Is a Toni Colette led MAME Revival Coming?- Page 2

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/27/19 at 7:56pm

I remember when she was promoting Hereditary, a few critics asked her about coming back to Broadway. She basically said she would if it was the right project, but she goes where the work is and likes to challenge herself. Mame feels like a good match and I hope this turns out to be true.

[brettarnett]

Posted: 6/27/19 at 8:43pm

She needs to lead a musical again. Mame would be lovely but I'll cautiously wait for whatever comes.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/27/19 at 8:58pm

Yes yes please yes.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/27/19 at 10:29pm

SweetLips22 said: "Fetus said: "This is what the gays deserve and I need it to be officially announced this instant."

Well it won't have a very long run if it's only 'gays' in the audience.

Probably meant as a joke but why would 'gays deserve' this? Have they been so deprived in their world that this offering will brighten their day?

Ever so grateful to be considered deserving kind Sir.

The whole theatre going public should have the opportunity to see Toni Colette as Mame."

okay no offense but this is stupid

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/27/19 at 10:44pm

She has less name value than Bette, and the show has less name value than DOLLY. She'd be amazing in the role, but I could see this ending up like CAROUSEL. And most major actresses who you'd suggest for Vera would want to play Mame instead.

The book reeeaaally needs a polish.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 12:02am

OK---don't think that 'no offense' and 'stupid' belong in the same sentence.

Just say--'this is stupid'   and no offense taken as that's your opinion.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 12:12am

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 2:32am

I think her name and the show would sell great for a limited run. And if it gets good reviews, awards, etc., that could keep it running even longer. And they could get some great replacements to take over just like in the original run.

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 3:04am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "She has less name value than Bette, and the show has less name value than DOLLY. She'd be amazing in the role, but I could see this ending up like CAROUSEL. And mostmajor actresses who you'd suggest for Vera would want to play Mame instead."

I think this could be to its benefit. If it's as well received as Dolly critically, it could have a strong run without having to live up to the Bette level hype that a great replacement like Bernadette couldn't. 

[inception]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 9:08am

I think Mame is actually a better dhow than Hello Dolly. I always get bored with the sub-plots dealing with the secondary characters in Hello Dolly. Whereas in Mame, it doesn't feel like there are too many extra things going on. Of course, unlike with HD they didn't have to try to stay faithful to an already beloved stage play.
My favourite person in Mame I think is Agnes Gooch & her 2nd act song is gold.
I'm biased as Mame was the 1st show I ever fell in love with at 8 or 9 years of age. Thinking about that, makes me suddenly wonder if seeing Bea Arthur a sex symbol at a young age helped turn my interests towards boys?
J/k

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

Posted: 6/28/19 at 9:42am

Well, if Hello, Dolly! could restore "Penny In My Pocket," what are the odds someone sticks "Camouflage" and "Love Is Only Love" back in this one?

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 11:33am

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Well, if Hello, Dolly! could restore "Penny In My Pocket," what are the odds someone sticks "Camouflage" and "Love Is Only Love" back in this one?"

I say that they both can, but depending on who Vera is,"Camouflage" would be fun! 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 12:01pm

I really hope that this is true. 

At this point, I almost think that Toni could be another Angela Lansbury - she is fairly prolific in her television and film acting, but for some reason has never broken out into a mega-superstar the way many of her peers have. In my wildest dream, this would be the production where Broadway fully embraces her, she becomes a huge Broadway star and - a la Metcalf - she returns to the stage frequently.

Also, if you haven't watched The United States of Tara, it is some of the greatest television acting you are likely to see. She can truly do anything.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 12:04pm

NOWaWarning said: "I think her name and the show would sell great for a limited run. And if it gets good reviews, awards, etc., that could keep it running even longer. And they could get some great replacements to take over just like in the original run."

Yeah but you can't recoup a big commercial musical in a limited run. If it opens in late April, gets reviews on the level of South Pacific, and then wins Tonys for Revival and Actress, that helps its odds, but it's still not a slam dunk. MAME also isn't a show that will do gangbusters on the road.

Collette's a great talent and MAME would fit her like a glove, but she's an indie film actress whose only 2 Broadway shows have flopped.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 5:07pm

nealb1 said: "The Cher rumors are just that - since the mid 90's, over 25 years. Catherine Zeta-Jones would be a fantastic choice."

"Send in the Clowns" is not "If He Walked into My Life" and "The Glamorous Life" is not "It's Today" or "Open a New Window". Zeta-Jones would have vocal nodes by Scene 3.

I don't where this rumor started that dancer Zeta-Jones can carry the vocals in a vehicle role. If from CHICAGO, people do understand that movie scores are put together bit by bit from various takes, yes?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 6:32pm

duplicate to message below.

Updated On: 6/28/19 at 06:32 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 6:32pm

This is magical casting.  It's hard to imagine the whole world not wanting her to succeed.  Toni Collette is one of the most beloved actors in the business.  If megastardom has eluded her, she has worked her ass off for decades and a great many absolutely love her - myself included.  She is admired around the world and certainly in the industry.  In interviews I've seen her lionized by Kate Winslet, Brie Larsen and Sutton Foster,  Like her once co-star, Sam Rockwell, she defines "actor's actor." Like him (recently), she's on the brink of taking a storied career to the next level.

