Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place

Harvey Weinstein: "Rob and I talked about doing 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' which was a musical Kander & Ebb did. We met with Arthur Laurents to maybe remake 'Gypsy.' We talked to him, told him our ideas -- he said he didn't like any of them. It was great to sit there with Rob Marshall after he'd won the Oscar and have Arthur Laurents tell us that we were absolutely wrong about everything. It's a good humbling experience, trust me."

LOL!

P
Great Interview with Weinstein here

I found this tidbit particularly interesting:

Weinstein: "And there was somebody from Broadway who's a big Tony Award-winning actress, who some people wanted to do it, but then Fergie came in and, like in the movie, blew us away. She was the right choice."

My first thought was Sara Ramirez, perhaps? Idina? Though she's not the right body type for the role (even pregnant). Any ideas?

P

I think they wanted Angela Lansbury.

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I think they wanted Angela Lansbury.

As much as I love her there is no way she could pull it off now at her age.

Why is Arthur such an ass?

After Chicago and Nine, I would love to see what Rob Marshall would do with Gypsy. I don't know who they would cast, but I'm sure I would like it either way, it is my favorite musical afterall. Hell, I even the Bette Midler Gypsy tv movie.

Maybe he didn't want to have all of the songs take place as a vaudeville act.

Doesn't Arthur hate ALNM more than Zeta-Jones though? I could have sworn I've heard him call it a "one song show" or something like that.

Anyway, he and Steve do not get along anymore so I doubt Arthur has seen it and it is unlikely they have discussed it, but who knows?

That being said, I think Arthur had relatively nice things to say about the SWEENEY film so maybe he just doesn't want GYPSY filmed.

And is there any truth to the rumor he is now the show doctor fixing ADDAMS FAMILY? He has expressed his desire to work with Lippa before so it makes sense. They're a good fit.

P

Updated On: 12/11/09 at 04:48 PM

P, I definitely thought of Sara being the one to play Seraghina. If it were members of the revival who won Tonys (Laura Benanti or Jane Krakowski they would have had to have been mentioned). Harvey isn't that tunnel-visioned with just Hollywood. Sara was fresh off a Tony win playing diva personified and going to Greys when Marshall signed on so it would make sense the freshest face who would have been central casting for Seraghina was expressed.

Oh and I would completely welcome a movie production of Gypsy led by Marshall. The schadenfreude side of me would just want it reported that Sam Mendes would be interested just to read board reactions.

If Marshall is so willing to save the- no pun intended- sinking ship of a Pirates series he really needs to try to get Damn Yankees off the ground as he is familiar with the material.

Wait, Weinstein was offered Rent but he wanted to do another musical with Marshall? Huh?

Updated On: 12/11/09 at 09:41 PM

That would have been a total miscast.

Arthur, does know the world does not relove around him, yes?

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I'd rather see Marshall do Lady in the Dark with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline than Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Lady in the Dark is practically written WITH his concept in mind.

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I would love to see a GOOD Gypsy movie, but I don't know if Marshall is right for it. He would probably cut all but 5 songs.

Rob Marshall did not win an Oscar for producing CHICAGO. The Oscar went to Martin Richards.

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