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Bebe is not the first by any means.

Posted by: footlight9 11:18 am EST 01/17/14
In reply to: Bebe's Hat Trick is Broadway history? - Greaser217 09:47 am EST 01/17/14

Arnetia Walker played Effie, Lorrell, and Deena in DREAMGIRLS over the course of the run.


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re: Bebe is not the first by any means.

Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 12:42 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: Bebe is not the first by any means. - footlight9 11:18 am EST 01/17/14

It's interesting to me that a single actress would or could play both Effie and Deena. They are rather pointedly supposed to be, not only different physical types, but also different vocal types.

Lorrell can probably go either way and I could see a single actress playing both Lorrell and one of the other two.

I'd be curious to hear more about this.

Link Jere-Rigged

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The original DREAMGIRLS ...

Posted by: Alcindoro 12:56 pm EST 01/20/14
In reply to: re: Bebe is not the first by any means. - JereNYC 12:42 pm EST 01/17/14

... had a "fat suit" for the gals that understudied Effie. I had a good friend in the OBC who gave me a backstage tour and pointed it out on a rack. I saw the svelte Brenda Pressley wear it when she went on for Holliday, and it was fairly convincing. Brenda was marvelous in the role. I think they lowered the songs a bit, which allowed her to sing them in a rich, Mahalia-style contralto, very different from Holliday but very effective.


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re: Bebe is not the first by any means.

Posted by: mendacity 12:18 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: Bebe is not the first by any means. - footlight9 11:18 am EST 01/17/14

>>Arnetia Walker played Effie, Lorrell, and Deena in DREAMGIRLS over the course of the run.

... all on Broadway, not as an understudy?


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re: Bebe is not the first by any means.

Posted by: kdogg36 02:47 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: re: Bebe is not the first by any means. - mendacity 12:18 pm EST 01/17/14

I know it's not the same, but Van Hughes played all of three main guys in American Idiot on Broadway, two of them as an understudy though.


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Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: lordofspeech 04:34 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: re: Bebe is not the first by any means. - kdogg36 02:47 pm EST 01/17/14

Someone will know this:
Didn't indefatiguable Helen Gallagher play a number of roles in MAME and in SWEET CHARITY over the course of time?


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re: Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: LegitOnce 01:30 am EST 01/18/14
In reply to: Helen Gallagher? - lordofspeech 04:34 pm EST 01/17/14

Her Mother Burnside was definitive.


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re: Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: SingersRMusicians2 08:02 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: Helen Gallagher? - lordofspeech 04:34 pm EST 01/17/14

I know that Helen Gallagher played Nickie and was a replacement Charity (unfortunately I never saw her in either role).

As for Mame, she was both a replacement Gooch and a replacement Vera. I saw her many times as Gooch (loved her), but never saw her as Vera.


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re: Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: PlayWiz 04:46 pm EST 01/19/14
In reply to: re: Helen Gallagher? - SingersRMusicians2 08:02 pm EST 01/17/14

Did she do the high note at the end of "Gooch's Song" like Jane Connell?


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re: Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: SingersRMusicians2 06:45 pm EST 01/19/14
In reply to: re: Helen Gallagher? - PlayWiz 04:46 pm EST 01/19/14

It was a long time ago, but I do not remember her omitting the Bb (I would have noticed that!)


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re: Helen Gallagher?

Posted by: FriendofDorothy 06:46 pm EST 01/17/14
In reply to: Helen Gallagher? - lordofspeech 04:34 pm EST 01/17/14

I don't have specifics, but I think this is true. On tour, Stritch also played both Mame and Vera (not at the same performance, I assume).


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