So the other day I watched this film and I couldn’t help but think that Mama Cass would have made a perfect Dolly Levi.
Barbra Streisand had the voice, but she over-acted in my opinion and just didn’t suit the role. Cass on the other hand possessed both the look and the voice to pull it off.
Anybody else believe she would have been a good Dolly Levi?
Well, since we have no idea whether or not Cass Elliott could act, we'll never know. When she died, she was too young for the role anyway--though she would've been a little closer to the right age than Barbra was. I kinda feel as if there is no "right" Dolly type anyway. After all, Pearl Bailey, Carol Channing, and Ethel Merman have all been acclaimed in the role, and they have virtually nothing in common.
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Toward the end of 1961, Cass Elliot auditioned for a new Broadway musical called I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE. There was only one part that still hadn't been cast - Miss Marmelstein, the unloved, overworked secretary. Elliot apparently gave a good audition and was considered a definite possibility for the role. But then along came Barbra Streisand to audition, and that was that; the director said Streisand had to be in the show. And WHOLESALE proved to be Streisand's launching pad.
Interesting to speculate how their respective careers would have gone if Elliot - not Streisand - had gotten the role of Miss Marmelstein.
how's that for irony.
The problem would be if Cass was photogenic and pass a screen test.
It'd be interesting to see.
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