If You Could Cast Judy Garland In a Broadway Show?- Page 2

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/7/20 at 9:21pm

If it were written in the 1960s when Garland was more robust I could see her pulling off Desiree Armfeldt in "Night Music"

How about the Angela Lansbury role in "Anyone Can Whistle"? 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/7/20 at 9:24pm

Mimi in Rent

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 12:06am

I yearn for the magic that would’ve been her Mama Rose. I can only imagine it as something really, really special.

[MalcolmAinsworth]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 3:54am

CarlosAlberto said: "If it were written in the 1960s when Garland was more robust I could see her pulling off Desiree Armfeldt in "Night Music"

How about the Angela Lansbury role in "Anyone Can Whistle"?"

The play returned to Los Angeles in 2017 for a run at the La Mirada Theatre. In summer 2018 it played its 4th LA run at Laguna Playhouse. In 2019 The State Theatre Company of South Australia commemorated the 50th Anniversary of Garland's passing. As part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, this production of End Of The Rainbow was directed by Elena Carapetis and starred Helen Dallimore as Judy, Nic English as Micky, Stephen Sheehan as Anthony; it concluded its run on June 22, 2019.

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[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 4:08pm

Mark Waltz wrote: To be a bit more obscure, I could see her as Leona in "Do I Hear a Waltz".

I think this is one of the best suggestions here. I know we don't have to suggest a show that would've been produced in her lifetime, but DO I HEAR A WALTZ? was produced when Garland was 42.

Had she been insurable or dependable (for a Broadway run) at the time, Leona's musical numbers would've been perfect for her...and she would've acted the part in a way that would have audiences totally rooting for her. I'm imagining her giving a performance similar to the vulnerable performance Katharine Hepburn gave in 1955's SUMMERTIME, based on the Arthur Laurent's play, THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO; the source material for SUMMERTIME and DO I HEAR A WALTZ?...

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 4:38pm

Helen Bechdel in Fun Home

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 9/8/20 at 5:26pm

I second (or third?) the FANTINE suggestion. Imagining her voice singing that sad, emotional number. Wow.  And she could relax and take it easy after half an hour of showtime. 

I also second the ROXIE suggestion. How great would it have been it she had recovered from her addictions, lived another few years and been around for the original CHICAGO and said lines like "I'm older than I ever intended to be"   It would be hilarious to hear Dorothy from Kansas say that. And she would add this whole new meta idea onto the celebrity satire elements of the show.  

I see her as a great RENO. 

I can't picture her as Christine, or anything in Rent

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 9/9/20 at 2:08am

Most of my first thoughts have already been mentioned. I’ll add Grizabella. And I know it’d be a weird fit for her voice, but her Diana in Next to Normal would be fascinating.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/9/20 at 6:47am

CarlosAlberto said: "I want to see Judy Garland as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Toddalso Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street and Margaret White in Carrie"

So into the Lovett idea. If for no other reason, “Not While I’m Around” is the ideal Garland song.. the one she never lived to sing. Sondheim might have written it for her.  

[Adam Schuler]

Posted: 9/9/20 at 9:40am

I love a lot of these ideas one other one I'd like to see is her as Margaret in Light in The Piazza. Her take on Dividing Day and Fable would enthrall. 

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/25/20 at 5:04pm

Mama Rose-GYPSY

Mame Dennis-MAME

Miss Hannigan-Annie

Dolly Levi-Hello, Dolly

Joanne-Company

Desiree-A Little Night Music

Margo Channing-Applause

Fosca-Passion

Madame Arcati- High Spirits

Lily Garland - On the 20th Century

Norma Desmond-Sunset Blvd

Claire Zachanassian -The Visit

Violet Weston - August: Osage County

Thelma Cates- 'night, Mother 

Martha - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

 

Updated On: 9/25/20 at 05:04 PM

[David10086]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 10:21pm

This is a tough one but I'd narrow it down to two:

Cher in 'The Cher Show'

Donna Summer in 'Summer: The Musical" 

[Adams3]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 1:32am

Cabaret?  as Sally Bowles or Fraulein Schneider.

 

[carnzee]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 7:04am

She would have slayed as Claire in A Delicate Balance. It may have been too close to home for her though.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 8:11am

Adams3 said: "Cabaret? as Sally Bowles or Fraulein Schneider.

"

It's funny you mention Cabaret. I was watching the movie on Saturday & was getting a lot of Judy vibes from Liza Minnelli's performance. Like I know they are mother & daughter, but this is the 1st time I've really noticed some similarities between them. So yeah, I don't think Sally Bowles is too far fetched an idea.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 9:10pm

She would be amazing in End Of The Rainbow.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 10:16pm

She was a born in a trunk to play Diana in Next to Normal.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 10:30pm

One woman show: Tootsie

[carnzee]

Posted: 9/30/20 at 3:08pm

FindingNamo said: "She was a born in a trunk to play Diana in Next to Normal."

I see what you did there.

Honest question: could she sing it? I know she could act it. 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 10/1/20 at 3:16pm

Omg Grey Gardens.

Her singing Another Winter in a Summer Town? That could be really incredible

[StageLight]

Posted: 10/3/20 at 1:32am

Judy in "Follies" singing either "Losing My Mind" or "I'm Still Here".and of course as Mama Rose in"Gypsy"!

[hayleyann]

Posted: 10/5/20 at 12:24pm

Would it be too ironic for her to play Elphaba?  She basically melts herself in the end, since we never actually see Dorothy, we all picture young Judy. 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 10/5/20 at 3:13pm

All these wonderful suggestions show just what a unique, versatile voice her throat produced. It is indeed a tragedy the way her life unfolded but we still have the movies and recordings. All the above fantasies we can now only imagine her interpretations of these songs.

It is threads like this one that cast me back to that very sad concert in Melbourne where we waited over an hour to witness the brilliance, then the breakdown of the legendary Ms Judy Garland.

R.I.P. Over that Rainbow.

[StageLight]

Posted: 10/5/20 at 3:41pm

Other than Judy Holiday, who better to star in "Bells Are Ringing" than Judy Garland. Her sense of comic timing and that voice are so well suited for it. Besides, when she sang, "Just In Time" with that terrific arrangement that had her modulating her singing no one could have done it better.

[7thbighero]

Posted: 10/7/20 at 1:24am

Broadway adjacent but Audrey in Little Shop