The best Rose that never was:
Debbie Reynolds was announced to play in the LA/SF Civic Light Opera production in about 1977.
Regretably CLO went bankrupt the spring before and the production never happened.
Of the ones I have seen (Peters, Daly, Lansbury, Midler, Buckley, Ann Southern) I like Roz Russell in the film the most. She's scary, but you know who is in charge. She's also very funny, again in a scary sort of way. You get the feeling she's these girls' mother.
Hands down, the best Tessie was Mary Louise Wilson who also covered but never went on for Lansbury.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher