Cloris Leachman Stunned To Learn She Won't Play Frau Blucher (Whinny) In 'Frankenstein' Musical
Beloved Brooksian muse Cloris Leachman, who, with the exception perhaps of a double Golden Girls sighting, has been clinically proven to be most effective at eliciting squeals of approval from gay men over the age of 45, has been dealt the lowest of blows by the unkind business we call show. Reports Variety's veteran entertainment reporter Army "Hollywood's Original Blogger" Archerd:
A heartbroken Cloris Leachman says she's not to play Frau Blucher in Mel Brooks' musicalized "Young Frankenstein."
Cloris reports she was given that word in a letter from director Susan Stroman ("The Producers"). "I was told they don't want to go like the movie" — in which Cloris created the Frau Blucher character in 1974.
Cloris was invited to N.Y. to audition. She thought they loved her. Then came the note from Stroman.
It certainly seems an injustice that the actress—who's still breaking Emmy and beer-chugging records well into her 80s—should be passed over by producers who "want to take Blücher in a different direction" (read: younger and less scary to horses). The web-savvy, pro-Phyllis forces at SaveFrauBlucher.com, however, have already harnessed the powers of the internets to register their outrage. Certainly, if a Jericho peanut-shipping drive can resuscitate a network drama, a similar campaign inundating Frankenstein producers with crates of a significance-laden foodstuffs should be enough to work. Some varm milk... perhaps? Ovaltine?
