Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
StageFan2
Broadway Star Joined: 4/8/07
#2re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 11:51amEthel Waters; and although a screen star, I would have loved to seen Katherine Hepburn in live performance.
#2re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 11:52am
Gwen Verdon
Ethel Merman
#3re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 11:55amI would have loved to see Helen Hayes too.
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#4re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 1:32pm
Jeanne Eagels in Rain
Mrs. Leslie Carter in one of her Belasco plays (just to see how bad she probably was)
Frances Starr in The Easiest Way
John Barrymore in The Jest, Hamlet, Richard III or anything from his glory years
Nazimova in Hedda Gabler or Ghosts
James K. Hackett when he was still a matinee idol
Sarah Bernhardt in Phedre
Eleanora Duse in anything
Mrs. Patrick Campbell in The Second Mrs. Tanqueray
#5re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 1:41pm
Merman! Merman! Merman!
Laurette Taylor
Gwen Verdon
Kim Stanley
Brando
Fanny Brice
Rosalind Russell
Tallulah Bankhead
..many others
#6re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 1:46pmHume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy
#7re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 1:56pmA while back I saw Ethel Merman in the film It's a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World - and she was so freaking hysterically funny. God, I LOVED her in that movie! I wish I had been alive when she was famous. It certainly was a glimpse for me into why she was. Bless her. She's dead now, right?
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#8re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 2:02pmMerman died over 25 years ago.
#9re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 3:12pm
Ethel Merman died on February 15, 1984 at age 76 of complications from a brain tumor. That night all the theatres on Broadway dimmed their lights in her memory.
Her last regular Broadway performance was the lead in HELLO DOLLY, the show that was written with her in mind. Merman played that show from March, 1970 to December, 1970 when the show closed. Composer Jerry Herman had written two songs just for her.
Merman's last public appearance in NYC was at Carnegie Hall on May 10, 1982. Her adoring public, me included, went wild with enthusiasm. She was truly one of a kind. I feel lucky to have seen her in HAPPY HUNTING, GYPSY, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN(revival), HELLO DOLLY and the Carnegie Hall concert.
#10re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 4:19pm
Mary Martin
Gwen Verdon
Julie Andrews
bwaymizfit2
Understudy Joined: 5/19/06
#12re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 5:20pmhmm...if I could only pick one? I would say John Raitt. That man's voice was singularly AMAZING!
sgv123
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/06
#13re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 5:40pm
fanny brice
Ethel Merman
BrianS
Broadway Star Joined: 10/8/07
#15re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 5:58pmThe original cast of A Chorus Line. Not outright stars, but they definitely owned the roles they played.
pushdabutton
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/05
#16re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/29/07 at 8:09pmVanessa Williams in Kiss of the Spider Woman
#17re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/30/07 at 4:48pm
"since when is Julie Andrews a "past" Broadway Star?"
Gee, well, I'll take it back when she signs up to star in her next big musical.
#18re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/30/07 at 4:56pmjennifer laura thompson in wicked
Lil_little_edie942
Understudy Joined: 7/2/07
#19re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/30/07 at 11:45pm
Ethel Merman, Ethel Waters.
This Laurette Taylor lady seems brilliant. Practically everone in 'Broadway: The Golden Age' was raving about her, tragic her peformance wasn't captured on film. 
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#20re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 12:16am
Ethel Merman
Richard Kiley
Robert Preston
Ray Bolger
#21re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 1:30am
Gwen Verdon
Ann Reinking in "Dancin'" (I know it's coming back to Broadway, but Ann won't be the lead)
Tallulah Bankhead
Lauren Bacall in "Woman of the Year"
Gregory Hines
Bob Fosse
#22re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 1:37am
I would give ANYTHING to see Fred and Adele Astaire, preferably in "Funny Face, Gene Kelly, absolutely in "Pal Joey" and TOTALLY Ray Bolger in "On Your Toes."
I am always amazed to think you could once walk into a Broadway theater and see these gods performing, live, right in front of you.
Wow.
#23re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 4:23am
Julie Andrews is a past broadway star. Because of her messed up surgery she can only sing like an octave range. She rarely sings now because she cant really.
Gwen of course!
#24re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 5:14amI am so happy that I got the opportunity to see her in Victor/Victoria on Broadway. I can't remember what year it was, but I actually cried when I saw her on the Tony Awards one time afetr the surgery. To lose such a gift is heartbreaking.....
knicknut
Understudy Joined: 12/15/07
#25re: Past Broadway Stars You Wish You Had Seen
Posted: 12/31/07 at 12:29pm
Jerry Orbach
Gregory Hines
Gene Kelly
Fred Astaire
And not Broadway related, but I would kill to have seen the Rat Pack live at the Sands.
Updated On: 12/31/07 at 12:29 PM
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