Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
#1Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:21am
And in a revival of Hello, Dolly!
I hate the show (I can only stand the movie because of Streisand's amazing, if inappropriate, vocals and the charming Michael Crawford), however, I would definitely see a well designed, tight production if Kazan were in the lead. She definitely has the spunk and charm required for the role and is overqualified vocally for the role, but that doesn't matter. Sure, she's 67, but she doesn't nearly look it. Having seen her at 110 in the Shade on Wednesday, I can tell you she's looking radiant and could totally pass for 48.
We need this wonderful woman back on the Great White Way and as one of the most beloved female characters in musical theatre.
#2re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:26amKazan is old enough to be Dolly Levi's Grandmother.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#2re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:29amIt would be great to see Lainie Kazan on Broadway, but if she came back in DOLLY, Tovah Feldshuh would kill her. It would not be pretty.
#3re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:37amFoster- no matter what age she is, she looks about 15 years younger. And I could care less about Feldshuh. Kazan can handle her in a fist fight any day of the week. I stand by my statement.
#4re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:39amDon't underestimate my Tovah. She's small, but lethal. Like a raptor.
#5re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:39amAll Kazan has to do is sit on her and the game is over.
#6re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:40amWell, when you spend that many years churning out one stereotype-inducing crappy movie after another, you make enough money so that you can get your face pulled back enough times that you don't have to worry about looking your age.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#7re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:40am
Wanna bet, Wicked? Tovah is STRONG, with very sharp teeth.
#8re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:42amD2-don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to be in a dark alley alone with either. Talk about fierce women.
#9re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:44amI know. What a bitchfight those two could have. Maybe THEY should do LEGENDS?
#10re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:44amOops, double post.
#11re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:50am
Totally.
Foster- Is it lonely atop of that pedestal you seem to think you're on?
#12re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 10:55amIt's actually quite fun. There's a bunch of us up here. We's havin' us a little ol' party.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#13re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:05amPass me one of those Martinis, will you, Foster? Thanks!
#14re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:06am
"There's a bunch of us up here"
The people in your head don't count as actual people. Just ask Anne Heche.
#15re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:15am
Carol Channing did DOLLY well into her 70's and then, in a case of life imitating art, at age 82, the Widow Lowe 'rejoined the human race' and married her high-school sweetheart.
IMHO, Lainie would have a harder time being believable as an Irish woman ('Dolly Levi, born Gallagher') than she would as a middle-aged widow. Maybe with a red wig...
#16re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:20amTovah nailed it last year at Papermill. Totally, believably Irish from beginning to end. She was fabulous.
MungoGypsy8232
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/07
#17re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 11:22am
Only in a broadwayworld forum can a conversation change from Lainie Kazan needing to come back to Broadway to her getting into a fistfight with Tovah Feldshuh 
Anyways, I agree. I really really wanted her to be Ursula in the Little Mermaid, but they casted Sherie who'se just as amazing.
#18re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 12:28pmDid Channing play it as Irish? Forgive me, but in the video I saw of her on tour she played it VERY Jewish. I remember Channing hating Streisand for playing it very Jewish, but from the video I saw of her in the '80's (or maybe early '90's) she pretty much did it the same way as Barbra except A LOT slower.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#19re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:01pm
I saw the Channing Dolly in versions 2.0 and 3.0 (or maybe 5.0). The mid-70s and the mi-90s -- that's decades, not her age. Her performance was many things, but I've never heard it described as "VERY Jewish." Though she was clearly from NY, the character's ethnicity was indeterminate. I always remember John Simon's line about her Dolly: "Of all the *monstre sacre*, hers is the most giving..."
To bring us back to Ms. Kazan ...The only famous "Jewish" Dolly is the woman she understudied, Streisand. Imagine what a performance she could give of the role today, by the way. At 65, she'd read 5o on stage and very likely knock our socks off.
#20re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:04pmWhy not get Lainie into WICKED as Morrible or even get her to Birdland or Joe's Pub for a few evenings with Lainie. I think she is divine.
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#21re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:09pmAm I insane to think Kazan would be a fabulous Mama Rose?
#22re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 1:11pmLainie can do anything.
skingdom
Broadway Star Joined: 6/29/03
#23re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 2:36pm
Lainie Kazan on the forbideen site singing Porgy and the Trolley song!
incredible.
#24re: Lainie Kazan should come back to Broadway
Posted: 6/16/07 at 2:56pm
It cracks me up that Lainie played Bette Milder's mother in Beaches when they are more like sisters. hahahaha
"What are you a camel? Skee-daddle!"
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