Patti Lu Pone

Don't Cry for Me, Argentina

I Dreamed a Dream

Who was better in Master Class - Patti or Faye Dunaway?

She is actually pretty intelligent

Patti Lu Pone as Maria Callas in Master Class

I was on my first high school theater trip and saw her about six weeks into Evita, when it was still super fresh, but all the bugs worked out. Even from nosebleeds, she was electrifying.

Is she the Ethel Merman of our day?

Is she scary in person?

She's as classy as she is beautiful!

[quote]She was born into a very loud Italian Catholic family in New York.

She's no Bernadette Peters Lazzara !

This old hag again.

She is Patti LuPone.

OP, why do you write like you think we’ve never heard of her?

This is my favorite performance of hers.

I think it was from the movie Psycho.

I love her as Mama Cass in R5 but I don't remember that hair look.

On Women in Theatre

I'm a Brooklyn Italian and work in the theater Industry and once was the target of Patti's wrath. We yelled and screamed then had coffee and cake and are now gumbas and hug and kiss when we see each other. It's all about local cultures.

On The Rosie O'Donnell Show in 1998.

I don’t know her.

[quote] "Even from nosebleeds, she was electrifying."

As much as anyone in an Andrew Lloyd Webber production can be, I'm sure.

Jokes aside, I'm a Lupone fan, but never took to that show specifically. But I also prefer straight plays to musicals, so there's that. I DO wish she'd done/would do more film.

Maybe someone can write Lupone a musical starring Floreen, her high-strung and snobbish daughter-in-law, from "Driving Miss Daisy". That could be a fun DL "Let's Be..." thread, for those who enjoy them. Someone call Alfred Uhry. He's 86, but still kicking!

R20 You have to admit her singing Don't Cry for Me, Argentina and I Dreamed a Dream are two of the greated Broadway recordings of all time

A friend of mine said that when he first heard that audio of La LuPone screaming at that photographer, he found is so horrifying that he feared for his life. And if you give it a listen, you may very well agree with him and feel that he was not exaggerating.

But P.S., I hope everyone has heard or read by now that the photographer at whom LuPone began shrieking was an official photographer who had been approved by the production. And apparently, PL had been told that someone would be photographing that performance, but, ummm, I guess she forgot. Or maybe didn't forget and just wanted to make a scene, because she thrives on that stuff.

She's from my hometown! She always knew what she was meant to do in life. Her dad was my elementary school principal. His name was OJ long before that name was famous. He was short and known as the Little Dictator. Her brothers had an act out at the Jones Beach theater and one of them went on to be the (unseen) director in A Chorus Line. Her mother was a friend of Lucille Ball who used to send a limo out to bring her to NYC for a visit, or that was the rumor. They lived in a very nice home up on a hill. They hired me to cut their lawn, which was difficult because of the terrain. They never hired me again but Patti came out while I was there that day and brought us some iced tea. She had just starred in the high school production of South Pacific and blew everyone away. She had the bearing of a star at a young age. She was 17. I was a few years younger. We chatted and she told me about Julliard and what her career plans were. She met every goal she had and then some. Next time I saw her I was going thru my program at the Ahmanson in L.A. trying to figure out who the amazing singer/actress was who was playing the lead in "The Baker's Wife." It was her and she was astonishingly good. She's kind of a typical Long Island Loudmouth, like Rosie O'Donnell and she doesn't take any crap. Love her but wouldn't want to cross her.

The Ladies Who Lunch

I just can't with PattiLu

I'd rather deal with Patti's open honesty than all the politically correct dreck on Broadway today.

Mandy Patinkin and her should do Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf?

She’s a Martha if there ever was one.

[quote]You have to admit her singing Don't Cry for Me, Argentina and I Dreamed a Dream are two of the greated Broadway recordings of all time

Hold my beer.

At some point, years ago, there was a possibility of Patti doing Kiss Me Kate with her old boyfriend, Kevin Kline. Their tempestuous relationship mirrored the relationship in the show, so it's a shame it never happened.

[quote]I'd rather deal with Patti's open honesty than all the politically correct dreck on Broadway today.

It's not just "honesty," so I wish people would stop describing it that way. She is a drama queen who always insists on making scenes, stirring up shit, and framing herself as the victim of other people's behavior. And if you don't agree with me on that, then you haven't read her memoir, which is a real jaw-dropper. Her very public and vocal quitting of Equity is only the most recent evidence of the kind of person she is.

