Replies: 51 Unseemly Comments
Did anyone notice that BK said that he returned Los Angeles? I didn't even hear that it was missing.
Posted by Laura @ 10/10/2002 07:58 AM PST
Getting back to the topic of VIOLET, I also won my copy from the MTI "Who Am I?" contest. In fact, I was able to win many CDs thanks to that contest. I was even the Grand Prize winner at least once, and a runner-up the following year.
The contest on the other website has seriously declined in the absence of our Mr. Kimmel. Not only are the questions riddled with typographical errors, they are often deliberately vague, with sometimes multiple correct answers. On one occasion, a winner was announced who only had 9 answers correct, when I had 10. I emailed and protested, and was awarded a consolation prize of my choice of CDs - only one CD though (seems to me that when my friend won, he received his choice of four CDs, but that was back when Bruce was running the show...)
While we are on the topic, I still have yet to receive my prize for winning the Unseemly Trivia Contest right here at HHW several weeks ago. I am anxious to find out what I have won!
The internet needs more such contests. More free CDs, I say!
Posted by Dave @ 10/10/2002 08:08 AM PST
Bad Streetcar casting:
Blanche: Bette Midler
Stanley: Isaac Mizrahri
Stella: Lea DeLaria
Mitch: Brad Pitt
I once fanatasized about a really bad musical version of The Glass Menagerie called, of course, Menagerie!, which would star Ethel Merman as Amanda and Carol Channing as Laura, with Robert Preston as Tom and Alfred Drake as the Gentleman Caller. The obligatory second-act Dream Ballet would feature twenty girls in leg braces singing "Clump Your Troubles Away." (Now if Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman did it, it might get rave reviews.)
Posted by Philip Crosby @ 10/10/2002 08:14 AM PST
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
Stanley -- Donny Wahlberg
Stella -- Christina Aguilera
Blanche -- Britney Spears
Mitch -- Ice-T
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 08:28 AM PST
bad Streetcar casting
Glenn Close as Blanche
oh.. wait.. Darn... somebody actually DID that...
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 08:49 AM PST
Howsabout A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE reset as a Borscht Belt comedy?
Blanche: Joan Rivers
Stanley: Jackie Mason
Stella: Bea Arthur
Mitch: Jerry Lewis
Posted by Jay @ 10/10/2002 09:06 AM PST
Oh, I just *love* miscasting classics! Let's see now...
Blanche: Tiffani Thiessen
Stanley: Buddy Ebsen
Stella: Dame Judi Dench
Mitch: Ted Casablanca
Posted by Lulu @ 10/10/2002 09:07 AM PST
Blanche: Betty White
Stella: Kathy Griffin
Stanley: Paul Rubens (Pee-Wee Herman)
Mitch: Any of the Friends' guys - Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer (although he could pull it off, maybe?), Matt LeBlanc
Welcome home, BK. So nice to have you back where you belong...
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 10/10/2002 09:26 AM PST
Blanche Nell Carter
Stanley Jimmy (JJ) Walker
Stella Brandy Norwood
Mitch Michael Jackson
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/10/2002 10:03 AM PST
Blanche: Ellen Degeneres
Stella: Harvey Fierstein
Stanley: David Hyde Pierce
Mitch: Adam Sandler
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 10:05 AM PST
ha ha Wm - I can just hear Stanley yelling...
"Steelllllaaaaaaa - you are DY-NO-MIIIITE!"
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 10:06 AM PST
Broadway.com reports of rumors that ABC will shoot a new television movie of Jerry Herman's MAME with Cher in the lead role.
Will someone please tell me that this is just a case of the folks at the Mouse Network playing their own version of Worst Cast Scenario? Please!?
Posted by Jay @ 10/10/2002 10:27 AM PST
These are SO much fun.
Blanche: Whitney Houston
Stanley: Justin Timberlake
Stella: KD Lang
Mitch: Christopher Lowell (the host of that home improvement show on Discovery Channel).
Philip: I *love* the idea of a musical of Glass Menagerie! I'm laughing right now. Bea Arthur could play Amanda, Nathan Lane as Tom, Whoopie Goldberg as Laura and William Shatner as the Gentleman Caller.
