Queen Latifah as Pearl Bailey — Page 2

eyeonbroadway said: "Well....one might say that wouldn't make her a bitch (other than to Merrick) but just a good negotiator..."

And to do it to David Merrick, no less. Best part is that they both won. Pearl had a career (the?) highlight and Merrick got even more in some ways. Dolly had lost steam 3 years into the run, as soon as Ginger Rogers left.. Grosses under Martha Raye were awful (I would bet $$ that they actually lost money a good number of the Raye weeks), and Betty Grable didn't do much better. Had PB and cast not re-energized HD, I imagine it would have closed pretty soon if they put in another old movie star mostly out of the public eye for 2 decades (minus Bob Hope Christmas specials). I personally thought that Mame was a more enjoyable show, but Lansbury's two immediate successors generated little to negative interest; by the time Ann Miller came in, it was too late. She was an old tier 2 movie star, but she got great reviews, turned the not as good as it should've been number That's How Young I Feel into a real show stopper, by adding tap dancing that really stopped the show. She probably should have been Lansbury's immediate successor (minus another bigger name like Ginger Rogers signing on). Her review would have generated interest from people who remembered her from all those secondary (but some pretty memorable) roles in MGM musicals. Pure theory.