When Stars Don't Get the Movie Version
Supposedly there will be a movie made of the Broadway show Memphis, and I bet they don't use the stage cast. They hardly ever do! And I wish they would!
Remember when they made a movie of Doubt two years ago and Cherry Jones didn't get the part?
Someone named Meryl Streep turned out to give a great performance as the wily nun, but sorry, even she wasn't Cherry Jones.
Remember Hairspray before that? Nikki Blonsky was terrifically appealing in the movie, but I regret to remind y'all that, truth be told, she was no Marissa Jaret Winokur. She just wasn't!
And I still lose sleep over even older examples, like how Ethel Merman was robbed of the movie Gypsy!
Mary Martin was dissed into the gutter for both South Pacific and Sound of Music!
And though Julie Andrews stole the latter from Mary, she got shitcanned from My Fair Lady and Camelot!
I know film is a way different medium from stage and it has completely separate demands -- ask Carol Channing -- but wouldn't it make things much easier if they always went with the person who originated the role?
At least they already know their lines.
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