I had absolutely no idea that she played Miss Daisy’s daughter-in-law. Her accent, while laid on a little heavy, really masks the Patti-ness of her voice. I’ve seen that movie a hundred times and never realized it.

I remember when famed violinist Kyung Wha Chung (a favorite of mine) calmly suggested to the parents of a disruptive kid to "Maybe bring her back when she’s older."

She's a cunt but a very talented cunt.

I always get her confused with Linda Lavin.

“Hey hot lips, ya mind putting down the fucking phone. He’ll get his blowjob!”

When I saw her getting banged over a banister in Hollywood, I thought oh no Patti, just no.

She was a real bitch to that retarded kid on that show they were both on.

She looks like my aunt Concetta.

R38 she looks like everyone's Aunt Concetta. That's part of her appeal

Everything's Coming Up Roses

La la la la life goes on...

[quote] "You have to admit her singing Don't Cry for Me, Argentina and I Dreamed a Dream are two of the greated Broadway recordings of all time"

I don't deny her vocal prowess, R21. I just don't care.

What happens if she tells you to leave the theatre, but you can't understand what she said?

^^

"Did she just shout 'How dare you! How dare you!', or was it 'widja nod ebba nad ebba do me!'?"

I've said this before, but I will always, always love her for in her memoir literally blaming her bad reviews for "As You Like it" at the Guthrie in the early 1980s on the fact that St. Paul is, or so she claims she was told, "the occult capital of the United States."

St. Paul?

She’s in dire need of medication. She’s been in need of medication for a very, very long time.

Never want to meet her so I can keep enjoying the hell out of her.

[quote]A friend of mine said that when he first heard that audio of La LuPone screaming at that photographer, he found is so horrifying that he feared for his life.

MARY!

One good thing I can say about Patti is that she fully admits to being difficult (which is a very different thing than admitting just to being [italic]considered[/italic] difficult, which is what Cybill Shepherd and Sharon Stone do), and she will make fun of herself accordingly.

MIn the 1985 miniseries [of Oliver Twist], Fagin is portrayed by Eric Porter. In a production of Oliver! Tony Award winner Patti LuPone played Nancy.

“If you don’t wanna follow the rule, get the fuck out!”

When I’ve seen her in public places she tends to be quite dry and reserved especially compared to her friends enjoying themselves in her company. Her friends are there to have fun. She is there to seen, hold court and be nourished by admiration in a womb of resentment and contempt, while generally subdued at restaurants and on the street.

She used to frequently be called "Splatsy" Lupone back in the day as one poster reported a "memorable" experience of being in an adjacent stall next to Ms. Lupone who was apprantly having some digestive issues.

Thanks for sharing, R23.

[quote] It's not just "honesty," so I wish people would stop describing it that way. She is a drama queen who always insists on making scenes, stirring up shit, and framing herself as the victim of other people's behavior. And if you don't agree with me on that, then you haven't read her memoir, which is a real jaw-dropper. Her very public and vocal quitting of Equity is only the most recent evidence of the kind of person she is.

R30 Everything I've ever heard or read about her from professionals in the theater industry is horrifying, but not surprising. They never hesitate to state that she is one of the nastiest, most arrogant, insane people in the business. (Especially when she's hanging with Mandy Patinkin.) She's an outright monster with a god complex. Not to mention a ridiculous over-acter (who is bitter she never had a true film or tv career - there's a reason why her stage shtick doesn't work on camera), and that Foghorn Leghorn voice is one of the most unpleasant things to ever listen to.

I dare you to tell her that in person, R55.

After that, can I have your things?

I always suspected she´s the one poster on the Streisand threads, who uses all the kvetch from the Arthur Laurent and Sondheim letters to trash on Mrs. Brolin.

Can you imagine her outrage when Patinkin told her first hand that Babs served sara lee cinnamon rolls at their first meeting! And they weren´t even pulled apart!!!!

R3

Tyne Daly was better than both.

As a matter of fact, Tyne was a better Gypsy, too.

OP, it's Juilliard, not Julliard.... fckn prick🤣

[quote]Outspoken and brutally honest,

Translation: Having no filter or social awareness whose arrogances makes her believe her opinion, whether based on actual knowledge and experience, is the only one that matters...

