Back in February of this year, it was announced that Jon M. Chu, who is coming off of his recently released film adaptation of the 2008 Tony-winning musical, In the Heights, has taken over as director of Universal's long-awaited film adaptation of the Broadway smash, Wicked. He replaces Stephen Daldry, who had previously departed back in October of last year due to the studio wanting to mount it more quickly than he was comfortable moving. In fact, when Chu posted the announcement on his Twitter feed, he asked his followers "So... Twitterverse, who should we cast?". I've already thrown in other suggestions for Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Nessarose, and The Wizard. So now, I'm going give a quartet of ideas for Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Shiz University who is also the musical's antagonist. On Broadway, that role was originated by the late Tony-winning actress, Carole Shelley.
Now on with my suggestions...
Now on with my suggestions...
Long before making a name for herself on the big screen, Glenn Close had started out working as an actress in the theatre. On Broadway, she appeared in a couple musicals such as Rex and Barnum. The latter earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. After making it big in the movies, Glenn still managed to find time to do some theatre work, which included starring as Norma Desmond in original Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical adaptation of the 1950 Billy Wilder film, Sunset Boulevard, which won her a third Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. If she were to take on the role of Madame Morrible, it would be a perfect fit for her. Glenn not only has a musical theatre background to back her up, but also a background in playing villains from having earned two consecutive Oscar nominations for her performances as Alex Forrest in 1987's Fatal Attraction and Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in 1988's Dangerous Liaisons. Not to mention that she also previously played Cruella De Vil in Disney's 1996 live action 101 Dalmatians movie (as well as its sequel, 102 Dalmatians, released in 2000).
Obviously, Angela Lansbury needs no introduction to the musical theatre world. Throughout her long and lustrous career, she has appeared in 7 musicals on Broadway (four of those stints won her Tony Awards for her performances) and 5 movie musicals (three of them were live action while the other two were animated). Gregory Maguire, who is the author of the original novel that served as the basis for the musical, said in a 2020 interview with BroadwayWorld that he while he was writing it, he had cast a (hypothetical) film adaptation in his head to help him visualize the story. One of the casting ideas he had in mind was Angela Lansbury as Madame Morrible. Since she is still alive at almost 96 years old, she should at least be considered. If Angela were to take on the role, it would be a perfect fit for her. She not only has a musical theatre background to back her up, but also a background in playing villains from having earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as Mrs. Eleanor Iselin in 1962's The Manchurian Candidate to winning her fourth Tony Award for playing Mrs. Lovett in the 1979 original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd.
Long before making a name for herself on the big screen, Shirley MacLaine had started out working as an actress in the theatre. On Broadway, she appeared in the ensemble of a couple musicals such as Me and Juliet and The Pajama Game. Shirley later got to show off her musical theatre skills to a wider audience in a couple movie musicals such as 1960's Can-Can and 1969's Sweet Charity. The latter of which, she actually suggested to Universal Pictures about producing for her to star in. Bob Fosse, who conceived, directed, and choreographed the original Broadway production, made his feature directorial debut on the film adaptation while his wife, Gwen Verdon, who had originated the role of Charity Hope Valentine on stage, served as an assistant choreographer, and helped Shirley throughout the process. She's even gone on to show off her vocal skills even further in the 1990 Mike Nichols movie, Postcards From the Edge, and a couple episodes of Glee in 2014. If Shirley were to take on the role of Madame Morrible, it would not only mark a grand return to her musical theatre roots, but also a rare villainous character in her filmography as she has been known for playing quirky, headstrong, eccentric women.
Emma Thompson may be best known to general audiences for appearing in period dramas, but she also actually has a musical theatre background. In 1985, she starred opposite Robert Lindsay in a West End revival of the 1937 musical, Me and My Girl. In 2014, Emma starred as Mrs. Lovett in the New York Philharmonic's concert presentation of Sweeney Todd, which was televised on PBS, and earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie as a result. Not to mention that she is currently playing Miss Trunchbull in a feature film adaptation of Matilda the Musical, which will be given a theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland on December 2nd, 2022 before heading out to Netflix all over the world. If Emma Thompson were to take on the role of Madame Morrible, it would be a perfect fit for her. She not only has a musical theatre background to back her up, but she also appeared in different fantasy films before from having played Professor Sybill Trelawney in three of the Harry Potter movies as well as starring as the title character in both Nanny McPhee films.
I'll be back with another one of these sometime soon to discuss a different character. In the meantime, what do you think of these ideas? Do you have any of your own? For those interested in reading the previous blog posts I've done on this topic, you can find the link to all of them below.
WICKED Film
I'll be back with another one of these sometime soon to discuss a different character. In the meantime, what do you think of these ideas? Do you have any of your own? For those interested in reading the previous blog posts I've done on this topic, you can find the link to all of them below.
WICKED Film