Lea DeLaria to Co-Star with Andrea McCardle in MAME

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:43pm

DeLaria will be Vera Charles opposite McArdle's MAME at the Media Theatre in Pennsylvania, according to her Facebook page.

Certainly... interesting casting to say the least. Completely preposterous and inappropriate, in my opinion, but definitely interesting.

Updated On: 3/7/13 at 10:43 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:50pm

...Wow.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:50pm

Well that's one production I'll make a point to avoid like the plague.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:56pm

If I lived within driving distance I would so be going to that.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:02pm

I think Delaria would make a great Mother Burnside or even Mr Babcock. She might even make a good Ito. Not even with the wildest imagination could she pretend to be the First Lady of the theatre.
As for Ms.Mccardle. She's a great singer but a comedienne she is not.
Best worst casting ever.

[IronMan]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:50pm

Are you sure this isn't a joke? I can't imagine any casting worse than this... one who can sing decently but can't act, and the other who... well, that describes them both.

PS to Ms DeLaria: Loud does NOT equal funny.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:04am

AMEN.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:05am

has the entire cast list been posted somewhere??

Updated On: 3/8/13 at 12:05 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:07am

I'm looking forward to a slightly more effeminate post-Bea Arthur Vera.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:18am

This wasn't the same theater that let Joyce Dewitt stumble through play Rose in Gypsy was it?

If we learned anything from Lucille Ball's Maimed, it's that the character of Mame needs some warmth of which Andrea McCardle has zilch.

Seeing Lea DeLaria play Vera Charles might be interesting if you could imagine Tom Bosley playing the role.

Maybe they could talk Jerry Seinfeld into playing Beauregard, Katherine McPhee to play Gooch and Honey Boo Boo as Young Patrick.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:22am

This has FAIL written all over it. Road trip!

[goldenboy]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:26am

I was going to see this with McCardle. Now that DeLaria is involved, I will pass on this. Boy will that theatre be sorry to have to deal with the likes of DeLaria. Very dificult to work with. To know her is to know she gives lesbians and thespians a bad name.

Updated On: 3/8/13 at 12:26 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:29am

Are they really going to have Lea DeLaria sing "Bosom Buddy"?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:30am

I will never understand anyone finding anything appealing about a female Sam Kinison who does nothing but screams.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 10:59am

^Delaria was a fantastic Hildy in the Park; her larger than lifeness couldn't survive On the Town's move to Broadway (nothing else in or about that production did either).

* * *

This may in fact be a disaster, but I also have to say:

if this were early 1966, a great many of us would be screaming that the tough, vulgar, butch, "ethnic" giantess Bea Arthur was COMPLETELY, PATHETICALLY MISCAST as the grand dame first lady of the American theater, and that the hard as nails, B-list Hollywood "character actress" Angela Lansbury, best at arch and bitter roles (she was good in Anyone Can Whistle, superb in The Manchurian Candidate, but Mame? - WTF?!), was not only COMPLETELY, PATHETICALLY MISCAST as the warm, madcap, classy, patrician, loving, eccentrically maternal Auntie Mame but would, furthermore, never sell a single ticket.

That is until those legendary performances began and history was made.

My point - and I do have one - is that truly great and highly successful casting sometimes pushes the envelope, is surprising, and that all too often what people on bww seem to demand is the safe, the predictable, the commercially prepackaged and the boring.









Updated On: 3/8/13 at 10:59 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:12am

My point - and I do have one - is that truly great and highly successful casting sometimes pushes the envelope, is surprising, and that all too often what people on bww seem to demand is the safe, the predictable, the commercially prepackaged and the boring.

I love this post. Very well said and I wholeheartedly agree!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:24am

I completely agree. But when it comes to Delaria, the last thing she should be doing is musical theater. She might be very talented in other areas, but this one ain't for her.

[Shoshana BeanieBaby]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:28am

Agreed with henrikegerman.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:29am

I have seen her do her combo be bop jazz/comedy shows and they are great.

I've also seen McCardle be quite warm in shows.

But I guess the message in this thread is "Don't try anything risky; things that look good on paper always work out for the best!"

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:34am

I thought Delaria was one of the few bright spots in ON THE TOWN. I was leery of her casting, and found her incredibly effective. And yes, her be bop/jazz shows are terrific. Her Ballad of Sweeney Todd is possibly my favorite version of the song.

I've worked with both of these women, and they were both lovely. I wonder if they need an Ito?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:37am

"But I guess the message in this thread is "Don't try anything risky; things that look good on paper always work out for the best!"

EXACTLY. lol

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:47am

I think this needs Alec Mapa as Ito.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:51am

Then I would soooo find a way to get there.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 11:51am

I'd meet you there.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/8/13 at 12:03pm

FINE. I'll play Mother Burnside. My Agnes Gooch notes are a little shaky these days.