Maddona to star in West End Evita?- Page 2

[Elphie]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:21pm

I want Julia Murney to play Evita someday. She would be amazing.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:40pm

Not to mention that by 2007, Madonna will be forty-nine (49) years old. Eva Peron died at 33.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:41pm

Craig, please get down off the cross. Surely they could use the wood for the Evita set.

Anthony isn't being condescending towards Broadway; he's criticizing the current state it's in. Which, by the way, is a valid criticism. With very few exceptions, shows are woefully undersold (fine, Spamalot and Wicked and maybe three other shows are selling out, but that doesn't make up for all of the other houses at 60%), ticket prices are too high with no incentive to buy (ie: a star name), and the dearth of jukebox musicals is making Broadway start to seem like a walking parody of itself. I mean, come on, a musical based on John Lennon? No one is writing original works anymore, and the revivals lack the heart of their original runs, which is making many people (including Time Out New York) sit back and say "How do we fix Broadway?" It's not the 1950s anymore, where two popular composers (who in the same DECADE released Flower Drum Song, The King and I, AND Sound of Music) could make money off of a flop of a show with a score by a Brooklyn dentist, because Ethel Merman was headlining it. We don't have, in 2005, Mary Martins and Ethel Mermans to guarantee a run of even the clunkiest of shows. Karen Ziemba may be all well and good as an actress, but she doesn't guarantee a sold out revival of Happy Hunting. Even actors like John Lithgow, whom people know outside of a ten-block radius in Times Square, can't guarantee a sell-out every single time (Sweet Smell of what, now?).

And it's interesting to think that if it was anyone else lauding Madonna as someone who could bring back the "old Broadway" (say, Eddie Varley), that you wouldn't be so eager to jump on the defensive. Could some of this overzealousness be related in part to personal vendetta?

Oh, I forgot, Broadway doesn't play that way.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:43pm

Maybe Madonna will just play Eva's death scenes.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:44pm

I think they should leave the score alone. If Madonna can't sing it, find someone who can.

I don't think Madonna has enough of a powerful personality to play the role. When you saw Patti LuPone perform "A New Argentina", you knew this was a woman you didn't want to mess with.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:47pm

I don't think Madonna has enough of a powerful personality to play the role. When you saw Patti LuPone perform "A New Argentina", you knew this was a woman you didn't want to mess with.

Couldn't agree more.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:47pm

Alice Ripley needs to play it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:48pm

Updated On: 10/27/05 at 12:48 PM

[BoxFive]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:48pm

In any kind of dramatic role, she vanishes-I believe this whole report is a sham, she would not be able to do it for one performance, let alone eight shows a week.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:52pm

Yes, Speed The Plow was a long time ago. However, her appearance in a play in London was just a few years back. Up For Grabs was a limited run that sold out but only performed a 6 show a week schedule. The critics were fairly unanimous in trashing her performance. And it wasn't because of "who she was" but it's because she can't act. I saw the show.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:54pm

I wonder if Rocco and Lourdes are going to be in the children's chorus?

"Please, mother Eva, will you look upon me as your own?
Make me special, be my angel, be my everything, wonderful, perfect, and true
And I'll try to be exactly like you"

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:56pm

Updated On: 10/27/05 at 12:56 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:57pm

There is a clear difference between the acting abilities of Bernadette Peters and those of Madonna.

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 12:59pm

OH. HELLS. NO.
and if they do this they better keep it in London.
What are these producers thinking?
Have they evenheard her (try to) sing "Rainbow High" and "Buenos Aires"? SHE BLEW....THE BIG ONE.
God Theatre is Desperate.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:00pm

There is a clear difference between the acting abilities of Bernadette Peters and those of Madonna.

Yeah: Bernadette has acting abilities and Madonna doesn't.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:00pm

The question I have is are they going to rewrite the score and cut out the mistress so that Madonna gets "Another Suitcase..."?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:02pm

Really ! - because Bernie stunk up the place -

Must I quote Brantley's review about POP-COUNTRY-STAR-REBA and how her performance might even had topped Mermans?

Must I quote Barbara Cook who said Reba gave one of the 5 best musical comedy performances she had ever seen?

Not Bernie!

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:03pm

"The question I have is are they going to rewrite the score and cut out the mistress so that Madonna gets "Another Suitcase..."? "

Actually, I thought that bit of rewriting made better dramatic sense than having a meaningless character sing a song then vanish.

But that's probably a discussion for another thread

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:05pm

That's what Madonna needs. More songs to make her voice go out sooner. I bet she loses her voice in the first week of previews.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:06pm

I find it interesting that most of the people arguing against the idea of Madonna appearing in a musical are the same people who, a year ago, were so incensed over a proposed film version of Rent and are now eagerly awaiting November 23rd.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:07pm

Really ! - because Bernie stunk up the place -

Must I quote Brantley's review about POP-COUNTRY-STAR-REBA and how her performance might even had topped Mermans?

Must I quote Barbara Cook who said Reba gave one of the 5 best musical comedy performances she had ever seen?

Not Bernie!

Must I quote that Bernie's won two Tonys?
Must I quote that she's been above the title more than any female stage actress EVER?
Must I quote that she seems to always walk away with raves even when the production she's in isn't raved about (Goodbye Girl, Gypsy)?

Bernie has been miscast once in her career (as Annie). Madonna has been miscast everytime she puts a foot on a stage or in front of a camera.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:08pm

1. This isn't going to happen--Madonna plans on touring next year.

2. Saying that key changes should prevent her from doing a musical is just ignorance of what happens on Broadway---tons of shows have had different keys for different performers.

3. IF Madonna could pull off 6 - 8 shows a week (EVITA is the kind of show that would probably have ANY actress only do 6 shows a week and M is a tough, disciplined woman--she might be able to do it), I think she would be phenominal. Yes, she is a weak actor when she speaks lines. But, when she is singing, she is a brilliant actress. For some reason, she really connects as an actor when music is present. I think the film was a great performance, though I wish she had been given more room to cut loose--and live would let her. Think how HOT "Buenos Aires" would be? It could be brilliance, though I do see the great potential for failure---say she can't pull out 6 shows a week. But, the idea of her doing that show or any musical live is exhilarating.

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:09pm

"Madonna has been miscast everytime she puts a foot on a stage or in front of a camera.

No she hasn't. What was the name of that movie she did with Willem DaFoe?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:10pm

Oh, and age isn't an issue. Most people on Broadway are way older than their character.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 1:12pm

Madonna was cast perfectly in

DICK TRACY
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN
WHO'S THAT GIRL
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
EVITA
SNAKE EYES

And is actually good in these films.