Why didn't Judy Garland ever star in a Broadway Show?

She really wanted to do Mame, but producers didn't cast her because they thought she would have been unreliable due to her personal issues.

^ Ouch.

She was pretty unstable.

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Updated On: 2/16/15 at 02:26 AM

The Helen Lawson joke is funny, but basically true, I think.

The Merm once said "To star in a Broadway show ya have to live like a ****in' nun!". Meaning no booze, no pills, no nightlife, no fooling around. Judy couldn't have dealt with 8 shows a week.

Also, it strikes me that back then most MGM stars just didn't do Broadway.

Judy said she loved Broadway, but she simply could NOT commit a long period of time to one show, playing the same character every night. she was like a firecracker, you couldn't keep her in one place for too long!

..

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"Broadway doesn't go for booze and dope."

Since when?

Demitri2, I was at the opening performance in 1967, a high school graduation present. I think you may be referring to a different performance. The orchestra did leave, but 25 minutes into a curtain call. They were there for the entire performance, which was definitely a full performance. While her voice that night was a little rough at times, the showmanship charisma were both there and it was a memorable night.

I also remember reading at the time that the producers were concerned about her reliability. Ironically, the Mame producers did a terrible job of replacing Lansbury, I don't remember the order, but Jane Morgan and Janis Paige did zero for the box office. By the time Ann Miller arrived, it was too late. At the time, I had never even heard of her and I thought that it was another stupid choice...when I saw her, I felt differently (and loved the additional dancing she got to do in 'That's How Young I Feel').

i always loved Mame better than Hello Dolly and think it would have run a lot longer if David Merrick had been the producer. Think of the publicity he would have gotten if he had to fire Garland and replace her with a bigger star than Morgan and Paige.

"Mame" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 24, 1966. Three years later, it transferred to The Broadway Theatre, where it remained until closing on January 3, 1970. Between the two venues, it ran a total of 1,508 performances and five previews.

Celeste Holm, Janis Paige, Jane Morgan & Ann Miller succeeded Lansbury in the title role. Ann's name on the marquee kept the show running the last year when it switched theatres.

Lansbury left the Broadway production on March 30, 1968, on a limited US tour while it was still playing on Broadway. The tour played in San Francisco starting in April 1968 and also played Los Angeles.

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 03:50 PM

I worked on the 1977 summer tour with Angie and she was, in fact, astonishing. goldenboy is right that the role requires charisma as well as vocal and acting skills.

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But back to Garland, yes, her performances were erratic in the 1960s (after she nearly died early in the decade and did die by the end).

But earlier, she made one of her biggest comebacks, performing 2 shows a day at the refurbished Palace for 8 months. So it isn't exactly true that she never played Broadway or that she never was up to a demanding schedule. She just didn't do a book show.

She may not have been up for MAME in 1965, but she might well have done it in 1955.

Yes, she would have been, Fantod, particularly if they wrote her a couple of "singer's" songs.

IIRC, Carol Channing took over for Rosalind Russell, which has always struck me as the oddest casting. Did anyone see her?

LOL @ "special Tony". Even though she'd never been on the Broadway stage they gave her one just for being Judy Garland.

I can't say I disapprove.

I would have given her the Nobel Peace Prize, if they'd asked me.

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In 1951 Judy played the Palace breaking all kinds of records....She got her Special Tony for "Her contribution to the revival of vaudeville"