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

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:50am

She only did concerts on Broadway. Why didn't she ever do a show?

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:52am

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.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:22am

Broadway doesn't go for booze and dope.

[firebolts]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:26am

^ Ouch.

She was pretty unstable.

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

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:58am

She gained a reputation early on for being wildly unreliable on her film sets. I would imagine that in those days, when a Broadway show could much more easily become a hit and recoup without bringing in Hollywood stars, no producer was willing to take a chance on her.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 4:02am

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.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 8:18am

Judy Gives Her Regards to Broadway

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 08:18 AM

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 8:43am

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!

..

[The Other One]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 8:54am

By the time she was no longer working full time in Hollywood, roughly the early 1950s, she was no longer capable of the discipline Broadway demanded.

She could never have done a show like MAME eight times a week, let alone twice in one day.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:43am

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

Since when?

[Demitri2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:45am

When I saw her as a kid at the Palace on opening night in 1967 she was practically a no-show. She was suppose to appear (after opening acts) at 9pm and didn't hit the stage until 10:30 pm. At 11pm SHARP the orchestra stopped playing and exited the theatre since they obviously were no longer getting paid. She looked at them like, "What's happening?" and sat at the edge of the stage shaking hands and talking to her fans. It was pathetic to watch this truly gifted woman who was totally undisciplined at this point of her life. Shortly before the Palace fiasco I saw her at Westbury Music Fair and she apologized for leaving her voice back in her dressing room croaking her way through the evening. Yet I had seen her shortly after her Carnegie Hall concert at Forest Hills Tennis stadium and she was incredible and spot on. When she was in good health there was no one like her.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:39am

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.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:11pm

You're missing a few "o"s on that "booze".

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:50pm

"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

[goldenboy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 4:06pm

I got to see the wonderful Angela in the original Mame and the revival. Angela was magical in the role. I went back to see it with Jane Morgan and it wasn't very good. It was like a totally different show. The same thing happenned when I went back to see Anne Baxter in Applause after seeing Lauren Bacall first. There was no comparison to Lauren Bacall.

Mame and Margot from Applause must be played by actresses with a certain panache, stage presence and acting ability.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 8:38pm

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.

***

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.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 8:51pm

She would have been wonderful in Wonderful Town.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 9:56pm

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?

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:16pm

Lets not forget Judy got a "Special Tony" in the early fifties and I think won four Grammys for the Carnegie Hall Album in the 60's...I wonder where her awards are now Lorna...

[lovebwy]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 2:15pm

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.

[Fantod]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 2:51pm

She played the Palace 3 times.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 3:52pm

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

[lovebwy]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 4:06pm

Her rendition on her TV show of "The Man That Got Away" merits every major show biz award alone!

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 5:56pm

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

[victorg]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 6:32pm

not Channing-but-i did see Cloris Leachman in "wonderful town".