In many respects, Collette at this moment in her career reminds me of Lansbury at the time she was cast in Mame - btw a casting move which, if I'm not mistaken, surprised many at the time as audacious and unexpected.

Collette has absolutely everything Mame needs.   

Updated On: 6/28/19 at 06:32 PM

[David10086]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 8:43pm

As much as I like Colette, I agree with those who say they need a much bigger name to make this a hit musical. And NO - not Catherine Zeta Jones! God, no! 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 10:34pm

Fall 2021 rumor has it

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 11:47pm

I’ve said for years Jane Krakowski was my pick, but there’s another pick that occurred to me today. Someone with the right mix of impishness, glamour and brassy chaotic energy. She’s the right age to play early thirties to late forties over a show, Mame’s canonical age according to the novels (although traditionally the character is played more early fifties to late sixties), though she will likely read younger and sexier than Lansbury did...

Kristen Bell. She’s in that space where she’s too old to be the ingenue but too young to be the woman of a certain age or the washed-out kitchen sink realism wife. Let’s let her be a roaring twenties party monster turned mom!

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/28/19 at 11:58pm

Kristen Bell could not be more wrong for the role.

Toni Colette is the only person out there that's 100% right for this role. Jane Krakowski would also be lovely. Maybe she'll play her on Tuesdays

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/29/19 at 12:15am

NOWaWarning said: "I think her name and the show would sell great for a limited run. And if it gets good reviews, awards, etc., that could keep it running even longer. And they could get some great replacements to take over just like in the original run."

Funny, I have always felt that a key reason the original didn’t run longer was because of the weak people they hired to replace her, first Jane Morgan, then Janis Paige.  By the time Ann Miller — who was also  not a box office attraction — came and got terrific reviews, it was too late.  The first two were absolutely people who were never going to bring in audiences.  They needed David Merrill to produce it.

I did see Ann Miller in the role and she was very good...even managed to get a tap solo into That’s How Young I Feel, which previously IMO was the weak link in the show.  

Re the poster who said that Toni Collette is not big enough a name, neither was Angela Lansbury.  When she was announced, a lot of people thought the producers were out of their minds.  Well, theatre history proved them wrong.  The fact that this is a revival, not an original musical, musical certainly Complicated the issue...it will never have a huge advance and further inflated prices without a huge star; but, since it hasn’t really had a serious revival since the original production, people aren’t overexposed to it, and great reviews by the lead might just do the trick.  The longest running musical revivals have not benefitted from big stars. 


Re the person who referred to Carousel, (a) the production sucked; and (2) I personally think that Carousel is viewed by too many people as a warhorse, because it has been around so long and performed everywhere.  Mame, which if done right, is a funny, joyous show that doesn’t have as much Baggage IMO.  But it does need a good production and a great lead...which the last production I saw — in  DC - did not have.

Updated On: 6/29/19 at 12:15 AM

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 6/29/19 at 6:47pm

If this show does get a revival -- no matter who the lead is -- it's going to be tricky with lyrics such as:

"You've given us the drive again
To make the South revive again, Mame..."

"This time the South will rise again..."

"You make the cotton easy to pick, Mame..."

"The whole plantation's humming
Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland..."

Not sure how this song can be performed without a major revision.

Updated On: 6/29/19 at 06:47 PM

[carnzee]

Posted: 6/29/19 at 7:15pm

sondheimfan2 said: "If this show does get a revival -- no matter who the lead is -- it's going to be tricky with lyrics such as:

"You've given us the drive again
To make the South revive again, Mame..."

"This time the South will rise again..."

"You make the cotton easy to pick, Mame..."

"The whole plantation's humming
Since you brought Dixie back to Dixieland..."

Not sure how this song can be performed without a major revision."

I think a nip tuck of the more problematic lines may do the trick; after all, the humor of the title number is ironic and at the South's expense. 

But Ito the houseboy may be a bigger issue. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/29/19 at 8:07pm

inception said: "I think Mame is actually a better dhow than Hello Dolly. I always get bored with the sub-plots dealing with the secondary characters in Hello Dolly. Whereas in Mame, it doesn't feel like there are too many extra things going on. Of course, unlike with HD they didn't have to try to stay faithful to an already beloved stage play.
My favourite person in Mame I think is Agnes Gooch & her 2nd act song is gold.
I'm biased as Mame was the 1st show I ever fell in love with at 8 or 9 years of age. Thinking about that, makes me suddenly wonder if seeing Bea Arthur a sex symbol at a young age helped turn my interests towards boys?
J/k
"

The OBCR of MAME played a huge role in my childhood as well. I much prefer its score to HD, though both are magnificent.

But I want to correct one historical error: MAME was indeed also competing with a beloved play and a hit, non-musical film, both called AUNTIE MAME. In fact, AUNTIE MAME outran THE MATCHMAKER by six months; both were on the boards at the same time in the mid-1950s. (Last time I saw it, the film with Rosalind Russell held up quite well. Of course, one does keep expecting them to burst into Jerry Herman songs, but that's not the fault of the film, which predated the musical.)