Posted by Ben @ 10/10/2002 10:27 AM PST
The Cher as Mame rumor has been floating around for awhile. Whether it's true or not is anybody's guess. While it would never cross my mind to cast her, I don't think she would be as bad as say, Debra Messing (from Will and Grace) or Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg).
I just thought of another cast for Streetcar -
Blanche: Brett Somers
Stanley: Carrot Top
Stella: Ruta Lee
Mitch: Arsenio Hall
Posted by Ben @ 10/10/2002 10:35 AM PST
Ben... Unless Eddie Murphy was producing or casting.. Arsenio would NEVER make it into your production ;)
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 10:42 AM PST
I loved the Borscht Belt cast.
Too bad Jan Murray's too old (he's 85) for one of the roles!
Although...
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 10:57 AM PST
Actually.. an anniversary casting coup would be fun..
just think what it would be like to watch Marlon do that role.. NOW!
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 11:01 AM PST
As miscast as Cher is as Mame, originally Mrs. Brolin was supposed to do it. She's already killed one of Jerry's Girls on film. Don't let her kill another one on tv!
I used to be one of the former Mrs. Gould's biggest fans. I was there when the pregnant Jewish girl from Brooklyn sang "Silent Night" in a Chicago football stadium on a hot sticky July night. She still has one of the finest voices of anyone singing today, but her choice of songs and their over-production make most of her current work unlistenable. I love and still listen to all her early albums (when she listened to the advice of others regarding song selection and arrangements) but I can't stand most of her recent recordings. Compare the versatility and simplicity of her first album with the overly orchestrated tracks that all sound alike from her most recent CD and you will see what I mean. And her choice of movie roles is a laugh.
Unfortunately the same can also be said of The Divine Miss M, who still is dynamite on stage but less than exciting on film and whose first Albums cannot begin to compare with her recent ones either... not to mention that awful sitcom!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/10/2002 11:06 AM PST
I meant Miss M's recent CDs aren't nearly as good as her early albums but I think it came out wrong.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/10/2002 11:09 AM PST
I was about to come up with a list of animated characters... But then I remembered there already was a musical version of Streetcar done on "The Simpsons" a couple of seasons ago. Still makes me laugh - and it's great to have it on CD.
Now if the Muppets were to do it, both Blanche and Stella would undoubtedly be played by Miss Piggy in a star, dual-role turn.
Oh, how about this Talk Show version:
Blanche: Sally Jessy Raphael
Stanley: Larry King
Stella: Jenny Jones
Mitch: Danny Bonaduce
And it would have to be produced by Harpo Studios, Oprhah Winfrey!
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 10/10/2002 11:50 AM PST
Jose.. hey.. you stealin' my muppet routine? ;)
Posted by Craig @ 10/10/2002 11:58 AM PST
So good to hear that someone else feels the same way that I do about Mrs. Brolin (aka La Streisand, aka Babs). It's sometimes taboo to suggest that Ms. S is anything less than a goddess - especially in a circle of "theatre people".
While I can appreciate her talent, and even enjoy the way she used it in her youth, the performer she has become is insufferable. I can't bring myself to watch one of her more recent (i.e. within the last 20 years) movies, nor would I bother to listen to her recent recordings. And don't even get me started on her preachy politics...
Trouble is, it becomes more and more difficult even to watch her earlier work, without being tainted by the knowledge of what was to come.
On the other hand, I never liked Bette Midler, so I don't have the same problem with her.
Posted by Dave @ 10/10/2002 12:49 PM PST
i'm a huge fan of Barbra Streisand. I wish she had better luck with her men and that they were more of a match for her so that she could truly be "Mrs. Someone" rather than him being "Mr. Streisand."
Streisand and Bette Midler, who I also think is sensational, are exceptionally strong women who refuse to compromise their principles in a "mostly male-dominated" industry.
It's interesting to note that nowhere does anyone ever claim that George Bush (or Dick Cheney or John McCain) are preachy when they talk about politics. Let a woman speak up and something is wrong. Just look at the things folks say about Hillary Clinton. And thus it has ever been with women in politics...or with any woman who has ever spoken her mind about the way the nation is governed.
Sigh.
(Okay, that was my spiel for strong women).
