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Rosie O’Donnell is opening up about the roles she has played on Broadway – and the roles she turned down. In 2001, in the midst of her wildly successful daytime talk show, O’Donnell took on the role of the Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical, which was struggling to stay open at the time. She states that it was her own idea to step into the show.
In a new interview on the DRAMA. podcast, O’Donnell reveals that producers had come to her for help as the show was struggling to stay open. Her solution? Stepping in as the Cat in the Hat for a limited run.
“The show was going to close and Fran and Barry [Weissler] came to me and said, ‘You know, we’re having trouble selling tickets, tell me what you think.’ And I saw it and I said, ‘I think you need me to play that part. Let me just do it for a little while as a boost, bring him back. I’m not trying to take his job.'”
O’Donnell shared her admiration for David Shiner, who originated the role. She argued that the show needed someone more “wild” to interact with the audience and carry the show.
“He was great in that role, but you needed a comedian, I thought, or somebody who … could really do the audience participation part and be a little more wild than he was.
The Emmy winner said that while she was juggling her own children, foster kids, and her daily talk show, the show’s themes spoke to her.
“Like, I really did want to help the show because I love the show and what it says about adoption. You know, ‘I have wings, I can fly, you teach him earth, I’ll teach him sky.’ You know, that’s what they sing to the little egg that hatches. And I don’t know, I was very moved by that. I had lots of young kids at that time. But it was my idea. And they said, ‘Okay.'”
A role she turned down, however, was Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical on Broadway.
“They called to see if I had availability,” she says. “My agent got a call. I said, ‘Listen, I saw Ms. Trunchbull. I saw Matilda and that actor was stupendous.’ And it was a role that blew me away and I know for a fact that I could not do it.”
She also says that fans have asked her if she would ever step into Oh, Mary! as ‘Mary Todd Lincoln,’ stating that she also doesn’t think she can take on that role.
“I know my limitations.”
O’Donnell also reveals that she turned down Kathy Najimy’s role in Hocus Pocus because she “didn’t want to be the witch that killed and ate kids.”
O’Donnell is returning to the New York City stage with her solo show, Common Knowledge, premiering Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre on July 22. The eleven-time Emmy and Tony Award winner’s new show will reflect on her move to her newly adopted hometown of Dublin, Ireland, the culture shift, family life, and the humbling and hilarious realization that maybe she doesn’t have it all figured out.
