Brilliant Missed Casting Opportunities

Reba McEntire as Miss Sally Adams.

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Love Debra Monk, but when I saw Curtains I really thought the role of Carmen must have been written for Elaine Stritch.

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Dick Van Dyke as Leo Bloom

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Betty Buckley as Elphaba
Audra McDonald as Marian Paroo
Sutton Foster as Princess Winnifred

Julia Murney on Broadway.

Anne Bancroft as Maria Callas in Master Class. The role would have fit her like a glove.

Couldn't agree more with you, Lottery Addict.

There is no one who was a better fit for Callas than Bancroft, and I say this as someone who was in awe of Zoe Caldwell's performance.

On another note, while I don't think she would have been an ideal Mrs. Lovett, far from it, I truly wish Garland would have lived to have sung Not While I'm Around. The thought of it breaks my heart.

Garland singing Lovett would have been interesting - Garland being Mama Rose would have been definitive.

And Bancroft as Callas gives me goosebumps.

Henrik, it has nothing to do with physical attraction. Neither Gingold nor Hamilton--nor, really, Regina Resnik or Zoe Caldwell, other actresses who have done well by the part--were exceedingly beautiful. But the understood the character, her ethos, her life choices. Stritch, Lansbury--and, purely on conjecture, Arthur--didn't or don't come off that way. She's not salt of the earth, she's not eccentric, she's not relatable. Sure, the fact that even as a young woman Bea looked like a GI doesn't help, but her attitude and performance style alone seem so wrong for Madame A.

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Gotcha, AC, although I disagree with you about Stritch not understanding the character - that's what makes horseracing, or with respect to Mme. Armfeldt, whores-racing.

Mandy Patinkin as Sweeney, it could still happen.

There are so many parts I wish Judy Garland would have been able to do but, for whatever reason, never did. I know she was supposed to go on as a replacement as Nellie Forbush during the original Broadway run of South Pacific-- but backed out at the last minute. And of course most people know that she wanted very much to play Mame, but simply wasn't hired largely because she wouldn't have been able to cope with the strain of performing eight shows a week in such a demanding role. It was probably for the best Lansbury was cast, but I would have liked to see what Judy would have done with the role as well. Another interesting idea would be her as Dolly Levi. I think had she been in better health, she would have been much better suited to the role when it came to film the show than Barbra Streisand.

I would have killed to see her interpretation of Mama Rose, either on stage or on film. It would have been a complete 180 from her previous characters and would have certainly resonated considering she had her own "Mama Rose" as a mother.

Had she lived longer, I would have loved to see her as Joanne in Company. Judy would have killed with "The Ladies Who Lunch." I also think her Desiree in Little Night Music would have been a wonderful casting decision, and wouldn't have made too many many demands vocally.

It really amazes me that Judy Garland never performed in any book musicals on Broadway. Just concerts. The only character Judy Garland ever played was Judy Garland. And I think that was a shame, because she really had the acting chops to match her vocal prowess.