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 01:28 PM PST
I adore Babs' vocal artistry, especially from the earlier years. Of late, though, every time I see her, it becomes clearer that she has lost all trace of any sense of humor. Pity.
Posted by Jay @ 10/10/2002 01:38 PM PST
A Babs day it seems.
I have to agree with most of the above. Production and choice of material seems to be the problem. The occasional gem surfaces (New York State
Of Mind) but then there is always "Somewhere" with that horrific David Foster over production. I would love to hear a BK produced Babs album.
Whic remind me Ron. Do you like the duet with Jack Nicholson. (On A Clear Day)?
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 10/10/2002 02:57 PM PST
Truth to tell Tom Guest, I don't recall a duet with Jack. I don't recall Jack singing, as a matter of fact...just strumming a sitar or something.
Then again, there is a recording of him singing on one of those "Cut!" LPs (three volumes) with a cut song by him...but don't remember that as a duet, either.
It has been YEARS since I've seen the film (and I remember really liking it a lot). I have the LP soundtrack...is it on there????
(Truth to tell, the last new Babs album I bought was her second Broadway album...woof! Cared for it even less than the first one!). But I got that boxed set for a song (!) and it's all one could want (except it doesn't have "I Never Has Seen Snow" or "He Touched Me". But I have most of her early albums on CD (all but "Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments") to keep me warm.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 03:42 PM PST
Not cut "by" Jack. A song from the film by Jack cut "from" the film.
Drat! The Chat!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 03:43 PM PST
And no, Francois, I'm not mixing French and English (in case you're reading this).
: )
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 03:43 PM PST
Boy, we're talking about
YEARS gone by....
I do have those CUT! lp's,
produced by Hugh Fordin, and
I don't think Jack sings WITH
Barbra; I believe he sings and
then she hums the melody,
but it must have been 20 years
since I listened to that !!!
Funny, but Drat , the Cat !
could easily be translated in
"Nom d'Un Chien" in French....
Honestly, what is the MOST
recent movie starring LA
Streisand ?
I love her talents, but did she
really had to sing with Céline
????????
Posted by François @ 10/10/2002 04:37 PM PST
Well, if Disney/ABC want to do
their version of Mame, why
don't they hire Karen Morrow ?
She would be perfect !
Will tell Michael next time i see
him.... or Mr Zadan, maybe ?!...
Posted by François @ 10/10/2002 04:42 PM PST
Does anybody really think that Babs would rather be "Mrs. Someone" than have her husband be "Mr. Streisand"? I don't. It's generally known that she treats her husbands like a part of her entourage -- a personal assistant who gets no sick days or overtime. There's a difference between being "strong" and treating your inamorata like the hired help.
Just my two cents'.
Posted by Lulu @ 10/10/2002 04:43 PM PST
Hey, Lulu, how's life in South
Florida ?
One of my best friends is
turning 70 next sunday in St.
Pete. A sort of a Betty White
type of a lady....
Re: Barbra; Do you think MR
Streisand resents playing that
part ?
Posted by François @ 10/10/2002 04:51 PM PST
SoFla is fine, Francois, though still too hot and humid for my liking. Thanks for asking.
A Betty White type of lady! Sounds cool. Always liked Betty. Kind of a more genteel, Yankee version of Brett Somers. Hope your friend has a great b-day.
I guess JB and BS must both be getting something out of the relationship since they're still in it. What's it been, four years? How 'bout that...and they said it wouldn't last!
Posted by Lulu @ 10/10/2002 05:38 PM PST
Lulu, that's a poser.
But I'd like to think there's a man out there who could be THE man to her WOMAN, the YIN to her YANG. Not necessarily that she would refer to herself as "Mrs. Someone" but then again, someone who would be proud to walk out on a stage and say, "Hello, everbody! This is Mrs. Norman Maine!"
That's not to say that he shouldn't be proud to do the same thing!
I only know of two husbands she's had -- Jason Gould and James Brolin. She never married any of the others, did she???
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 05:53 PM PST
YING and "...everybody..."
sigh
Posted by Ron "dropped letters" Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 05:54 PM PST
Ron, yes -- she has been married to ELLIOT Gould (and I realize that you knew that, and just typed Jason, her son's name, by mistake ;) ) and James Brolin. Of course, there was also the longtime thingy with openly straight hairdresser/producer Jon Peters.