I'm not into musical theater so didn't have more than a fleeting knowledge of her, but then I saw her on '30 Rock' and she was hilarious, especially yelling at Susan Sarandon.

I first saw her in July of 1979 at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco during the West Coast tryouts for "Evita." I was blown away.

For all her faults, she is incredibly talented.

[quote]As a matter of fact, Tyne was a better Gypsy, too.

Wasn't she a bit old for the part? I always assumed that Tyne played Rose.

She’s a diva R30, in the old school, Maria Callas sense of the word. And?

For all her talents, she almost tanked Sunset Boulevard. Glenn Close saved that production

There are very few actresses who are more successful on stage than film/television and are a household name

Ethel Merman

Carol Channing

Ann Reinking

Patti Lu Pone

Bernadette Peters

Audra McDonald

The Cut Wife will cut you a new one.

There are, R49, eleven more steps after admitting you have a problem.

R48, of course my friend didn't mean he LITERALLY feared for his life, because he was only listening to a recording and wasn't in the theater for the incident. But truly, I think anyone who listens to that recording will understand how it made him feel.

In the R16 interview I was mesmerized by her mouth twisting.

[quote]One good thing I can say about Patti is that she fully admits to being difficult (which is a very different thing than admitting just to being considered difficult, which is what Cybill Shepherd and Sharon Stone do), and she will make fun of herself accordingly.

Really? I've always felt that, while she can be and has been very funny in roles and when discussing various subjects on talk shows, etc., LuPone has zero sense of humor when it comes to her own foibles. For example, I believe I've read she's one of very few stars who DID NOT appreciate being parodied in "Forbidden Broadway." (And, coincidentally, that was apparently also true of Glenn Close!)

R63

Of course you're right. Bad sentence structure and I even left a word out - I meant better IN (the show) "Gypsy" playing Rose.

I do not approve.

[quote] OP, why do you write like you think we’ve never heard of her?

Because OP thinks she's James fucking Lipton and discovered something to share with the unwashed masses.

Hi, Greg.

Your only post, r55?

Hello, R75.

R75, are you still planning to visit Boston this summer?

I read Patti's book and I was surprised that she is still holding onto the ill feelings over the Sunset Boulevard fiasco.

R27 I would definitely pay money to see that!

I can't believe I used to go out with that.

I knew someone who worked on "Life Goes On." her nickname amongst the gays on set was "La Diva."

I’ve long thought she should’ve had her own sitcom. Her comedic timing is quit sharp. I think she’s better at comedy than drama, where she can come off kind of preachy.

I didn't see LuPone live in MASTER CLASS, nor had I seen any video of the performance until I clicked on the link posted above. I was actually surprised at how terribly actor-ish her performance was, but since I can't stand that play to begin with, I wasn't very upset about it.

Her maternal Great Great Aunt, Adelina Patti, was called "The finest singer who ever lived" by Giuseppe Verdi. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914. Adelina Patti was the highest paid entertainer of her time. She was the first truly global celebrity, rubbing elbows with composers and crowned heads alike while she changed the entertainment industry and earned the respect of millions. She must be smiling down at her namesake.

OP- This is small potatoes but I thought she was very funny as Frasier's Greek cousin who owns a Greek restaurant and has a very short temper.

[quote]She’s in dire need of medication. She’s been in need of medication for a very, very long time.

Are you talking about me again?

[quote] has a very short temper.

She was playing herself.

Thanks for posting that clip, R86. Even with the dozens of fantastic guest stars on Frasier over it long run, Patti’s stands out. I always thought it had the air of a back-door pilot or at the very least an introduction to a recurring character, but, alas no dice. I think there definitely was potential, but given how Nathan Lane’s Encore! Encore! turned out with the same creators, perhaps it’s for the best that it never came to be. I’d have loved to see it, in any event.

She was giving me the Sweeney Todds in that clip at R86.

Diction, Patricia.

...Dimmy up widda heed windja nod ebba nod ebba . . . do me...

R66 the only time Ann Reinking was ever a household name was when she appeared on the Oscars, and you know the reason.

