Has the memory of a beloved performer in the past ruined a show for you ?

To me, there was only one Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland. Others have tried to take her place to varying degrees but the memory of Judy hovers over Dorothy.

Neither Stephanie Mills, Liza Minelli in an awful animated Oz
nor Lea Michelle will ever replace the memory of Judy as Dorothy.

There was only one Mary Poppins for me and that was Julie Andrews. The memory of Julie hovers over Mary Poppins. When I went to see the musical, I thought "you can't fool me.. that's not Mary Poppins."

In the same manner, the King in King and I belonged to Yul Brynner.

Not having loved the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert, I found it easy to accept Tony Sheldon, Nick Adams and Will Swenson in those roles and felt Priscilla was much more fun
and alive on stage than on the screen but I found myself missing missing Reese Witherspoon during Legally Blond the musical and Whoopi in Sister Act.

The Emcee in Cabaret always belonged to Joel Grey until Alan Cumming came along and reinvented him in a new way. The emcee
seemed fresh and new again with Alan Cummings.

Auntie Mame was only Rosiland Russel until Angela Lansbury came and reinvented her but most Mames pale in comparison to the two aforementioned dames. I saw Jane Morgan, Morgan Brittany and Lucy in the role.. They were not Mame.

Has the memory of a performer in the past ruined a show for you
in a current musical or revival?

I don't know about "ruined", and it's not musicals, but I find it very difficult to warm to Gertrude and Horatio in most productions of Hamlet since falling for Penny Downie and Peter De Jersey in the recent RSC production. I'm also forever seeking a brilliant new Othello, but since Chiwetel Ejiofor at the Donmar Warehouse, I don't think it's going to happen. And I have a horrible feeling that, in Derek Jacobi, I have already seen the finest King Lear I ever will see.

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Ted Neeley has pretty much **** all over any Jesus in JCS I've ever seen. Even when they dragged him out of mothballs for the Farewell Tour and he was pretty much sleep-walking through it, he still sounded better than anyone I've ever seen in the role (until the last leg... that was where I think he really lost it, and I say this having seen one performance from each of the Farewell Tour's four legs).

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Updated On: 4/29/11 at 01:49 PM

I can't stand Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie. In the movie, Julie Andrew was, well, Julie Andrews, and nobody could ever match up to her. I do love Sutton in many other shows (especially The Drowsy Chaperone), but I don't understand why she got so much praise for that role.

I have a difficult time hearing different ladies sing "Send in the Clowns" because Glynis Johns' performance is so engraved in my memory. I've loved people like Bernadette Peters, Barbara Cook and Angela Lansbury singing the song, but there will only be one lady who sings it best, and that's Johns.

I feel the same way about other people singing Sally's songs in Follies. Barbara Cook is my favorite singer, but Dorothy Collins will forever be Sally for me. The same thing goes for Lee Remick singing "Anyone Can Whistle" and "See What it Gets You", Mandy and Bernadette in Sunday in the Park..., and LuPone in Evita.

I guess it's because I grew up with those albums and overplayed them a bit.. Sometime though, I can take new interpretations well. I actually thought Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley were improvements over the original leads in Next to Normal.

My most recent example would be Cate Blanchett as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. She was so incredible that I have no need to ever see anyone else play that part again.

I saw "Driving Miss Daisy" with Frances Sternhagen years ago. She was wonderful!! Later the tour came to my town with Julie Harris. She of course was wonderful too!! When the film came out with Jessica Tandy, I could not make myself see it and I have not seen to this day. Friends of mine thought I was nuts. Glad you asked this question as I've thought about how I have felt for years. I've loved Jessica Tandy in many movies, and I'll always be a big fan, but my special Miss Daisy's will always be Julie Harris and Frances Sternhagen.

I would have to say Jennifer Holliday in the original "DreamGirls"---When she sang "And I Am Telling You"==I had Goosebumps. Have seen other productions and the movie==just not the same.

Definitely Lupone in Anything Goes. I love the show and just can't get myself to go see this new production, because the Lupon/McGillin version was SO perfect... I was only a kid when I saw it, but I remember it blowing me away... and even as a kid, I remember the sass and sex appeal of Lupone. She had an edge, which made her infinitely fascinating as an evangelist...

I've heard the Sutton is charming in this production, but I'm just worried I'll be let down. I frankly would have rather seen Donna McKechnie play Reno, than Sutton...

My first thought was Donna McKechnie as Cassie. I've seen other Cassie's that I've enjoyed but most fail to sell it like Donna. (The one on the non-Equity tour was so bad I've forgotten almost everything about her performance...)

This will get a lot of heat, but Idina Menzel in Wicked is still my favorite Elphaba, and Jennifer Laura Thompson was the best of all the Glindas I've seen.

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goldenboy, I completely agree with regarding Dorothy Loudon. My friend at the time and I, both HUGE fans of Sweeney Todd (having already seen numerous times with Lansbury) and big fans of Dorothy Loudon -- whenever we saw her in show, but we were both horrified by what she did to Mrs. Lovett and the negative effect she made on the entire production. My friend was so disgusted that he bolted at intermission.

While Gwen Verdon was absolutely the definitive Charity, I loved Gretchen Wyler in the role (the first time I saw Sweet Charity was with Wyler) and never having been a fan of Ann Reinking, I was quite taken with her Charity as well.

Any actor I saw that followed Kevin Kline in both "Pirates of Penzance" and "On the 20th Century" couldn't come close to his brilliance in those two shows, for me.

As much as I was blown away by Christine Noll in RAGTIME (revival)... Marin was and will always be Mother to me.

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I'm too young to have seen the original production of My Fair Lady, but Martine McCutcheon in London was surprisingly perfect and I really have no interest in seeing another Eliza.

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