Coulda, Shoulda.... ALMOST did play that role - Page 2

[newintown]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 12:51pm

That Midler story is certainly nice, but I have doubts about some of its veracity.

JC Superstar opened on Broadway in late September 1971. Midler couldn't have auditioned any later than June of 1971. In the story above, Shurtleff calls her "a celebrity," "mature," and "a celebrity star."

As far as "mature" goes, she was no older than 25. As far as being a "celebrity," her first album wasn't released until late in 1972, she'd been playing the baths for about a year, and had made a few appearances on a few talk shows. She'd been a late-in-the-run replacement Tzeitel in Fiddler, and had appeared in a few short-running Off-Broadway shows.

She was definitely "known" at that time, but still rather far from "celebrity." In early 1971, she would have been more of an up-and-comer, and not too "famous" for Superstar.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 12:56pm

Judy was never in the running for Gypsy. Roz's husband Brisson snatched the film rights so that no one could be considered but Roz.

Ethel nicknamed him "The Lizard of Roz," which made Judy howl with laughter.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 3:37pm

Thanks PJ, you're all the reliable source I need and thank you for sharing that clip

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 4:38pm

Kathleen Marshall's revival of ANYTHING GOES was conceived as a star vehicle for Donna Murphy. I believe they went to Catherine Zeta-Jones after that, who apparently didn't feel comfortable taking on such a mammoth role as her Broadway debut. I recall the ANYTHING GOES revival being in development for a couple years before Sutton Foster was announced as the lead.

Thanks for the story about CHICAGO, MichaelBennett. I adore Collette, but feel that Renee Zellweger's cutie-pie persona made for an excellent contrast with Catherine Zeta-Jones' aloof, harsh diva. I also wonder what Charlize Theron would have been like as Roxie, she was set to do it when Nicholas Martin was directing the film. Marshall made her re-audition when he took the reins.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 4:38pm

If Judy could have laid off the pills and liquor for a few months her Rose could have been the greatest screen performance of all time.

John Lennon would not have made a good Jesus. He was good for the songs he wrote, but his voice wasn't that great, technically.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 4:53pm

I'd heard Donna Murphy and Catherine Zeta Jones, but wasn't Reba McIntyre approached for it as well?

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 5:06pm

Not that this is a direct reply but I remember Sutton talking about anything goes during her Seth rudeksty concert saying how apparently while anything goes was gearing up Kathleen Marshall approached Sutton about another show for Roundabout but wouldn't tell what show it was.

[brettarnett]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 6:04pm

Here is an earlier thread that discusses other similar stories.
Roles they DIDN'T get...

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 6:31pm

Judy Garland. Mame. (Angela's first replacement)

Judy Garland. Mame. (The movie--instead of Lucy)

Indeed. In fact, Jerry Herman told a mutual friend that he wrote the show with Garland in mind, but it was eventually decided she couldn't handle an 8-shows-per-week schedule and was therefore uninsurable.

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 6:46pm

I still think Lanie Kazan would have killed as Gittle in Seesaw. Would love to see any out of town video

[Marlothom]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 8:01pm

i recall reading an article/interview with Rob Marshall (about Chicago) where he said that Collete was fabulous but had no vulnerability.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 10:48pm

Anyone have any info on Sara Ramierez being considered for wicked? She would be wonderful. I was at a Kristen chenoweth masterclass and She talked about how close she was to being belle in beauty and the beast. Apparently it was down to her and four or five other girls. She was dating the current Gaston at the time and lied about her height. I think she said she didn't get it because belle had to be a certain height and the director or producers asked her to take off her shoes. Updated On: 12/10/14 at 10:48 PM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 10:57pm

Judy Garland in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, to bad Berkeley had to ruin it all. Wasn't Ann-Margret a name for Gypsy Rose Lee too?

I did read somewhere that Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway were in the running for the Phantom and Christine when THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA was becoming a movie in the early 2000's.

I don't think we'll ever forget the MY FAIR LADY story where Audrey Hepburn flat out denied the offer and asked Jack Warner to cast Andrews instead of her.

Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman where on the consideration list for CHICAGO as Velma and Roxie respectively.

[Fantod]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:10pm

Judy probably would have been even better than Angela as Mame.

Just for the record, according to Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune by Stephen Citron, Rosalind Russell was who they originally wanted to cast in the musical (her being Auntie Mame in the play and movie), but she rejected the offer because she wanted to make Mame into a TV series. Then, Mary Martin was to be cast in the role (so much so that her name was printed on early drafts of the script), but she, like Ethel Merman, wanted to be finished with musicals and decided on a semi-retirement (though that didn't last long as she starred in I Do! I Do! shortly after). Jerry Herman then wanted Angela Lansbury in the role, but her first audition was disastrous (the lights went out at the Lunt-Fontanne, where she auditioned), and the producers gave her a second audition. However, producers wanted Bea Arthur as Mame because she was more of a name, and Angela had to have a third audition and some heavy pressure from Herman to secure the role. Judy was never considered originally. She went backstage after a performance of Mame and begged Angela to be her replacement, and Jerry Herman wanted it desperately to be (in his memoirs, he said it would have been worth it if Judy had just gotten to perform it once; which is probably true), but the producers didn't think she could handle 8 shows a week, so she never was cast, instead holding what I believe was a tentative option on the movie, but of course died before it went into production.
Updated On: 12/10/14 at 11:10 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:12pm

Yes Musical Master, Ann-Margret was considered for the role of Louise/Gypsy based on her performance of "Bachelor in Paradise" at the Academy Awards but she wasn't very well known. Natalie Wood was under contract at Warner Bros. and when she achieved back to back successes with the releases of both SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS and WEST SIDE STORY studio head Jack Warner chose her for the part.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:16pm

I listened to Ann-Margret's version of "Let Me Entertain You" and it was in her own lovely, slow, seducing way. Natalie Wood did good in the film but if she was unavailable, then Margret would've been a good choice.

