Merle Louise
Encyclopedia
Merle Louise is an American actress, best known for appearing in four Stephen Sondheim
musicals, most famously as "The Beggar Woman
" in Sweeney Todd
.
(1959). Eventually, she moved up to the fourth lead rôle of "Dainty June", playing it for much of the Broadway run and on the first national tour.
Louise returned to Broadway in Company
(1970) as "Susan". Her biggest success was as "the Beggar Woman" in Sweeney Todd (1979), for which she won the Drama Desk Award
as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. However, her "ravaging crazy" performance is not preserved in the video recording as she had left the cast at that time. In Into the Woods
(1987), she played a trio of rôles: the ethereal "Cinderella
's Mother", the practical "Granny" (of "Little Red Riding Hood
" fame), and the unseen vengeful "Giantess
".
Louise has originated rôles with other Broadway composer
s as well. She played "Mme. Dindon" in Jerry Herman
's La Cage aux Folles (1983) and "Molina's Mother" in Kander and Ebb
's Kiss of the Spider Woman
(1993), a rôle she also played on London's West End
, in Toronto
and on the national tour.
Off-Broadway, she created the rôle of Cecily MacIntosh in Charlotte Sweet (1982). Regionally, she is an acclaimed actress in classics by Shakespeare
, Chekhov
, Molière
, Pinter
, Ibsen
, and Shaw
.
The cast of the Broadway show, title of show
(along with some of their theatrical friends), created a game based around Merle Louise, entitled "Six Degrees of Merle Louise", which is based on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
except that it generally uses Broadway musicals in place of movies to link two performers.
has been limited, most notably appearing in the televised production of Into the Woods and a documentary about the recording of the Original Cast Album of Company. She has had some guest appearances on shows such as Law & Order
.
Louise continues to act. Her most recent performances include "Frau Schneider" in Cabaret
, "Mme. Armfeldt" in A Little Night Music
and "Jeanette" in The Full Monty
in Massachusetts
, and in New York
she appeared in Luke Yankee's award-winning show, The Jesus Hickey in July 2007.
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
musicals, most famously as "The Beggar Woman
Lucy Barker
Lucy Barker is a fictional character that appears in some versions of the story Sweeney Todd.-Character overview:In the original legend and in the earliest melodramas and plays, Sweeney Todd has no wife or backstory and is the primary villain of the stories he appears in. His wife Lucy first...
" in Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
.
Broadway and Sondheim
Early in her career, (when she was still known as Merle Letowt), she played "Thelma" in the original cast of GypsyGypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
(1959). Eventually, she moved up to the fourth lead rôle of "Dainty June", playing it for much of the Broadway run and on the first national tour.
Louise returned to Broadway in Company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
(1970) as "Susan". Her biggest success was as "the Beggar Woman" in Sweeney Todd (1979), for which she won the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. However, her "ravaging crazy" performance is not preserved in the video recording as she had left the cast at that time. In Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
(1987), she played a trio of rôles: the ethereal "Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
's Mother", the practical "Granny" (of "Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
" fame), and the unseen vengeful "Giantess
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
".
Louise has originated rôles with other Broadway composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s as well. She played "Mme. Dindon" in Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
's La Cage aux Folles (1983) and "Molina's Mother" in Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb . Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York...
's Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña...
(1993), a rôle she also played on London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and on the national tour.
Off-Broadway, she created the rôle of Cecily MacIntosh in Charlotte Sweet (1982). Regionally, she is an acclaimed actress in classics by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, and Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
.
The cast of the Broadway show, title of show
Title of show
[title of show] is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell. The show chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and follows the struggles of the author and composer/lyricist and their two actress friends during the...
(along with some of their theatrical friends), created a game based around Merle Louise, entitled "Six Degrees of Merle Louise", which is based on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a trivia game based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and rests on the assumption that any individual involved in the Hollywood, California film industry can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps. The name of the game...
except that it generally uses Broadway musicals in place of movies to link two performers.
On-Camera and Later Career
Merle Louise's on-camera workFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
has been limited, most notably appearing in the televised production of Into the Woods and a documentary about the recording of the Original Cast Album of Company. She has had some guest appearances on shows such as Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
.
Louise continues to act. Her most recent performances include "Frau Schneider" in Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
, "Mme. Armfeldt" in A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
and "Jeanette" in The Full Monty
The Full Monty (musical)
The Full Monty is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek.In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club...
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
she appeared in Luke Yankee's award-winning show, The Jesus Hickey in July 2007.
Credits (Broadway)
- Billy Elliot: The Musical (Grandma understudy/Ensemble) 2008
- Kiss of the Spider Woman (Molina's Mother) 1993
- Into the Woods (Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giant)1987
- La Cage aux Folles (Mme. Dindon) 1983
- Sweeney Todd (Beggar Woman) 1979
- Company (Susan) 1970
- Gypsy (Thelma; later Dainty June) 1959