her portrayal is legendary. So much warmth....She is amazing.

[zoran912]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:14pm

Do you all remember Christianne Noll in the animated version? The movie sucked, but she sounded nice.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 1:21pm

The only thing I remember from that movie is the medly Barbra Streisand sang over the credits.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:12pm

Oh and btw... Just a little trivia:

Did you know that there was another time when Deborah Kerr got to play a role previously played by Irene Dunne?

"Love Affair" -----> "An Affair To Remember".

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:15pm

I did know that, and what about Irene Dunne playing Magnolia? But that is a thread of it's own I guess. :)

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:20pm

Yep. :)

Poor Irene Dunne, her movies always got remade and then most people (not me, of course) forgot the original. Like "A Guy Named Joe" that got remade as "Always" - I think the original is so much better!

At least the screwball comedies with Cary Grant never got remade. They knew not to mess with perfection. :)

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:22pm

There are some pics of Sandy in the role. She looks a little old.

Updated On: 8/29/04 at 04:22 PM

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:26pm

Ehh.....yeah, she does.

But so is Stephanie Powers, who's also performing in it right now. Guess it's a casting choice.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:53pm

No...Stephanie Powers takes over the role in 2005. She is currently not performing with the show.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 4:59pm

She'll be even older then. :)

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 5:27pm

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 8/29/04 at 11:08pm

Deborah Kerr is my favorite.
I have heard recordings with Gertrude Lawrence. She is a classsic. I did see it with Hayley Mills and I really didnt care for her. Sandy Duncan is coming to Hartford to do it very soon. Is she worth seeing?

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:29am

I've never seen her live, but I would venture to say that she's okay. At least I hope so.

Listening to the Donna Murphy recording as I type- all this talk made me want to listen to it again....Hers is definitely the best sung Anna, that's for sure (arrrggghhh that Marni Nixon).
By the way, I have another piece of trivia (can you tell this is one of my favorite musicals of all time? ) - Let's see if you guys can guess this one, though.

Which Hollywood star was very, very close to getting the part of Mrs. Anna in "The King And I", and even submitted tapes of her singing the score, but was denied because the composers said, "No pirate queen is going to be our Anna!". Any clue?

Updated On: 8/30/04 at 07:29 AM

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:33am

No and please tell now. I don't want to have to wait until tonight to find out. :)

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:36am

LOL I know the feeling

It was....Maureen O'Hara. She has even said it was the biggest disappointment of her career.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:37am

Would she have been a good Misses Anna?

[BwayLover]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:43am

Well she has a really nice Soprano....You can hear her sing a little bit on "The Parent Trap". So singing wise, I think she would have been good. However, and this pains me to say because I do love her a lot, Deborah Kerr is by far a superior actress.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 7:47am

Thanks BwayLover. Off to work now. Have a good day. :)

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 8/30/04 at 8:07am

I walked by the Meriam here in Philly on Saturday and saw the poster with Sandy Duncan. It just looks wrong!