Black Actresses who could play Mama Rose?

[ZebLuvsJay]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 5:15pm

Who?





Updated On: 3/8/11 at 05:15 PM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 5:21pm

[ZebLuvsJay]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 5:57pm

Tonya Pinkins is the perfect age.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 6:18pm

I will always consider it a missed opportunity that Nell Carter never took on this role.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 6:23pm

That is who I was thinking of.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 6:34pm

Anika is not right for Mama
but she'd blow Louise out of the water!

put her opposite:

Tayna Pinkins as Mama
Norm Lewis as Herbie
Christopher Jackson as Tulsa

and I think you'd have one HELL of a new revival.
Any ideas for June?

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 6:51pm

June- Nikki Renee Daniels?

Rose- Audra M or Vanessa W

[bryan2]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:10pm

I am all for colored blind casting...but Mama Rose was a real person to me it would be like Patti Lupone playing Lena Horn in a show...doesnt work for me sorry...but my 2 cents would be Angela Bassett....tough and cool

[Almira]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:14pm

I am all for colored blind casting


No you're not.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:14pm

Christopher Jackson would be AWFUL as Tulsa. He has about as much charm as a brick wall.

[JP2]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:17pm

Jennifer Lewis

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:17pm

Lillias White would be wonderful, I think.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:25pm

Hasn't Sheryl Lee Ralph been playing the tough mom a lot (see Sister Act 2, albeit in the completely opposite direction)? Maybe she doesn't belt like Merman, but other Roses have taken the role lower.

[ZebLuvsJay]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:30pm

Can Mo'Nque sing?

[rjm516]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 7:55pm

I would love to see Audra do this but in 20 years at least.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:11pm

NO ONE.

Would you cast a black woman as Golda Meir in GOLDA'S BALCONY?
Would you cast a Native American as Lombardi in LOMBARDI?
Would you cast a black girl as Anne in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK?

No. THEY, like Rose, were REAL, LIVING people. How can you color-blind cast a role based on a real person?

Come on, guys. Really?

[CAX]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:11pm

Ruby Dee.

[Pippin]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:38pm

Theatre trash - for the most part, I agree, but I think with this role, exceptions can be made. It's not as if Laurents didn't take creative license with the story, I think in this show, you can take the same creative license in casting.

That said:


Lillias White
Lillias White
Lillias White!

Updated On: 3/8/11 at 08:38 PM

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:44pm

Stop this crazy talk it's upsetting theatertrash.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:52pm

^Exactly, Pippin! Mama Rose is BASED ON Rose Havoc. Rose Havoc was white, but Mama Rose is a fictional character that has much in common with Havoc but also much folklore surrounding her.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:57pm

Isn't the show titled as a musical fable? Isn't it a story to tell a moral lesson? SO let a Black actress take a crack at the role!

[noradesmond]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 8:58pm

Jeez guys.

Madame Rose
or
Rose
or
Mama

but she was never called Mama Rose. Arthur would eviscerate you.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 9:13pm

Aretha Franklin

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 9:21pm

>>>No. THEY, like Rose, were REAL, LIVING people. How can you color-blind cast a role based on a real person?"<<<

Yet Diana Sands was pretty terrific in SAINT JOAN when Lincoln Center did the play a few decades ago.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 3/8/11 at 9:31pm

She's not with us anymore but... Eartha Kitt?