The Rose is coming to Broadway!

[Joviedamian]

http://www.playbill.com/article/bette-midler-film-the-rose-being-adapted-for-broadway

 

Thoughts?

[TotallyEffed]

Can Nina Arianda sing?

[Skip23]

Um.......Jesse Mueller?..........

[WithoutATrace]

Probably not a big enough name, but I think Mary Bridget Davies would do well with this role.

[brettarnett]

I could be making this up but I remember reading that Nina Arianda considered herself a singer (and she stated that she did quite a few musicals when she was younger).

[Valentina3]

I'd die if Nina Arianda did any show on Broadway, but unless Nian's a good singer, I'd like Mara Davi/Megan Hilty to do The Rose.

[brendasugarbaker]

WithoutATrace said: "Probably not a big enough name, but I think Mary Bridget Davies would do well with this role."

 

Beat me to it. Caught her on tour as Janis Joplin and her vocals are perfect for this soundtrack. Plus, The Rose is based loosely on Janis so it's fitting 

 

[TotallyEffed]

Valentina3 said: "I'd die if Nina Arianda did any show on Broadway, but unless Nian's a good singer,I'd like Mara Davi/Megan Hilty to do The Rose."

Have you seen The Rose?

[QueenAlice]

I think casting a singer who has made a career playing Janis Joplin is a little too on the nose for this. But I don’t think most musical theater performers are going to have the right vocal style for this either. Perhaps this is a vehicle they can get a bona fide pot name to come to Broadway for.

[MarkBearSF]

Lena Hall.

I still get chills remembering hearing her wail "White Rabbit" as she entered from the rear of Feinstein's in SF a couple of years ago. While Janis wasn't really a belter, she was a wailer and Lena has an unbeatably textured rock voice. Having grown up in an artistic hippie co-op household in the Haight is a bonus.

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Lena Hall came to mind first for me.

[BWAY Baby2]

The Janis biopic starring Amy Adams was cancelled- but Michelle Williams is adapting Love, Janis for the screen- maybe the subject will be a hot one- loved the movie The Rose- and absolutely loved janis as a kid. And her story- life and death- is epic.

[wolfwriter]

Mary Bridget Davies may be on the nose casting, but most people have never seen her Janis Joplin. I assumeThe Rose is a book musical, so it would require a different skill set. I'd vote for her just because she was so incredible as Janis Joplin, but I can see them going with a pop star, like an Elle King or someone with a similarly raspy vocal style.

[NOWaWarning]

I'd rather see this adapted as a play with the songs from the film than as a book musical.

[quizking101]

Maybe Mary Bridget Davies could be an alternate to someone like Lena Hall (which I'm hesitant about for some reason after her Hedwig EP) or Nina Arianda (who I would blow a hole in my bank account to see do this, especially because she has a slightly raspy voice that is similar to Bette's portrayal).

[GavestonPS]

Another truly terrible idea
for a stage musical. The
film is quite good and offers
Midler's best performance
ever on film.

But the movie dips when-
ever Midler stops singing.
Who cares about her
quarrels with her agent?
Who cares that she can't
get laid? (To use her own
account of her problem.)
Who cares about her love
affair with an AWOL drifter
she's known for a few
weeks?

There's no central action
to the film and no central
conflict. That's okay in a
film because the camera
itself replaces some of the
central elements of
tragedy. But on stage?

THE ROSE will take a
lot of rewrites to work as
a stage drama. And what
about the blues-rock that
Rose sings? The lyrics
are virtually undecipherable
(except for the title ballad)
until one listens to a re-
cording multiple times.

And while I love the film's
score, this isn't a JERSEY
BOYS or BEAUTIFUL
where the score is well-
known to a contemporary
audience. And, frankly,
Janis herself only had
a couple of hits.

(shaking my head)

[Valentina3]

TotallyEffed said: "Valentina3 said: "I'd die if Nina Arianda did any show on Broadway, but unless Nian's a good singer,I'd like Mara Davi/Megan Hilty to do The Rose."

Have you seen The Rose?"

I hadn't, did tonight. You were right to call me out - mine were dumb suggestions.

Lena Hall's definitely it. I also want to propose another (potentially unconventional) idea - Rumer Willis. Not really her style, but she has the right look and I feel like she can take on the songs as well.

[uncageg]

Loved the movie and the music. At this point, not interested in seeing it on stage. For me, I just can't see anyone coming close to the performance Midler gave in the movie. JMO

[TotallyEffed]

No problem, Valentina! Had to laugh a little at your suggestions though. :)

Agree about this not needing to become a stage show. I’m happy with my beautiful Criterion Blu-Ray with Bette.

[darquegk]

Gaveston, there's a play called "L'Hotel," in which the spirits of deceased artists share a hotel together. One of them is Jim Morrison of The Doors, who finally caves and admits that the reason for his angst is that, as a spirit, he can finally confront the truth about his life. "I was a hack," he says and I paraphrase. "All I was was sex and pretension. I was a bad poet, a bad singer, a bad songwriter and I made the world worse. My image was all I had, not my songs."

Given that I think the Doors at their best DID create interesting and valid music, and that Morrison's overcooked psychedelic poetry may not have been profound but was certainly evocative and appropriate to the music and its time, I disagreed with the play's assessment of Morrison and his legacy. But I think a similar assessment could be made of Janis Joplin: her image and her legacy are of much more profound importance than any of the actual music she recorded.

[newintown]

Alice Ripley thinks that she's a rocker, and has a ragged voice now; she might be just right (although not a "star". I think a "weird" actor would definitely be better than a standard leading lady with a pretty voice, but good luck finding that.

[wolfwriter]

I know she hasn't done Bway in a while and may be too old (not sure of her age), but I keep thinking Cheryl Freeman would be great in the part. She was excellent in The Who's Tommy years ago.