Anne Bancroft as Mama Rose (Louise?)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 9:39pm

In "Second Act Trouble" Steven Suskin says that Anne Bancroft was considered for Gypsy but decided to do The Miracle Worker instead. I had always thought that Ethel Merman was the only one considered for the role.

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 09:39 PM

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 9:58pm

Why does this sound like something Arthur would have dreamt up?

P

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:01pm

Interesting. So, if this is true, they considered Bancroft, presumably a stronger actress than singer, as well as Merman, a stronger singer that actress, or at least people claim this. Wonder how the role of Mama Rose would've been different if Bancroft had been cast. Perhaps an eaiser score, and we might've seen more actresses who weren't singers in the role than just Tyne Daly, and fewer people like LuPone.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:25pm

If Bancroft had been cast on Broadway, might she have gotten the movie role rather than Rosalind Russell?

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:34pm

Yes.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:41pm

This youtube clips shows she could sing. Can't tell how she would have handled songs like Everything's Coming Up Roses, but she would have made a very interesting Rose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnWYGq1mmqQ&feature=related

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 11:08pm

She was the first choice for Fanny Brice.
I think.

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 11:11pm

^ I read that as well.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 2:17am

Yup. Anne Bancroft was the original choice for FUNNY GIRL but bowed out when she heard the score and said to the creative team: "... good luck finding someone who can sing this."

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 2:36am

Anne Bancroft was a brilliant actress- I still can't believe that she's no longer with us. I'm sure I would've loved her as Mama Rose even if she wasn't a fabulous singer.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 2:45am

Where in Second Act Trouble does it say this?


No one but Merman was ever considered for GYPSY on stage. She and David Merrick sewed up the rights and she got 10% of the profits. I have never heard that Anne Bancroft was considered for the film. Judy Garland was suggested by her unreliable behavior on A STAR IS BORN soured Warner on ever working with her again.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 11:26am

The show was written for Merman. She picked the composer (Jules Styne). Sondheim wanted to write both music and lyrics, and she turned him down, wanting someone proven and reliable. She said he could write the lyrics though.

That was Merman's decision. She called the shots. It was her show.

As for the movie, Judy Garland desperately wanted to play Mama Rose and campaigned heavily for both her and Liza to play mother and daughter in the film version. Sadly, with all of her past "medical troubles," no company would issue an insurance policy. Warners actually considered her briefly, but there was no way they would hire her for any movie without insurance. Not only did that cost her "Gypsy," but that ended her film career entirely. She never made another movie again ... for that reason. No insurance policy = no job.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 11:37am

ETA: My mistake. I think Suskin is talking about the movie version and I was thinking he was talking about the stage version.


"Where in Second Act Trouble does it say this?"

At the end of the Golden Boy entry.

"Elkins also tells us that Arthur Penn arrived in Boston with Anne Bancroft, whose career was launched with two Tonys and an Oscar for Gibson and Penn's Two for the Seesaw and The Miracle Worker. The idea, apparently, was for Bancroft to take over the female lead [in Golden Boy]. This did not happen, but it was not altogether farfetched; the production team behind Gypsy very much wanted Bancroft to play the title role, but she turned it down for Miracle Worker." Page 187

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 11:37 AM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 11:50am

The title role in GYPSY is Louise, not Mama Rose.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:09pm

"The title role in GYPSY is Louise, not Mama Rose."

So they wanted her for Louise, even though she was 30 when the movie was being filmed?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:19pm

Both GYPSY and THE MIRACLE WORKER were 1959 shows (though different seasons, I believe), so I think Suskin means they wanted her for the Broadway show. Bancroft was close to 30 at the time.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:42pm

So we think that Suskin means Anne Bancroft was wanted for Louise in the Broadway production?

If that's the case, it probably wasn't a hard decision to turn it down. She had already won a Tony Award playing a lead role. It would almost seem like she would be going backwards.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 4:03pm

Gothampc, it's hard to tell really, I don't read anything referencing the movie in there. But thinking about it, it's true it seems unlikely they'd think she would play Louise in the Broadway show, perhaps they mean the movie. Both the Broadway show and the film for GYPSY and THE MIRACLE WORKER were released in the same year so it's hard to tell exactly which one he is referring to.
Speaking of FUNNY GIRL I read somewhere (maybe this board) that Jule Styne did not want Bancroft to play Fanny and so he made sure to write a score that she couldn't sing, I'm not sure if he was set on Streisand at that point or just did not want Bancroft. Then again, I'm not sure if there is any true to that story in the first place.
Bancroft's performance in THE MIRACLE WORKER is one of the warmest, most fascinating female performances put on film, I'm sure she was as great on the stage version, so I think she made the right choice.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 1:49am

I am wondering is this is a misprint. Styne (and at the time Sondheim) were working on the show that eventually became FUNNY GIRL and Mary Martin was approached to play the lead. Sondheim felt she was wrong for it and this gave him an excuse to leave the project.

Then Anne Bancroft was suggested to play Fanny Brice, but Styne saw Barbara Streisand in a club and decided he wanted her for Fanny, and maneuvered Bancroft out. They auditioned the songs they had written (7 at this point) including "People" - which was way out of Bancroft's range. She listened and decided the show wasn't for her. This is all chronicled in the book JULE: THE STORY OF JULE STYNE.

But in all the books I have read I have never seen any reference to Bancroft being in the running for GYPSY. As has been posted here several times, Merman was attached to GYPSY right from the start. I suspect Suskin was referring to FUNNY GIRL and somehow in the editing it made it appear that it was GYPSY. (Although that still wouldn't jibe with THE MIRACLE WORKER but that could be in error too. It is not like Suskin to not check his facts!)

Updated On: 7/18/09 at 01:49 AM