Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Bernadette Peters as Mame?
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#1Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:22am
I think it might work...She could pull off the young and the old ages.
Bernie would certainly be very different from Angela and anyone else in the role. She could act the heck out of "If He Walked Into My Life."
Any thoughts?
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#2Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:23amNote: My first choice for a revival would still be Donna Murphy, but I do think Bernie could work...
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#2Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:25am
Hell to the no!
Mame needs to command the stage... And have a voice that doesn't sound like Minnie Mouse.
#3Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:30amTo say Bernadette doesn't command the stage is kind of silly but her voice is high pitched. I love it though.
#4Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:33amIt's not silly actually, when talking about a show like MAME. You need a loud, booming, commanding presence which does not describe Bernadette Peters.
#5Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:40am
Though she would be a somewhat unorthodox choice, Vicki Clark would be a knockout as Mame. Put her opposite Beth Leavel (who has already done the show) as Vera and you'd have a pair for the ages.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#6Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:41amI just want a Broadway revival of MAME, period. Vicki Clark would be wonderful, I think.
#7Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 1:52amJordan, I misunderstood his statement. I thought he was saying she doesn't have stage presence.
#8Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 2:23amthinking from a producer's view.... YES... limited run... open in march... through august. Yes. book it.
#9Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 2:24amI still want Christine Ebersole to reprise her mame.
#11Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 4:38amChenoKahn, you don't know much about singing do you?
AnythingGoes2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/30/08
#12Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 5:30am
Catherine Zeta Jones was contacted about the role..
Peters voice I think is a bit to sharp for the score. You need a huge star with marquee selling power for Mame to ever be a hit again...
I think BP should tackle Norma Desmond in Sunset next.
alterego
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
#13Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 6:54amYou need someone who will sell tickets to tourists. This isn't it.
#14Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 7:14amI think Catherine Zeta-Jones would be great. With Beth Leavel as Vera Charles.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#15Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 8:07am
Well, to say that Ms. Peters wouldnt sell tickets to tourists is absurd, sorry. She's a huge draw for FOLLIES, and she probably would be as well for MAME.
But no. Next, please.
Frankly, I dont think producers and directors know how to stage these big, over-the-top musicals. We'd have to see it "re-imagined" somehow because otherwise it would cost a small fortune to produce. So the set would be reduced to some sort of single-room environment with a tree in the middle of it whose leaves show the passing of time or some other piece of Euro-trash nonsense. No thanks. Better to leave that show in happy memmory than have it brought back to a fitfully damaged re-awakening.
#16Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 9:36am
Peters is a huge draw, even for tourists - In the right show. You can't judge her selling power on FOLLIES, that show was never going to sell out completely unless it starred Madonna, Lady GaGa, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. And even then I'm sure you'd be able to get last minute tickets somehow.
It's not fair to judge someone's appeal based on one show. Just look at Harry Connick in CLEAR DAY right now. The man is an enormous star but couldn't sell out that theater if he stood out on the street corner selling tickets, himself.
(And I love the Jones/Leavel idea!). Even more so I would love to see Charles Busch do it. I loved his take on Auntie Mame and think he and Julie Halston would be amazing, if only for a one night benefit of that show.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#17Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 9:37amIf anyone should play Mame it's Marin Mazzie. She may not be box office clout, but she could act the hell out of the role, sing the score and look smashing in the costumes.
#18Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 9:45amSince she is very well known on The Good Wife.. Give Mame to Christine Baranski .... She did it at the Kennedy Center a few years ago.
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#19Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 10:22amI thought the reason Baranski didn't come in with the show was bc her reviews weren't the greatest and her name wasn't (still isn't) big enough.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#21Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 11:05am
Christine Ebersole seemed like she was completely inspired casting when she was announced to do the show at Papermill back in the late nineties, but it was rather universally agreed upon that she just didn't quite soar in the role (her Vera was Kelly Bishop, who was terrific.) Similarly, Christine Baranski didn't work in the Kennedy Center production either- as one of the reviews said, she seemed like a second banana wearing ill-fitting clothes. She's much more of a Vera than a Mame, and that was the problem.
The absolutely perfect commercial casting for a revival of MAME remains Bette Midler (Goldie Hawn would have also been incredible,) but the odds of her ever returning to theater are few and far between. There was talk of her doing a television version for CBS following her GYPSY, but, like the Barbra Streisand film adaptation, it never came to pass.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#22Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 11:19am
Okay, she'd never do it, not as even a limited run, but mentioning Midler made me realize who would also be perfect for it.
Dont laugh.
Madonna.
God knows she's old enough. She has the voice. She'd be a fabulous draw. And let's face it: it doesnt take a whole lot of acting skill to carry off the role — she's pretty much a one-note character. And cant you imagine the billboards?
IS MAME!
The cross marketing would be so easy.....
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#23Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 12:39pmJudy Garland. How great would that have been?
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#24Bernadette Peters as Mame?
Posted: 12/30/11 at 12:48pm
"Judy Garland. How great would that have been?"
Jerry Herman told a friend of mine that Garland was his dream casting when he was writing the show, but she just wasn't well enough to do 8 shows per week reliably.
(ETA He was NOT, of course, complaining to have ended up with Lansbury. Just stating who he originally imagined in the part.)
Updated On: 12/30/11 at 12:48 PM
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