There's a funny quote by Gould, which I unfortunately can't remember or find right now, summing up his marriage to Barbra. Suffice to say that he considered it the most traumatic event of his life (in all fairness, I should mention that living with "Trapper John" probably isn't most people's idea of heaven, either).
Regardless, the fact is that Babs has a reputation as a *ahem*-buster. And I think that a woman can be "strong" (assertive and self-actualized) without running roughshod over the people around her. 'nuff said.
Posted by Lulu @ 10/10/2002 06:09 PM PST
I am so very jiggy with these casting choices - I can't really improve upon them.
Re: musical version of The Glass Menagerie - when I was in the Lehman Engel workshop in NY in 1969, one of our assignments was to write a song for a musical of Menagerie. I can no longer remember what I did (although I was only doing music for someone else's lyrics - a mistake).
Posted by bk @ 10/10/2002 06:14 PM PST
Ron,
You're a devoted fan and root
for Barbra....
I like that !
I just wish she would not be
that "sophisticated", you know,
not so "full of manners" like
she is in The Concert, less
Star in other words....
Now, I second anything she
says about Moses, I mean,
Charlton Ben Hur El Cid.......
Posted by François @ 10/10/2002 06:34 PM PST
Lulu,
Hot and humid is the Florida I
remember .....
Had a guest from Sandford the
other day ; he retired there 3
years ago and he's moving
away because of the
humidity....
He can't take it anymore.....but
then that's why everything's so
lush.... and if one lives on any
of the coasts, it's cooler....
I lived right in the center; pooh !
Anyway, permanent heaven
must be hell, no ?!
Posted by François @ 10/10/2002 06:42 PM PST
I don't know from Streetcar Named Desire, nor do I know from Barbra Streisand.
But wish me luck in fencing tonight. I'm trying out a new move of my own invention: the Alexander the Great Balls of Fire lunge.
Posted by Sandra @ 10/10/2002 06:58 PM PST
Ben, you are truly warped!
It is a shame we are confined to choosing from the living; Totie Fields and Virgina Grahame could be wonderful.
Blance: Christina Ricci
Stanley: Regis Philbin
Stella: Audrey Landers
Mitch: Richard Simmmons
Posted by Kerry @ 10/10/2002 09:05 PM PST
About Streetcar, I have always believed that BK's lunch buddy Cybill S. would make a divine Blanche, but since we're going for the un-divine:
Blanche: Roseanne Barr
Stella: Linda Hamilton
Stanley: (I was gonna say Vin Diesel, but it's possible that he CAN act) David Hyde-Pierce
Mitch: Jean-Claude Van Damme
Flower Boy: Nathan Lane
Poker Buddies: Harvey Fierstien and Sean Hayes.
Alternate Cast:
Blanche: Megan Mulalley
Stella: Angelina Jolie
Stanley: Justin Timberlake
Mitch: Hugh Grant
Flower Boy: Chris Rock
Poker Buddies: Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker.
and the "moonlit" cast:
Blanche: Cybill S.
Stanley: Bruce Willis
Stella: Allyce Beasley
Mitch: Curtis Anderson
Poker Buddies: Charles Rocket and Billy Joel
Posted by td @ 10/10/2002 09:17 PM PST
Stars are funny people, Lulu!
In La Streisand's case, I can imagine growing up homely and picked on and taunted was very traumatic, not to go into the fatherless aspect.
In Hollywood, there are a lot -- a LOT -- of *ahems* that NEED busting. Unfortunately, some innocents get caught in the slaughter. I don't know any of the stories or story tellers, so I'm removed from it other than it's something "people say" about her.
Ditto Midler. Let's see -- Ken Wahl, Bette Midler, Ken Wahl, Bette Midler? Gosh, it's awful tough to chooose....aw, heck...BETTE MIDLER! All his "talk" about Midler not being a lady only highlights that HE's no "gentleman."
True enough, there are some terrifically talented people out there who don't have their kind of baggage. Let's treasure them and nurture them.
