Judy Garland was going to be Mame?

[JsnWse]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 6:47pm

Just flipping through this book in Barnes & Nobles - Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicles of a Legend.. and aside from being a fascinating book (gives small itnerary of what she did almost every day of her life).. it says on multiple days that Judy went to see Mame, and was interested in replacing Lansbury. This book shows her going to the show about 4 or 5 times in 2 weeks, and also says that she met with the production team on several occasions. She wanted to watch the show from the wings, but the Stage Manager made her sit in the house because they were afraid she would get injured.

Eventually, was not a replacement, because the producers did not feel that she could be responsible enough to carry the show every night.

Did anyone know about this? I was shocked! How fun would it have been to see Judy as Mame?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 6:48pm

This would have been beyond great.

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 6:48pm

neat!
I love judy

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 6:49pm

Did you know that Burt Lahr was set to play Dolly but then he died?

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 7:10pm

Jerry Herman writes about this at great length in his autobiography.

The producers of the show, simply couldn't rely on her showing up 8 times a week to do the show. She was in declining health at the time and it never worked out. No contracts were ever signed or anything like that.

Read his book and you'll get the full story.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 7:40pm

As much as I love Judy, there is no way she could have handled the rigors of an 8 show week at this point in her life.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 7:44pm

This is called History.


You should learn it.


It's really great.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 7:56pm

its in Lorna's book too!

i love imagining a world where it came true!!!

[JsnWse]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 7:58pm

TheatreDiva90016, why do you have to be so catty?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 8:36pm

Did anyone know about this?

Yes, I did.

So did my cousin Arlene.

And my friend Jerry.

And John.

And Bill.

And Arthur.

And Cindy.

And Jeff.

And Burgess.

And Ken.

And Benjamin.

Want me to call around and see if anybody else knew?

[jondouglas]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 8:54pm

I agree with JsnWse, why do you have to be so catty, TheatreDiva? Your posts come across extremely negative, self-serving and uneducated.
Updated On: 2/12/08 at 08:54 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 9:02pm

Didn't Herman go on record once and say that he would have been happy if Garland had performed it just one night?

Honestly, they should have given her one night.

Side note, did she ever record any of the songs?

[jondouglas]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 9:07pm

She would have be wonderful. But, it wasn't in the cards.

[sally1112]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 9:23pm

This is called History.

You should learn it.

It's really great.

...uhm, the poster did learn it. And was sharing. Believe it or not, not everyone knows everything.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:06pm

Especially not how to quote in an obvious way.

[fflagg]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:14pm

She may have performed "If He Walked. . . " in concert; one wonders if her auditions in 1967 for Mame were tape recorded???

Liza would be a fine Vera.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:24pm

Kaye Ballard's auditions were.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:30pm

Don't remind me. God... what a tease.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 2/12/08 at 11:36pm

There is a concert recording of her starting to sing If he walked into My Life... but it is impromptu... and stops after a few bars and slurs.. "we'll just leave that one to Angela Lansbury... how 'bout I sing San Francisco!"

Even more tantalizing is that she and Minnelli were ALMOST the replacement cast for the original Gypsy.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 12:44am

BFB-
I think I've heard that, now that you mention it. Isn't it titled "If He Walked Into My Life Almost" or something?

And yes, they would have been amazing. There's a recording of her doign "Everything's Coming Up Roses" isn't there?

I also think I've seen a recording of her doing "Don't Rain on My Parade"...but don't hold me to that.

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 12:45am

That would have been a dream come true.....

[philcrosby]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:12am

The first time I read this was in Gerold Frank's biography of Garland almost 30 years ago. She desperately wanted to replace Lansbury ... more to secure the film role than anything.

And she apparently gave a spectacular audition for Herman and the producers. But they all knew the reality of what Garland was like at the time ... and it was never seriously considered.

BFB, I had never heard the rumor about Judy and Liza in GYPSY ... where'd that one come from?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:26am

philcrosby-
I *think* it was in the Making of "Gypsy" book.

Don't hold me to that, I had to speed read it about 6 months ago, so the details are all a little vauge.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:43am

i know little Joey loved GYPSY, but OLIVER! was Lorna's favorite!

[roquat]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 12:45pm

I had heard about Judy staging an audition in her home for the producers, but she was dressed horribly and hadn't been able to learn the lyrics. It was very sad, apparently...

Elaine Stritch, who was good friends with Judy, talks about how they had discussed the possibility of trading off the roles of Mame and Vera--one of them could go out and party and then take on the "less demanding" role of Vera that night while the other one played Mame, and then vice versa the next night. Judy's response? "Elaine--what about matinee days?"

Judy and Elaine together--can you imagine?