Brilliant Missed Casting Opportunities

[SonofRobbieJ]

How is Audra McDonald as Lili Vanessi/Kate a missed opportunity?? She can (and should) still play it.

[Mister Matt]

Sara Ramirez as Elphaba
Betty Buckley as Diana
Sherie Rene Scott as Clio/Kira
Fuschia Walker as Caroline (I hope she still gets the chance to play the role somewhere)

[Gothampc]

Thanks to whoever bumped this thread.

Brenda Blethyn as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie

Cleo Laine as Carlotta in Follies (the song's on her cd)

Loretta Devine as Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Bette Midler as Mame (enough with elegant Mames, let's see some Mames with balls)

[AEA AGMA SM]

If you want a Mame with balls then why not Charles Busch?

[Gothampc]

"If you want a Mame with balls then why not Charles Busch?"

Didn't he already do a production of the non-musical version?

[Younger Brother]

Loretta Devine as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost
Emily Skinner as Mother in Ragtime

[Musicaldudepeter]

Patti in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls as Adelaide

[broadwaybabytn]

Patti LuPone in a full production of Passion while she was age appropriate, or as the Witch in Into the Woods, of as Florence in Chess, or in Funny Girl. She could have done many things. Bernadette Peters might have lost out on her opportunities to play Mrs. Lovett at this point. I would almost say that they should have done Follies, as Phyllis and Sally, respectively, in the early to mid 90s.

Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews in She Loves Me. This almost happened and should have. Dorothy Collins in She Loves Me as well, or did she do it in stock? Dick Van Dyke in The Music Man at City Center should have been filmed.... Damn. Julie Andrews should have made the movie of A Little Night Music.

Kevin Kline as Sweeney Todd, and many other roles.

[EgermanArmfelt]

Don't know if it is on here but Barbara Streisand as Elphaba and Julie Andrews as Glinda in Wicked

[givesmevoice]

I feel like Virginia Vestoff could have made an incredibly lovely Desiree.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Ooh Sherie Rene Scott would have been fabulous as Kira in XANADU! And then in that case let's get Audra in KISS ME KATE! Maybe opposite John Barrowman?

And yes to Patti as Fanny Brice!

[JBroadway]

Carolee Carmello in pretty much every role that she hasn't already played is a missed opportunity. Particularly many of Sondheim's roles. She still has time to play good roles though. I'd love to see her as Mama Rose or Sally Durant or Joanne in Company.

[CHOOKA2]

I know not a missed opportunity, but Patti could and should play Mamma Morton-would keep Chicago going another 10 years.

[Will42]

Angela Lansbury as Violet in August: Osage County.

[PTOPhan]

Some of these are still possibilities:

Nathan Lane or Harvey Fierstein as Tevye (if Fierstein can resist the urge to camp it up; Nathan Lane would be perfect and may have played the role).
Gerard Butler or Jeremy Irons or Patrick Stewart as Henry Higgins. (There’s still time for Gerry, but the other two have gotten too old, despite the current tendency to cast actors in their sixties as Higgins, instead of their forties).
Johnny Depp or Sacha Baron Cohen as Alfred P. Doolittle.
Sierra Boggess as Eliza Doolittle or Queen Guinevere.
Any of the tall, good-looking Raouls (e.g., John Cudia, Sean MacLaughlin, Kyle Barisich, Patrick Wilson) as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Sir Lancelot, Frank Butler, or Billy Bigelow.
Hugh Jackman or Mandy Patinkin or Colm Wilkinson (twenty years ago) as Emile de Becque.
Julie Andrews (way back when, if she could have mastered the accent) or Kristin Chenoweth as Nellie Forbush.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Lane of course was offered Tevye in the 2004 revival but didn't want to do it because he had just done a Zero Mostel role in 2001 with The Producers & didn't want to do another one

[SondheimFan5]

Michael Crawford as Higgins in My Fair Lady

[SondheimFan5]

Michael Crawford as Higgins in My Fair Lady

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Sherie Rene Scott and Notbert Leo Butz as Mack and Mabel.

[ILuv2shop531]

Hasn't Harvey Fierstein played Tevye already?

[Cupid Boy2]

^^Yes, he has. He was a replacement for the last Broadway revival as well as the national tour that launched in 2009.

[ILuv2shop531]

That's what I thought, just wanted to correct PTOPhan

[Wynbish]

[EgermanArmfelt]

Rachel York as Fanny Brice

[sondheimboy2]

To go back in time with my ideas:

Bert Lahr as Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"

Barbara Harris or Dorothy Loudon as Sally in "Follies"

Catherine Deneuve as Desiree Armfeldt in "A Little Night Music", though now she would be a fantasic Madame Armfeldt.

[CarlosAlberto]

Piet Arion as Fantine in Les Miz