Mullally Writing KAREN: THE MUSICAL and Broadway-Bound in 2010

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 1:25pm

According to an LA Stage profile, Megan Mullally is working on a musical featuring Karen Walker with a score by Jeff Blumenkrantz.

The story also said she's doing a play on Broadway in the spring of 2010 that's "days away from a full cast announcement." Anyone have any ideas as to what?

LEND ME A TENOR, maybe?

http://www.lastageblog.com/2009/08/12/megan-mullally/

Updated On: 8/13/09 at 01:25 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 1:43pm

You're the one who knows everything, you tell us.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 1:47pm

I can actually see a Karen musical working, especially as a fictitious one-woman show of sorts.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 1:52pm

YES. Will & Grace and Broadway are my two favorite things!!

[little_sally]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 2:12pm

Having it be a one woman show would be great. Maybe with a cameo from Rosario?

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 2:19pm

If not Rosario, maybe just Jack?

[raggballad2]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 2:23pm

Someone should bring 'JUST JACK' or 'JACK 2000' to a bar/cabaret somewhere or Off-Broadway. I miss Jack+Karen (+Rosario) so much!
Updated On: 8/13/09 at 02:23 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 2:30pm

Shouldn't she be distancing herself from that character, rather than embracing it? Many people already identify her strictly with Karen Walker. She's a huge talent.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 2:48pm

^ The same could be said for:
Carol Channing, Yul Brynner, Topol, and Zero Mostel.

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 3:11pm

"Shouldn't she be distancing herself from that character, rather than embracing it? Many people already identify her strictly with Karen Walker. She's a huge talent."

And if she enjoys playing that character, there's nothing wrong with her using her talent to further develop that role. She only needs to distance herself from it if she no longer wishes to play the role or be identified with it, and that doesn't seem to be the case right now.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 3:17pm

Plus the show, even if it's only half way decent, will sell tickets. I don't see it being a one woman show, some of Karen's funniest comments are when they're directed at other people.

So her possible time line could be: Spring 2010 - B'way play until end of summer. Fall 2010 - working on/workshopping Karen: The Musical. Spring 2011 - out of town try-out somewhere. Fall 2011 - Karen: The Musical opens on Broadway.

Updated On: 8/13/09 at 03:17 PM

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 3:33pm

Does anyone think this would be better in a small off-broadway theatre??

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 4:53pm

I'm with BobbyBubby.

That said, she'd be dynamite as Beatrice Carbone in VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 5:08pm

YES. Will & Grace and Broadway are my two favorite things!!

^My thoughts exactly. Plus, Karen was always my favorite character so any show revolving around her would be right up my alley.

And Megan coming back to Broadway is exciting for me. I went to see Young Frankenstein for her, but she was out that day. I need to see her in something!

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 6:38pm

In response to CSonBroadway who asked: "Does anyone think this would be better in a small off-broadway theatre??" ......

Well, maybe we should wait until the damn show is written before pidgeon-holing it. Who knows - it might be filled with boozy fantasy sequences involving Karen and a chorus of 20 hoofers.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 7:04pm

Not only does this strike me as sad and desperate, it also seems inevitable. What else has she got, really? If she's smart, it'll be a one woman show with songs, stories and audience interaction. And then she can ride that gravy train for the next 60 years, like Dame Edna. She can tour from coast to coast to coast playing every town with two gays to rub together.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 7:04pm

Very curious what play she's going to be in. Lend Me A Tenor is not a bad idea at all.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 8:25pm

This could be fun. Let her iron it out and when we start to see demos we can bitch it out.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 8/13/09 at 10:34pm

What a dumb idea.
Someone needs to remind her of the huge failure of "Ethel:The Musical", which Vivian Vance never got past the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre. And don't even mention "Barney of Mayberry" which marked the end of Knotts' career.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 12:36am

How exciting SueleenGay! I never knew there was a Ethel musical!

[LostLeander]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 2:14am

Anyone else think Megan Mullally would make a kick ass Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle?

[i am the one]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 3:21am

As long as she sings Deep Love, I'm in.

[Katecab99]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 11:36am

Love, love LOVE the idea! I'll be beside myself if it actually comes to pass!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 1:10pm

Mullally will constantly be associated with the character of Karen for the rest of her career.

There's really not much she can do to change that, so why not embrace it and turn it into something beneficial?

Updated On: 8/14/09 at 01:10 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/14/09 at 1:14pm

I am going to continue to respectfully disagree. Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Olsen on Little House, still goes around playing clubs as Nellie. David Hyde Pierce seems to have stepped away from Niles Crane rather successfully; if he were to write a 'Niles' show I'd consider it a huge step backwards.