Am I the only one who thinks Meryl would be fantastic as Mama Rose in a dramatic film remake of Gypsy? I think she would really bring a lot to the role and be completely different than we've ever seen it played before.
I LOVE Meryl Streep! But that doesn't change the fact that at age 66, she's a little too old to play Mama Rose (though she can certainly pass for younger)
I have a list of songs I would love to hear her sing/see her perform:
The fact she didn't get to play Mrs. Lovett in SWEENEY TODD is such a missed opportunity. She'd have nailed the role. That and Desiree are the only Sondheim leads I'd like to see her tackle. I think she could play Phyllis in her sleep, I'd like someone a little more surprising for that part.
I wanna see her in a play. She would be genius in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and would have been so good as Blanche when she was younger (and Tennessee Williams apparently really wanted her to play it too).
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Although she is technically too old for "Follies," I agree--the notion of one of our greatest actors in one of our greatest musicals is an irresistible thought.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
And about ten years ago, Mike Nichols tried to get a film version of Gypsy, starring Streep, off the ground.
Secondly, I'm sure I am in the minority in this one, but I do not find her voice anything remarkable. I thought she was almost terrible in Into the Woods.
It's been 4 years today since the first preview of the recent FOLLIES revival, so I feel a bit nostalgic visiting this topic. I can easily (and would like to see) Streep as Phyllis, but not Sally. Give Sally to Bernadette! You're not going to find a film star who can sing this role.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
"It's been 4 years today since the first preview of the recent FOLLIES revival, so I feel a bit nostalgic visiting this topic. I can easily (and would like to see) Streep as Phyllis, but not Sally. Give Sally to Bernadette! You're not going to find a film star who can sing this role. "
Let's be honest. I adore her but Bernadette Peters struggled to sing the role, which I would have been fine with if she had acted the hell out of the role, which she didn't. Regardless, if there is a FOLLIES movie, Sally will not have to sing as high as the role requires on stage. Usually that type of singing doesn't translate as well to the screen.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Ms. Streep appears to be very savvy. The fact that she doesn't routinely star in broadway musicals suggests to me that she knows her limitations. Her singing is okay but it's nowhere near Broadway caliber. Mama Rose?? She'd be absolutely awful.
Streep could play Mama Rose onscreen (a couple of decades ago), but i can't see her doing it eight times a week. She has a strong singing voice, but just not strong enough.
When did Streep become the queen of light comedies, bougie dramas, and musicals?
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
I find the continued casting of Streep in every prime role for an actress over fifty a real disservice to her colleagues, many of whom would be far better suited to many of the roles she plays. I would have preferred to see Frances McDormand in DOUBT, Sissy Spacek in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, Melissa Leo in RICKI AND THE FLASH, Emma Thompson in THE IRON LADY, etc.
It's telling how you don't see one male actor playing all the good roles that come along for a certain age range. It's sad fact that Hollywood allows older men to "share the wealth" and be considered bankable across a huge age spectrum while older women are left to fight for Meryl's hand-me-downs.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
I think she absolutely knows her vocal abilities, what to do and what not to do. I thought she was actually quite good in Mamma Mia, doing the Witch is a very hard part anyway...singing both gravelly voiced and beautifully..depending on which Witch was which. Just the one listen to Bad Romance gave me enough info to decide; this sounded like the gravelly voiced Witch. This has "vanity production" written all over it. I guess someday if it's raining and on cable I might watch it.
Lastly, someone who really can sing, it was nice to see Christine Baranski with Streep again in Into The Woods; they did Mamma Mia together too. She could definitely sing Vera Charles or Applause or Norma Desmond.