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:29pm

Karen Olivo was up for the Leading Player in Pippin. I would have loved to see that.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 12:01am

And here is another earlier thread:

Announced But Never Played Updated On: 12/11/14 at 12:01 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 12:13am

Thanks for links. But I'm looking for more of those legendary missed opportunities. Patti in Woods, Stritch in Gypsy, Judy in Mame, etc. Those are major, major losses for musical theater fans. There are some great discussions in this very thread.

Updated On: 12/11/14 at 12:13 AM

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 12:18am

Being "considered" is vastly different from "almost played the role." The latter implies auditions and negotiations but something going wrong. Considered is vastly different. By that measure then Justin Timberlake has been "considered" for the stage versions of Wicked, Hairspray, Spring Awakening, Godspell, etc etc. Producers always make lists and believe me, Beyonce, Natalie Portman, etc always get a call no matter what the show or role.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 12:22am

Patti could still play the witch if she would only get up and look for someone to produce into the woods. I would KILL to hear her last midnight. I also want Bernadette to do sweeney.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 3:17am

That Midler story is certainly nice, but I have doubts about some of its veracity.

Fair enough. Let's address a few.

JC Superstar opened on Broadway in late September 1971. Midler couldn't have auditioned any later than June of 1971.

Well, let's start there. JCS opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 12 (though it did lurch, and almost quite literally so, into previews at the end of September). Auditions, according to Ellis Nassour's Rock Opera (which chronicles the making of the show in some depth), did start in June, but those auditions involved the original director, Frank Corsaro. After the car wreck that precluded his involvement in the show, Tom O'Horgan came in and demanded a fresh set of auditions that consumed a little bit of time before the show entered rehearsals. (Ben Vereen was one of the last-minute auditions, at O'Horgan's insistence.) So yes, she could have "auditioned any later than June of 1971," although she'd be one of the rare exceptions.

In the story above, Shurtleff calls her "a celebrity," "mature," and "a celebrity star."

As far as "mature" goes, she was no older than 25.

To be fair, he does not call Midler herself "mature." He says her interpretation of Magdalene was a "mature, voluptuous, womanly" one, which is not the same thing as saying she herself was "mature."

As far as being a "celebrity," her first album wasn't released until late in 1972, she'd been playing the baths for about a year, and had made a few appearances on a few talk shows. She'd been a late-in-the-run replacement Tzeitel in Fiddler, and had appeared in a few short-running Off-Broadway shows.

She was definitely "known" at that time, but still rather far from "celebrity." In early 1971, she would have been more of an up-and-comer, and not too "famous" for Superstar.

I would say, again, that his wording is open to the subject of interpretation. He describes her audition as a "performance of a celebrity star," which indicates to me that was the vibe she intended to give off (and, if Shurtleff's prose is to be believed, succeeded in pulling off). In the first sentence of his story, he does describe her as "already a celebrity at this time," but while the context seems to apply that label to her at the time, it could also refer to the time of the book's publication in 1979. By then, she'd released four albums, done the Clams on the Half Shell Revue on Broadway (earning her a Tony), voiced a character on Vegetable Soup, taped her first Emmy-winning TV special, starred in The Rose and gotten nominated for an Oscar, and filmed Divine Madness -- certainly a celebrity at "this time."

Just my two cents.

Updated On: 12/11/14 at 03:17 AM

[LarryD2]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 2:30pm

Andrea Martin was offered The Cat in the Hat in SEUSSICAL, but turned it down in order to remain in LA with her family. I've always wondered if the show might have done better if she'd opened it rather than David Shiner, who struggled from day one. I've always thought that show was much better than it's gotten credit for being.

In addition to Toni Collette, I've heard that the late Brittany Murphy was pursued as a potential Sally Bowles replacement near the end of the revival's original run. Murphy was quite good in the late nineties revival of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, and she probably would have been an interesting Sally. Unfortunately, she never really got to reach her full potential. (I'm not sure how serious this item ever was, but I've heard it from more than a few people.)

Judy Kuhn in THE WOMAN IN WHITE. Not a great show, but I would have loved to have heard her sing some of that music. Of course they cut their losses and closed before she was set to begin performances.

And the one I keep coming back to in my mind is Carolee Carmello in RAGTIME. She and Marin Mazzie were the final two choices for the original production, and Carolee is on record saying how badly she wanted the part. Of course, Marin Mazzie was excellent, but I can't help thinking what might have been. A shame she never got to play the role regionally or as a replacement.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/12/14 at 12:46am

Brittany Murphy would have made for an interesting Sally Bowles!