Posted: 7/26/22 at 12:23pm
In the Joan Rivers interview I had watched from 2013, she mentioned a 'Sally Marr...and Her Escorts' Broadway revival was 'in the works' (she was looking at the 2014-15 season). Unlike the original 1994 production (which she co-wrote and starred in for a brief run - and got a 'Best Actress' Tony nod for her work), she wouldn't be starring, but would be producing. She was in the process of looking for a smaller Broadway theater than what she had in 1994, and wanted a name actress in the role of 'Sally Marr'. She mentioned she spoke to her friend Bette Midler (who was starring as Sue Mengers in "I'll Eat You Last"
, but Midler was negotiating for a 'Hello Dolly' revival (this was four years before it was announced !). Rivers acknowledged Midler would be fantastic as 'Dolly' (too bad she never lived to see it). Rivers also mentioned she had talked to her friend Streisand about grabbing the movie rights and producing / directing, but Streisand was focused on another project at the time (must've been the ill-fated "Gypsy"
, so she gave up on the movie project and was pushing for the Broadway revival.
So does anyone know what happened to this revival after Rivers' passing ? I'm assuming her daughter Melissa was passed along the rights to the show and it's revival. Does anyone know if she (or anyone else) moved on from where her mother left off in getting this on stage ?
Also - did anyone see the original brief run (I believe it was for eight weeks) in the spring of 1994 ? Was it any good ? I've read up on some reviews - they were mixed from what I could tell.