a different Widow Levi...

seeing Shirley MacLaine's name mentioned in the PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT thread (which is getting a bit long and personal to add to), made me think...if you were going to have a "revisal" of DOLLY, who would you see in it? what national name? Mine would be Debbie Reynolds or Dixie Carter...less known names would be Jean Smart or Debra Monk...read some of the quoted Dolly lines in DOLLYPOP's posts to get a feel for the kind of actress needed. As charming as the Channing/Champion version was, and to some degree the Streisand/Kelly one, i think the role (from MATCHMAKER) and score could stand a different take with a really good "personality actress" who can still sing.

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i thought i had showed due deference to your opinion, DOLLYPOP, and apologize if you don't think so.

P.S. there's a few typos in your otherwise excellent quote from your favorite show. As you re-read it, any chance you'd consider that "without color and without LIFE" might apply to refusing to opening your mind about a recasting from the original?!??! Dolly doesn't insult that first oak leaf ("perfectly good"/"charming") but she seems eager to add another to her Bible...can we add another Dolly interpretation to the musical theatre canon? *wink*

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I never thought about Dixie Carter. She would be excellent in the role. My choice however would be Bette Midler.

Well, the ARE in fact reviving the show, sometime around 2007. All of the herman classicsa re set to come back. My pick, like Albin's hands down, has to be Bette Midler. She would be perfect for the role.

I like the idea of Dixie Carter but she maybe getting a little long in the tooth. How about Lucie Arnaz or even Patti Lupone. As long as it isn't Bernadette Peters!

Harvey?

Great post TxTwoStep. I also would love to see a revival that shakes off the Champion style. I think Mullaly would be a great choice. Prince and Smart are good choices as well. A friend of mine who isn't even a Bernadette fan thinks that this would be a perfect role for her. I think it needs to be cast with someone as young as Channing was when she did it in 64. I loved Channing when I saw her in it in the 80s but something new would be nice.

i do think Bette would be great, but not sure she would do a tour or a Broadway run. Though it wasn't THAT long ago that she toured her music/comedy act, was it?!?!

i wish Baranski had a national name, but i'm afraid she still doesn't. And Mulally, though very talented, doesn't seem quite the right fit. Gastmeyer, whom i'd liked to have seen in the LSOH revival (no offense, Kerry) seems a bit young for it. And i don't think Dixie's too old at all---some of the great ladies who went into the NYC version were her age, i believe.

In a conversation today someone mentioned Glenn Close. i'm mixed about that possibility, any thoughts? i do think she can act, but is she funny enough?!?! Put the what-were-they-thinking SOUTH PATHETIC television version aside; leave us not forget her Main Stem turns in BARNUM and SUNSET.

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Well, DP, for second choice, how about Dolly Parton?

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okay I said it once I will say it again.

Christine Baranski should play VERA to CHER's MAME

and

Bette Midler should be GYPSY

I'd really like to see Bernadette Peters take a long, long vacation from the stage. Enough OK? As Dorothy Parker once said (about another actress, but could very well be talking about BP), "she runs the gammut of emotions from A to B".

wasn't Lainie a stand-by or something in FUNNY GIRL? i think she does sing. Don't know about Mercedes Ruehl, but she's a great actress.

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Bette's singing in the TV version of GYPSY was fine, but it was the acting that did her in. It was too campy and didn't have near enough emotion.