But there's room for the super talents, too, despite the rumors, which usually have a basis in truth.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/10/2002 09:45 PM PST
Got to hear Denyce Graves do Carmen tonight. It was blissful. Just thought I'd share.
Oh...I'm hearing Placido Domingo on Saturday afternoon. :-) (Not that I'm gloating or anything...hehe).
Posted by Jason @ 10/10/2002 10:21 PM PST
Ron: It was Jack's song cut from Clear Day. Not really a duet but I thought it belonged on the CD.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 10/10/2002 11:18 PM PST
Personally, the role I find best suited for the talents of Ms. Streisand is that of Lina Lamont.
Posted by S. Woody White @ 10/11/2002 02:40 AM PST
Well, far be it from me to throw brickbats at La Babs, in love with whom I fell at the first hearing of "Cry Me a River" back in nineteen-sixty what, and whom I actually saw live from the first row of the Shrine Auditorium in that year... but...
Upon the release of The Mirror Has Two Faces, La Midler rejoined, "So? We were all ugly an unpopular in high school. Get over it!"
Posted by William F. Orr @ 10/11/2002 02:51 AM PST
A thank you to those on this site who introduced me to, through their questions and comments, "WICKED". I have enjoyed it thoroughly. Have any of you read Maguire's "Ugly Stepsister"? Is it as enjoyable?
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 10/11/2002 03:39 AM PST
Tom: I think Stepsister is definitely worth the read. It's different from Wicked, although the writing style is similar and the characters are well written too. I realized as I started reading it that I had trouble getting "into" the book, but once I put the notion out of my head that it was, in some way, related to or a kind of sequel to Wicked, I began to enjoy it. Read it, I think you'll like it.
Read in Daily Variety yesterday a rather mixed reveiw of Glenn Close as Blanche in Trevor Nunn's National Theatre production of Streetcar. I don't know if it's available on-line anywhere but the writer (besides mentioning the obvious age disparity) compared her, in NOT a good way, to Norma Desmond! He did say that Close was able to bring bits of humor to Blanche that were not seen in other productions. Robert Pastorelli, (the painter from Murphy Brown) did get a very good mention as Mitch.
Also read in the NYTimes this morning a disappointing review of A Man of No Importance. The review won't stop me from seeing the show because I like everyone involved, especially the wonderful Faith Prince. I have to read the other papers now to see what they said.
Kerry: Your cast is pretty wild, mister. Regis Philbin, oh, my G*d! "Stella...Is that your final answer???" Richard Simmons could use Deal a Meal cards in the poker game and therer would only be healthy snacks. The images go on and on.
Posted by Ben @ 10/11/2002 04:40 AM PST
I'm not sure how many people watched the Rosie O'Donnell show, but those who did are aware that Rosie had a passionate devotion (some would argue unhealthy obsession) to La Streisand. In one episode, she spent the entire hour stalking her home, in anticipation of meeting her idol. The next day, when the two finally met, Rosie arrived with Babs' favourite dessert, which she had gone to great lengths to obtain. Ms. Brolin immediately told her that it was not her favourite at all. The look on Rosie's face showed that she was truly crushed and heartbroken. Of course, Streisand made no attempt to assuage her, instead moving on to more pressing discussions about herself.
So, in spite of Ron's defense of her, Ms. Streisand/Brolin is not simply a 'ball-buster'; she is an equal opportunity bitch.
And this has nothing to do with being a strong woman. People can have respect for Hillary Clinton's opinions because she has earned the right to be heard on important political issues. Besides being a lawyer, she has years of experience in politics. Ms. Streisand is a singer and an actress. If she intends to preach politics, she had better be prepared to show her credentials to speak on the issues. Otherwise, she should expect to feel the heat.
Lest people suggest that this is an issue of sexism, remember that many people dismiss Bono in his attempts to use his celebrity as a forum for social discussion, too.
Posted by Dave @ 10/11/2002 06:38 AM PST
RE: the age discrepancy of Glenn Close playing Blanche "It means 'white wood'" DuBois: am I the only person who was shocked -- SHOCKED -- to read Williams's play and discover that the faded, it's-all-downhill-from-here Blanche is only about 30-years-old? Tennessee, a pox upon your house!
Posted by Lulu @ 10/11/2002 07:10 AM PST
