Liz Smith talks casting for "First Wives"
Liz Smith talks casting for "First Wives"
MATheaterLover
Understudy Joined: 10/13/04
#0Liz Smith talks casting for "First Wives"
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:02am
In today's Page Six, Liz Smith talks about the musical version of "The First Wives Club," which the producers hope to bring to Broadway in 2006.
"He also wanted a female director, and is inches away from signing Francesca Zambello. She is doing "Porgy and Bess" at the Kennedy Center, will direct at the Metropolitan Opera in December, and has been chosen by Disney to helm the stage version of "The Little Mermaid."
Casting? Lambert has his eye on Queen Latifah, Bernadette Peters, Megan Mullally, Stockard Channing (remember, in the movie she jumped off her balcony, bringing the three friends together for the funeral.) He would also enjoy luring Olivia Newton-John back to the spotlight! And might I suggest Meryl Streep? She began in musical theater, and has a hell of a voice. People who see "Postcards from the Edge" for the first time, still gasp when she belts, "I'm checking out of this Heartbreak Hotel."
Loving the names...
TennesseeTwang
Broadway Star Joined: 6/26/05
#1re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:16amBette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton all sing. Why not bring in the original cast members?
Marguerite Chauvelin
Broadway Star Joined: 7/19/05
#2re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:19amYeah, Victor Garber was in that movie too. He can sing.
If Percy Blakeney were in Les Mis....
Percy: Sink me! If it isn't Javvurt!
Javert: Zsah-vair, it's pronounced Zsah-vair.
Pecry: But it's spelled J-A-V-E-R-T Javvurt.
Javert: Repeat after me Zsah...Zsah....
Percy: Oh! Zsa-Zsa! Like the Gabor sister! Well I personally have always prefered Eva.
Javert: (Looks for gun)
Percy: Sink me! If it isn't Javvurt!
Javert: Zsah-vair, it's pronounced Zsah-vair.
Pecry: But it's spelled J-A-V-E-R-T Javvurt.
Javert: Repeat after me Zsah...Zsah....
Percy: Oh! Zsa-Zsa! Like the Gabor sister! Well I personally have always prefered Eva.
Javert: (Looks for gun)
Eliza0114
Leading Actor Joined: 5/31/05
#3re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:25amI second...or third, or whatever...that notion!
"you can take the girl out of Hicksville, but you can't take the Hicksville out of the girl." ~Rent
#4re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:35am
If they brought in the original cast (as much as I would love to see Bette Midler do a Broadway Show), I would just think, "Why spend money on a ticket for a Show when I can watch them in the movie?"
The only way I'll see this show is if it is very different from the movie. I would love it if Meryl Streep and Bernadette Peters were attatched to the project.
"It's the little things; the details, that distinguish the Barbra Streisands from the Rosalyn Kinds."~Gilmore Girls~
#5re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:55am
" and has a hell of a voice. People who see "Postcards from the Edge" for the first time, still gasp when she belts, "I'm checking out of this Heartbreak Hotel.""
If she wasn't Meryl Streep and had the same voice, no one would be all that impressed. It's not that great a voice.
And I can't even imagine the money it would take to bring Bette Midler to Broadway.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
TennesseeTwang
Broadway Star Joined: 6/26/05
#6re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 10:38am
"Why spend money on a ticket for a Show when I can watch them in the movie?"
See, I look at it a different way. The fact that it would be a musicalization of the story, would make it different enough for me to want ot see the original cast again. Besides, all three were great in those roles.
As for Meryl in one of those roles, I agree that her singing is nothing special. And at the risk of incurring certain certain wrath, I have to say that I've never been particularly impressed with her comedic work. Yes, she is the greatest actress of her generation. But I've always felt that she overacts in comedy roles.
wildcat
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/04
#7re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:22amBut more importantly, why would any of those original three ladies want to put themselves through the rigours of eight shows a week for a project they've already presented definitively?
#8re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:26amAmen Wildcat!
"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds."
~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns
#9re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:27amI don't want this to be the project, but I would love to see Diane Keaton do another musical (on stage or film).
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#10re: Liz Smith talks casting for 'First Wives'
Posted: 7/19/05 at 7:05pm
There is no way, no way, no way you are going to get three hollywood a-list actors to star in one broadway show.
And as other posters have stated why pay to see the same actors do what they did on film perfectly.
I'd love to see three mature women(think Belle Calllaway) tackle these roles.
Maybe Chita can play the Maggie Smith role, socialite Gunilla Garson Goldberg.
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