Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
#1Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:04am
If so, who is she playing now?
Thanks.
#2Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:21amJordan - as of this last week, she was still on the cast board, and I saw her in the show last on September 18. She plays the same track that she's always played in the role - that of an older woman in the town (in the ensemble). She still understudies the role of "Grandma."
#2Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:22amAwesome, thank you SO much for that! :)
#3Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:29amYou're welcome! Are you a fan of Merle's work? Have you seen her as Grandma? She played very differently from Carole Shelley.
#4Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:31amI haven't seen her as Grandma. I only saw BILLY ELLIOT's first preview a few years ago. I won tickets at the flea market for next week and just wanted to make sure she was still in the show because I am a fan of hers.
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#5Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:36amSurprised she's doing ensemble work -- is it a "good" ensemble role? (Haven't seen the show).
#6Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 3:39amIt's not a featured ensemble role by any means. I'm sure she's happy for the paycheck, and I'm sure she plays the hell out of Grandma when she goes on.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#7Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 4:35am
Love her. Met her at the stage door after a performance of Kiss of the Spider Woman in L.A. and she was just the sweetest.
Have loved her work since first listening to her on the original Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd and seeing her on the televised Into the Woods as Little Red's granny/Cinderella's mother.
She has this rich quality to her voice that stands out and it inflects beautifully. I had no idea she was still performing and it's wonderful to know she is.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#8Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 9:46amAccording to playbill, the role also has a standby. Is Louise the second cover?
#9Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 11:16am
She's always gone on when Shelley is out. To my knowledge, no one other than the two of them has ever played Grandma on Broadway.
I LOVE Louise as Grandma. Very lively and funny. Her accent is totally all over the place, but I much prefer her in the role.
#10Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 11:16amDouble post. Updated On: 10/9/11 at 11:16 AM
#11Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:35pmPlaybill has not been updated for some time. Patti Perkins is actually the full time Grandma on tour. When she was in rehearsals they billed her as the standby on Broadway last summer. Merle is the first cover, and I saw her once and she was great. She performed Grandma's Song amazingly, she was so funny.
#12Is Merle Louise Still In BILLY ELLIOT?
Posted: 10/9/11 at 12:52pmI saw Merle as Grandma, and she was a riot!
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