What’s up Patty Lupine Stan?? Op

Ugly bitch

Imagine two stars in the same family. They weren't neck and neck but Bobby had an impressive resume as a dancer and actor. He's the guy who told Tony Soprano he should see a psychiatrist. Bobby and Patti didn't speak for a long time over what he called "family issues and competition" (both of them were not exactly ego-free) but after she became a mom and settled down they made up and were each other's biggest boosters. Patti still has the third place trophy they won as kids in a dance contest at Jones Beach doing the Tango. "He was a phenomenal, phenomenal dancer," Patti said. Bobby died at 76 in 2022 from pancreatic cancer.

I like Patty but I hate her singing voice.

Imagine being a Patti Stan who diarrhea posts his obsession on the dl all of the fucking time. I know, it’s stupid as hell and makes normal people puke.

I heard her recounting the Sunset Blvd debacle and she even threw Pet Clark under the bus, passive-aggressively pronouncing Pet's first name as Petch-ula.

Her cuntiness is extremely entertaining,.

R23 Zach is seen in the stage version of A Chrous Line.

this always makes me laugh

r102, LOL the closed captioning is hilarious!

Thanks, R93. I was going to post that including Reinking in a list with those other stars above struck me as bizarre.

R102 They should play that video on a loop in prisons.

[quote]the only time Ann Reinking was ever a household name was when she appeared on the Oscars, and you know the reason.

Against All Of the Odds

Can somebody do a Cliffs Notes version of the Patti/Glenn/Andrew Sunset Boulevard fiaso?

FIASCO. Sorry.

CUNT

Forgive me as I'm not a big musical theater person but is it odd that I've always found Andrew Lloyd Weber to be kind of a hack?

First-class pipes. I first heard her in Evita and she was beyond brilliant.

Opinionated and sometimes a cunt.

I love her.

THIS is how you play that scene.

For R107

If perhaps you were under the impression that Glenn Close and Patti LuPone had recently patched up their decades-long feud to the point that they’re now friends who meet for drinks after work, LuPone herself has just one particularly LuPone-esque phrase for you: “That’s bulls––t!”

Though the duo were never particularly close, LuPone has held a grudge against Close since the latter was chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber to play the lead in Sunset Boulevard’s Broadway debut. LuPone originated the part on London’s West End, and was under the impression that she’d make the transition across the pond with the production. She was left, by her own admission, hurling furniture and lamps around her dressing room when she got the news that Close, who had been playing the part in Los Angeles, would head to Broadway instead. Close would eventually win a Tony for the role, and indeed loved playing Norma Desmond so much that she returned for the Broadway revival of the musical in 2017. At the same time, LuPone was on Broadway starring in War Paint, and an item in Page Six suggested that the pair had decided to bury the hatchet. Around the same time, LuPone went on Watch What Happens Live! to reveal that she actually had patched things up, to some extent, but the idea of the pair getting a drink together still raised some eyebrows.

“The source says the two Broadway leading ladies ‘seemed quite chummy and were yukking it up,’” claimed Page Six. “Andrew Rannells and Jon Hamm also joined them.” A rep for Close confirmed the account to the gossip column.

Well, LuPone wants you to know the encounter wasn’t quite as “chummy” as the item made it seem. Indeed, leave it to LuPone to be one of the few celebrities to claim that Page Six actually underestimated the amount of drama involved in a celebrity encounter instead of exaggerating it.

“That’s bulls–t!” she recently told The Guardian. “They got that ALL wrong. I was out with Andrew and Jon, and Glenn was at another table. Glenn came to us and she sidled on up to Jon Hamm. She needed to make herself known to Jon Hamm! Ha ha!”

When LuPone performed in a Grammys tribute to Webber (to much critical acclaim), it seemed as if she had finally forgiven both Webber and Close for their part in the drama, but LuPone is still ready to hurl insults at Webber in any given interview. “We haven’t made up, no. No!” she told the paper. “The poor guy—it seems to me he wants the kind of critical success Stephen Sondheim has.”

So the feud lives on, but so do the careers of the two leading ladies. Close is in the midst of a storm of buzz that she may finally win her first Oscar, for her role in The Wife, while LuPone is back on the West End, starring an all-female production of Company (a Sondheim classic, naturally). LuPone is also keeping up her old feud with Madonna (centered around Madonna’s performance in Evita, a role LuPone originated onstage). “Madonna? Euch! But I can’t really talk about Madonna. Madonna’s Madonna—I’ll leave it at that.” Not asking LuPone what she thinks of Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born seems like a missed opportunity. One might assume she’d be honorary chairperson of the Oscar for Gaga campaign, just to get a chance to shade both Close and Madonna in one swoop, but with LuPone, you never quite know.

