#101
Posted: 5/12/13 at 9:57pm
I'm still wanting to see what Tovah would do with MAME. Yes I'm that sick...
Bette Midler asked to do Mame — Page 5
#102
Posted: 5/12/13 at 10:42pm
Playbilly is a thousand percent correct. Aside from Bette being far too old she is too vulgar and not nearly cultured enough. Again not the Divine one's fault, but it is what it is!
Updated On: 5/12/13 at 10:42 PM
#103
Posted: 5/12/13 at 11:50pm
After seeing Marin Mazzie sing "It's Today" for the Easter bonnet opening, I'd love to see her as Mame
#104
Posted: 5/12/13 at 11:51pm
Marin is my dream Mame. I know it would never happen on Broadway but god would she be wonderful.
#105
Posted: 5/13/13 at 1:14am
I LOVE Bette, but I've said it before and will say it again: Megan Mullally
#106
Posted: 5/13/13 at 1:19am
It's been said a few times but I would in all honesty LOVE to see RuPaul do the show.
#108
Posted: 5/13/13 at 1:25am
I would love it. Or even those 2! Their performance of LEGENDS was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
#109
Posted: 5/13/13 at 1:48am
That's so funny, because when you mentioned RuPaul my first thought was Charles Busch for Vera.
#110
Posted: 5/13/13 at 1:52am
A perfect pairing, as well. And Ru is a big enough name to sell a show like that, right?
#111
Posted: 5/13/13 at 4:54am
#112
Posted: 5/13/13 at 5:44am
I think Megan would be an amazing choice.
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
#113
Posted: 5/13/13 at 7:56pm
I agree. Megan Mullally is the first suggestion who is both the right age (well, she's 55) AND might sell tickets.
(Re post above: it's true Angela wasn't a big musical draw when MAME first opened in 1964, but Jerry Herman was hot off DOLLY from the previous year. There was a day when composers other than Sondheim sold tickets.)
(Re post above: it's true Angela wasn't a big musical draw when MAME first opened in 1964, but Jerry Herman was hot off DOLLY from the previous year. There was a day when composers other than Sondheim sold tickets.)
#114
Posted: 5/14/13 at 3:53pm
I don't see why Mame has to be a certain age. When I first saw the Lucille Ball Mame on tv when I was a kid, all I knew was Mame was supposed to be an old broad - and she fit the bill.
Can't we vary from the source material and make Mame the great aunt of the kid? Or the Grandmother of his parents? With Mame, I don't think age really matters since she's just a relative, unlike Gypsy where Mama Rose is supposed to be the kids biological parent.
Can't we vary from the source material and make Mame the great aunt of the kid? Or the Grandmother of his parents? With Mame, I don't think age really matters since she's just a relative, unlike Gypsy where Mama Rose is supposed to be the kids biological parent.
#115
Posted: 5/14/13 at 4:17pm
Because the story is the story. Mame is the sister of Patrick's father. She is at a certain stage in her life. To have a 70 year old play that part makes no goddamed sense.
#116
Posted: 5/14/13 at 4:18pm
Especially one who starts at 70 in the 1920's and ends up at ... what, 90 by Act II in the 1940's?
Just no.
Just no.
Updated On: 5/14/13 at 04:18 PM
#117
Posted: 5/14/13 at 4:20pm
You make no sense. Stories are altered all the time for revivals. And Bette doesn't look 70, so go take a flying leap at the man in the moon who's a lady.
Updated On: 5/14/13 at 04:20 PM
#118
Posted: 5/15/13 at 12:30am
I make all the sense in the world, my dear. A seventy year old Mame is a terrible idea. I know it, and Bette knows it which is why she smartly turned down the part.
#119
Posted: 5/15/13 at 1:44pm
I'm still wanting to see what Tovah would do with MAME. Yes I'm that sick...
Ohhh, MichaelBennett, that is indeed sick and twisted.
I love Besty's comment that Mame just needs to be somewhere in between "40 and death," excellent point. Really Midler would be better suited for Mame than she'd be for say Mamma Rose, but Dolly is her role, I can't believe she hasn't played it.
From the pool of actresses who would realistically do the show, I love the idea of Mullally playing against type as Mame and not Vera, it didn't seem to work out much for Christine Baranski but there's a sweetness to Mullally (which she rarely is given a chance to display) that would make her "If He Walks Into My Life" quite touching. Donna Murphy is an ideal choice, I'll never stop mentioning her in one of this MAME threads. But someone who isn't usually brought up is Jane Krakowski, I think this could be such a juicy role for her that actually takes advantage of her talents.
Ohhh, MichaelBennett, that is indeed sick and twisted.
I love Besty's comment that Mame just needs to be somewhere in between "40 and death," excellent point. Really Midler would be better suited for Mame than she'd be for say Mamma Rose, but Dolly is her role, I can't believe she hasn't played it.
From the pool of actresses who would realistically do the show, I love the idea of Mullally playing against type as Mame and not Vera, it didn't seem to work out much for Christine Baranski but there's a sweetness to Mullally (which she rarely is given a chance to display) that would make her "If He Walks Into My Life" quite touching. Donna Murphy is an ideal choice, I'll never stop mentioning her in one of this MAME threads. But someone who isn't usually brought up is Jane Krakowski, I think this could be such a juicy role for her that actually takes advantage of her talents.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#120
Posted: 5/15/13 at 2:33pm
Hmmm Jane Krakowski could be good. But they'd need to send her to finishing school first.
#121
Posted: 5/15/13 at 4:30pm
Most of the people I see suggested are more like Vera. Mame is a very tough role to cast. You need someone classy yet with a little quirk.
I think ray and all that jazz's suggestion of Donna Murphy is spot on. She is classy, and has the acting and vocal chops (her dancing is pretty good, too). I think Catherine Zeta-Jones in a few years MIGHT be able to do it. (That's a big MIGHT.)
I think ray and all that jazz's suggestion of Donna Murphy is spot on. She is classy, and has the acting and vocal chops (her dancing is pretty good, too). I think Catherine Zeta-Jones in a few years MIGHT be able to do it. (That's a big MIGHT.)
#122
Posted: 5/15/13 at 5:03pm
I doubt Zeta-Jones can sing it. Murphy sounds perfect, but will she (or Marin Mazzie) sell enough tickets?
#123
Posted: 5/15/13 at 6:08pm
Lovebwy, the article doesn't say why she turned it down, so your confidence in your knowledge that it was her age is more of your self-delusion......dear.
#124
Posted: 5/15/13 at 6:16pm
Gaveston, totally agree with you in CZJ. Did anyone hear "All That Jazz" at the Oscars? I know just from that she has not taken care if her voice and could never handle Jerry's brilliant score. Also, having seen her in "ALNM", I don't think she can act the part either. (Then when I revisited the show for Elaine Strich, Bernadette NAILED it. I cryed two times: "Send in the Clowns " and Madame A's Death. But I think much the reason people don't think Bette should play Mane is the same with Bernadette, but I personally would live to see them both play the role (and now that you talk about it "Dolly", too))
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