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Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?

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Leadingplayer
Broadway Star
joined:5/12/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 06:18am
Andrea Martin seems the obvious choice, but I was wondering if Lily Tomlin or Carol Burnett would work.
GavestonPS
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Broadway Legend
joined:6/10/12
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 07:23am
I think Carol Burnett would be brilliant, but she is 81 and 8 shows per week might be tough. (By comparison, Coca was ten years younger when she originated the role.)

I'd be surprised if Lily Tomlin wanted to do it, but I'm sure she'd be great.

I saw Mimi Hines play the role and loved her, but that was a decade ago when SHE was only 70!
morosco
Broadway Legend
joined:7/10/04
Auggie27
Broadway Legend
joined:10/13/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 09:34am
Harris and Martin seem solid if obvious choices. I'd love to see Catherine O'Hara.



"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Gary Shandling
Updated On: 8/22/14 at 09:34 AM
tazber
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Broadway Legend
joined:5/10/05
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 09:38am
There a ton of suggestions in the linked thread, including:

Annie Potts
Jackie Hoffman
Carol Kane
Judy Kaye
Mary Testa
Blythe Danner
Estelle Parsons
Carol Burnett
Andrea Martin

Link
....but the world goes 'round
GoSmileLaughCryClap
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:3/25/05
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:12am
Linda Lavin
Swoosie Kurtz
Georgia Engel
Linda Hunt
Jane Curtin
AC126748
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Broadway Legend
joined:7/15/06
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:17am
Andrea Martin played Primrose in the reading that featured Hugh Jackman, but that was several years back.

Linda Lavin is a great suggestion.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body
morosco
Broadway Legend
joined:7/10/04
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:23am
I'm kinda loving the Georgia Engel suggestion.
South Fl Marc
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:6/23/04
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:26am
Judy Kaye
Now living in DC. I really have to change my name on the board.
D2
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/3/06
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:28am
I'm kinda loving the Georgia Engel suggestion too!
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
mamaleh
Broadway Star
joined:5/11/04
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:32am
Harriet Harris or Veanne Cox
givesmevoice
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/2/07
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:34am
Can we discuss this Catherine O'Hara idea more in-depth, please?
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad
Auggie27
Broadway Legend
joined:10/13/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 11:42am
Because you agree, or don't? What I love about O'Hara's comedy is its grounding. In every Guest film, she's a dimensional person. She can sing (well enough) and has that look in her eyes, a manic sense of being elsewhere -- of being possessed -- that would beautifully serve the religious fanaticism in this woman. I just think letting the character feel real would be interesting. If you disagree, run with anyone else on the list. What a great list it is.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Gary Shandling
newintown
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:3/3/10
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 11:58am
Most of the women named in this thread couldn't sing the role if their lives depended on it. It's a comic soprano role in an operetta spoof. Changing the keys for her numbers so they could be growled by an old husky-voiced gal would be missing the point of the show (admittedly something that the Roundabout is rather famous for).
D2
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/3/06
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 12:48pm
Because Imogene Coca had such a stellar career as a comic opera soubrette.
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
tazber
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:5/10/05
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 01:07pm
Yea, it's not that hard to sing at all in terms of vocal range.

....but the world goes 'round
newintown
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:3/3/10
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 01:43pm
It's still a comic mezzo-soprano range, not for a belter. Many of the dames named above never displayed much head voice in their youth, let alone now in the autumn (or winter) of their lives.

The tessitura for "Repent" is C# below middle C to F# 2 above. That's 1 step shy of 2 and 1/2 octaves. It's what they call rangy. And although the voice is a comic one, the notes should be hit - it's an operetta, that's the fun of it.
Mister Matt
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Broadway Legend
joined:5/17/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 02:18pm
Georgia Engel was my first thought as well.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
givesmevoice
Profile
Broadway Legend
joined:12/2/07
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 02:27pm
Auggie, I LOVE the idea of Catherine O'Hara. She's one of my favorite comedic actresses and I would love to see her onstage.

That being said, I do also like the idea of Georgia Engel.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad
morosco
Broadway Legend
joined:7/10/04
WOSQ
Broadway Legend
joined:7/18/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 04:13pm
We could go out-of-the-box and think about Whoopi Goldberg,

or go way out of the box and go with Tyne Daly.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher
darquegk
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Broadway Legend
joined:2/5/09
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 04:52pm
O'Hara's peculiar little voice would actually suit this role well.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend
joined:10/13/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 06:49pm
I've collected three votes for O'Hara. I went back and listened to my "Mighty Wind" CD (it's a gem, honestly) and realized O'Hara could certainly carry "Repent," with adjustments, and sing it, full out. But look, too, at "Nightmare Before Christmas." She's brilliant, and her eccentric vocals -- admittedly, studio-created -- are part of that film's artistry.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Gary Shandling
GavestonPS
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Broadway Legend
joined:6/10/12
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 07:57pm
I think Catherine O'Hara is an interesting idea, but she is 60. If I were she I wouldn't be ready to jump into "elderly" roles.

I don't understand the Judy Kaye choice. Mrs. Primrose had a fragility about her, at least originally, which is what made her manic racing about the train so funny. Judy Kaye is a much more solid presence. She is 66, but I don't see how her voice differs enough from Chenowith to make the desired contrast.

Newintown, point taken about the vocal range, but if Carol Burnett were able, I think we'd all overlook the alteration.
justoldbill
Profile
Broadway Star
joined:10/17/07
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:17pm
Anita Gillette.
Well-well-well-what-do-you-think-of-that-I-have-nothing-here-to-pay-my-train-fare-with-only-large-bills-fives-and-sevens....
Auggie27
Broadway Legend
joined:10/13/03
Who would you like see play Lettia Primrose in 20th Century?
Posted: 8/22/14 at 10:29pm
Understood, but age alone won't give us the needed flavor the show requires. Still, if we're looking at 70ish in earnest, leave Jane Houdyshell out (she's younger than O'Hara, 59; surprising?) 70, B'way, comic singer, hmmm.

Mary Louise Wilson?

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Gary Shandling
Updated On: 8/23/14 at 10:29 PM

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