As if Patti was ever going to do the movie version of Evita. She was way too old by the time the movie was ready to go into production.

r114

What's wrong with that?

I thought the word was that Patti was asked but refused to do a screen test. And when Ken Russell was going to direct they decided they needed an international name to sell the movie which is why they asked Barbra and Liza.

I think Evita the film would be better without Madonna.

Granted, when you are acting alongside Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas, you can't help but look bad.

I first saw Patti LuPone as Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom at the Ravinia Festival in 1975. She was magnificent, if a little unpolished. The is my favorite number from the show.

Her last name-

I always feel like calling her

Patti Mascarpone

Her “friendship” with Betty Buckley is fun. Betty seems supportive in her own way but Patti called her an “aging diva” and seem oblivious.

R113- She really IS the character she played on Frasier- as someone else said.

R113-At :56 in the video - That's what Patti would LOVE to do to Glen Close.

In the R16 clip she says she isn't legally able to even say ALWebber's name yet she says it in other interviews.

BTW: "Lupone" means "big wolf" in Italian.

[quote] BTW: "Lupone" means "big wolf" in Italian.

How do you say BIG MOUTH in Italian?

How do you say BIG CUNT in Italian?

[quote] How do you say BIG CUNT in Italian?

Giorgia Meloni.

R114 And let's add that the CinemaScope camera doesn't exactly love her.

She's very short. Madonna said on meeting her, You're even shorter than me. So Patti has to be careful with her weight or she looks dumpy.

You're too late, R129

Say what you want about La LuPone, this short doc with her coaching four teenagers (none who made it thus far) shows so much about her artistry, even if she is “on” for the cameras as a documentary. She is the real deal.

Oy those students are insufferable.

I have to laugh at how she chastises the first girl for riffing but says nothing to the last boy who riffs like mad at the end of his song.

It's not much to offer, but Patti LuPone was performing her show at a local hall. And I don't know how usual or unusual this is, but for one of her numbers - “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” - she needed a group of guys to sing with her. So the producers asked around (longer story), and my partner ended up singing on stage with her.

I warned him, based on everything I had read about her. He said she was incredibly nice to them all, talked to them about singing and performing, and was very funny when they rehearsed.

Guess it depends on the day.

R134, I would guess it depends much more greatly on the situation and the people with whom she's dealing. Of course, LuPone would have no reason to be anything but charming to a bunch of local singers her producers had found at the last minute to sing backup for one of her numbers, whereas her ego and insecurity have prompted her to publicly trash (in her memoir and elsewhere) many theater and music professionals with whom she has worked over the decades.

Patti needs to do a remake of “Ruthless People” with a gay husband and searing hot kidnapper.

I really wanted to see “War Paint” not so much for Patti, but because I worship Helena Rubenstein.

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones.”

R5 R112

Here´s the real deal talking about drama and the need to "whip people into shape with her anger" to get shit done .

Sorry for the interlude- back to Patti.

Start´s at 2:40

You can shout at me for forgetting to put that in in my above post.

This.

Singing “Being Alive”at a concert celebrating Sondheim, at Carnegie Hall in 1992. Thunderous volume, and pitch perfect. Incredible audience reaction.

I generally enjoy Patti, minus her tendency to scream while singing and the diction issues. But she needs to let the Sunset stuff go. She wasn't the first leading lady to be shafted for another, and she wasn't the last, either. It's a business, and her griping is tiresome. Since she has revealed her distaste for Lloyd Webber's music in plenty of interviews over the years, it's probably best for her (and him) that she didn't go to Broadway with the show. Let her move on to roles in shows by composers she prefers and respects.

[quote]Can somebody do a Cliffs Notes version of the Patti/Glenn/Andrew Sunset Boulevard fiaso?

Patti out. Glenn in. Patti gets new swimming pool. Glenn still chasing dream of doing the film version.

[quote]But she needs to let the Sunset stuff go. She wasn't the first leading lady to be shafted for another, and she wasn't the last, either.

And how.

[quote] But she needs to let the Sunset stuff go. She wasn't the first leading lady to be shafted for another, and she wasn't the last, either.

