What Broadway show would you have loved to see Judy Garland in?

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:26am

At any point in her life and at any point in time. I'm watching "Meet me in St.Louis", which is what brought this thread on :)

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:35am

Gypsy opposite Liza Minnelli as Louise

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:44am

I had a feeling someone would say that hehe. I can't help but wonder what Judy Garland as Fanny Brice would be like.

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 9:41am

The obvious choice is Mame; however, I would like to have seen her as Claire in A Delicate Balance.

[BobNC]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:07am

What a fun question! So sad how addiction destroyed her life. I agree with Jeffrey K's "Gypsy."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:18am

Follies. Carlotta. "I'm Still Here."

Judy died, of course, three years too soon, but here is Jim Bailey, as Judy, eerily performing the number pretty much exactly the way she would have:

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:25am

Gypsy or Mame, hands down.

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:28am

I definitely agree with the Gypsy and Mame answers.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:58am

"Follies. Carlotta. "I'm Still Here."

I wholeheartedly disagree. Sure, Judy could sing it and blow the roof off with it, but as Elaine Stritch proved, any old diva can get up there and screech her way through the song. And Sondheim will smile and collect the royalty check.

I wish that I could hear Judy sing "Losing My Mind." Not every chanteuse can manage it and I think Judy could have turned in a heartbreaking version.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:05am

At the risk of overestimating Miss Garland (which I'd gladly cop to any day):

Ruth in Wonderful Town
Gelsomina in La Strada
The Baker's Wife in into the Woods
Amy in Company
Juno in Juno
Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney (not because she's nec. a good Lovett but because Not While I'm Around is a Garland song if there ever was one)
Dolly in The Matchmaker or Hello Dolly
Mame in Auntie Mame or Mame
Annie in The Miracle Worker
Lizzie in The Rainmaker or 110 in the Shade
June in The Killing of Sister George
Mary In Long Day's Journey
Rosie in Mrs. Warren's Profession
Violet in August: Osage County
Georgie in The Country Girl
Laura in Brief Encounter
Silda in Other Desert Cities
Leona in The Time of the Cuckoo
Karen, Murial and Norma in Plaza Suite
Catherine in And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
Eleanor in The Great White Hope
Annie in Six Rooms River View
Emily (and others) in The Belle of Amherst
Vladimir or Estragon in Waiting for Godot
Christine in The Bad Seed
Evy in The Gingerbread Lady
Piaf in Piaf
Jessie or Thelma in 'night Mother
Sheila in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Stella in Streetcar
Paulina in Death and the Maiden

Claire in A Delicate Balance is inspired, NMartin


Updated On: 12/14/14 at 11:05 AM

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:06am

Judy Garland would have been fabulous in "Applause"...I can see her doing the "But Alive" number and doing it Great.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 12:31pm

At this time: they would have been perfect for Rose and Louise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E60W9FWAk5E

[Fantod]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 12:54pm

Well if we don't count when the shows were around, at different points in her life she could have played these roles fabulously:

Anything. She's Judy Garland.

Am I missing anything?

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 1:06pm

She'd a great Reno in Anything Goes!

[mike_ant]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 1:24pm

End of the Rainbow? Sorry, can't resist!

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 1:55pm

I would kill to hear a young a Judy do Funny Girl or Hello Dolly. I'd be curious to see if she could have done Adelaide in Guys and dolls. I don't really picture her in the bakers wife but I would love to hear her do Meadowlark. JUDY AS WITCH IN INTO THE WOODS WOULD BE THE BEST THING EVER

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 1:55pm

Updated On: 12/13/14 at 01:55 PM

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:10am

Judy Garland as Sally Durant Plummer would've been one of the greatest theatrical performances that's so immortal that it's not even funny. She'd be great as Fosca in PASSION and as George's mother in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.

[The Glenbuck Laird]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 2:57am

Garland would be great in Carousel

[Fantod]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 4:10am

Judy Garland as John Raitt as Billy Bigelow

Updated On: 12/14/14 at 04:10 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 6:33am

I saw Vikki Karr play Sally, which in terms of singing was pretty close to Garland. Karr was wonderful (if not much of an actress in the book scenes).

So sad how addiction destroyed her life.

Bob, without writing a 300-page biography, I want to say I think that sentence ever-simplifies her life. Sure there were drugs and alcohol. But there were other factors: people who stole from her, the economic structure of show business during her lifetime, and mental issues which would be treated directly today and not just left for her to self-medicate. I'm not suggesting Garland herself didn't share the blame, but being a living legend and a one-woman corporation employing hundreds can't be easy.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 9:16am

NEXT TO NORMAL

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 10:26am

That one is mind-boggling.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 10:52am

Roxie Hart! I Am My Own Best Friend and Roxie could have been written for her.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 11:02am

I would have loved to see Judy do Carosuel. She certainly had the range for it when she was younger. I sort of want to see Judy in Edwin Drood just to hear her take on Writing on the wall..