#26
Posted: 10/11/04 at 9:10pm
I think she'd be a very interesting choice for Mame in terms of the basic qualities of the role -- she has the warmth, the humor, but also the class and dignity you need to play it -- but, certain scenes wouldn't work at all (she wouldn't be openly embraced by the anti-semitic Upsons or the out-and-out racist Burnside clan, if she were a black woman .... Mame played by Russell or Lansbury can come off as a conservative high-culture lady to them -- at least initially -- and part of the humor is that she's secretly a rabid liberal ..... they would never make that assumption with Latifah in the role).
At 34, Latifah is way too young for several of the other roles you mention here -- Motor Mouth Mabel who's supposed to be 50-something? Rose, who's in her 50's at the end of the show (she's only a few years older than the adult Louise would be)? Vera, who is Mame's OLDER friend, so unless you're casting Chistina Aguilera as Mame, Latifah can't be Vera -- and I'm not sure she really has the vocal chops for some of these demanding roles. She's a rapper turned singer and while she has a pleasant sound, I don't have the sense that she has any real technique that would sustain her through a truly demanding role eight times a week.
She doesn't have the voice for Effie. She's decades too young for Dolly (which at some point she'll be perfect for). Nellie Forbush is probably too corny for her.
What about WONDERFUL TOWN? Get rid of Brooke Shields and have Latifah play Ruth (obviously with a pretty, black Eileen -- Anika?). Can you imagine Latifah doing "100 Easy Ways To Lose A Man?" It would be a showstopper. And her doing "Swing" -- she'd kill a scat number.
Or WOMAN OF THE YEAR? Not a great Kander & Ebb show (especially compared to Cabaret and Chicago), but it worked well as a vehicle for Lauren Bacall.
Or JAMAICA? I don't much about the show, but the score is good and it was a vehicle for Lena Horne back in the 50's
Or SAIL AWAY, Noel Coward's vehicle for Elaine Stritch?
At 34, Latifah is way too young for several of the other roles you mention here -- Motor Mouth Mabel who's supposed to be 50-something? Rose, who's in her 50's at the end of the show (she's only a few years older than the adult Louise would be)? Vera, who is Mame's OLDER friend, so unless you're casting Chistina Aguilera as Mame, Latifah can't be Vera -- and I'm not sure she really has the vocal chops for some of these demanding roles. She's a rapper turned singer and while she has a pleasant sound, I don't have the sense that she has any real technique that would sustain her through a truly demanding role eight times a week.
She doesn't have the voice for Effie. She's decades too young for Dolly (which at some point she'll be perfect for). Nellie Forbush is probably too corny for her.
What about WONDERFUL TOWN? Get rid of Brooke Shields and have Latifah play Ruth (obviously with a pretty, black Eileen -- Anika?). Can you imagine Latifah doing "100 Easy Ways To Lose A Man?" It would be a showstopper. And her doing "Swing" -- she'd kill a scat number.
Or WOMAN OF THE YEAR? Not a great Kander & Ebb show (especially compared to Cabaret and Chicago), but it worked well as a vehicle for Lauren Bacall.
Or JAMAICA? I don't much about the show, but the score is good and it was a vehicle for Lena Horne back in the 50's
Or SAIL AWAY, Noel Coward's vehicle for Elaine Stritch?
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
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Updated On: 10/11/04 at 09:10 PM