Don't get me started on the Lloyd Webber stupidity!

She had her own little web series

Wait, so Patti hates Glenn Close, too?

I thought her Broadway rival was Bernadette Peters. Or maybe Christine Ebersole. Or Bebe Neuwirth.

Maybe Patti just hates everyone. What’s the common denominator there???

[quote] are you still planning to visit Boston this summer?

Greg, I may visit if I have time to go to the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in Provincetown which I never done. I've been to Boston many times and, in fact, I'm the poster who went to Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge just to try to see the legendary ass of Phillip.

[quote]She wasn't the first leading lady to be shafted for another, and she wasn't the last, either.

Patti only got fucked by ALW figuratively. I got it literally.

She's a whore, DAHRLING

Patti Lupone was never a whore. No men ever wanted to fuck her.

R149 .........

How you can be attracted to both Patti Lupone and Phoebe Cates is a mystery to me. Their public personas couldn’t be more different.

R150- Kevin Kline has never seemed particularly heterosexual to me.

R114- That did not stop them from hiring Stockard Channing to play RIZZO in Grease.

R58- and a better Lesbian too

R154

You think Tyne Daly is a lesbian? Really?

Because of Cagney & Lacey?

Never been a fan of hers although she’s surprising good in film- restrained and character focused. Her voice and manner on stage is harsh- probably why she excelled in Gypsy. I recent saw her concert and while I still don’t like her loud, wobbly voice (she has a yodeling affect) the show itself was quite good. She was classy, grateful and delivered. She is that monster of the stage who must be seen to appreciate like Merman and even Liza. If you just hear a recording you’ll turn it off!

I get a kick out her ballsy persona and complete take down of Trump and MAGA. I bet she’s hard to work with. But I also bet if you bite back she works with you-

[quote]That did not stop them from hiring Stockard Channing to play RIZZO in Grease.

That was a different story. They messed around and waited until the last second. They brought in Stockard Channing because they had nobody else.

R96 I wondered about their relationship. I know he did a few years ago. There's a memorial service on YT and she did not attend. It seemed very weird she did not.

He had a long NYC theater career, of course, most notably his leadership of the MCC and his Chorus Line role. He was also on several of the NYC soaps, as many theater vets were in those days.

she did not attend. It seemed very weird she did not.

Maybe she was not available.

[quote]There's a memorial service on YT and she did not attend. It seemed very weird she did not.

They probably wouldn’t let her sing.

Or they knew she would be like Diana Ross and Cher and make the funeral all about her.

At one point, I got in touch with Patti thru her webpage and let her know I was the kid who she was so gracious to when I came to cut her lawn that day. "You brought out some iced tea for us and you told me your plans regarding Juilliard and what you hoped to be doing after that." Of course, she wouldn't remember our little chat, but she was really nice to me and told me that the next time I saw her on stage I should come backstage to say hello. I did go to see her in Noises Off but I was much to shy to go backstage. She seemed so intimidating to others but her invitation was real and I wish I'd had the courage to go back and say hello and maybe talk about the old days at Northport High. It's a small town and everyone around our age remembers her especially if they have had some kind of interaction with her. Even though she has the bearing and ego of a great star, she was "just folks" with people who knew her as a teenager. No airs.

R114 I hate that word! No one's too old to play in a film a great character they made famous on the stage.

R139, the song is called “Being Akive” not “Screaming Alive”. Jesus Christ.

Calm down R163. She starts off softly, and gradually builds perfectly to a powerful ending. Your opinion is noted but I believe her 3 Tony awards will disagree with you.

Oh, and it’s spelled “Alive” not Akive. How could anyone take you seriously after that.

[quote]No one's too old to play in a film a great character they made famous on the stage.

No one's too old to play a great character they made famous on the stage, in a film.

Sorry, R165, but I think that sentence is more grammatically correct and clearer as originally rendered.

No one's too old to play the film version of a great character they made famous on stage.

No, R167, not quite. "No one's too old to play in a film version of a play a great role that they played on stage."

[quote]No one's too old to play in a film a great character they made famous on the stage.

Preach, brother! I told them I was ready to play Effie opposite Queen Bey's Deena. They said Effie had to be of child-bearing years and they laughed in my face and said they had the role of the Motown cafeteria lady that I could play.