Theater News

Talk Amongst Yourselves: Rosie O’Donnell Will Not Spell Liz McCartney in Taboo

Boy George and Rosie O'Donnell(Photo © Michael Portantiere)
Boy George and Rosie O’Donnell
(Photo © Michael Portantiere)

Contrary to a report that was posted on the Internet Movie Database today, Rosie O’Donnell, producer of the new Broadway musical Taboo, will not be assuming the role of Big Sue during current co-star Liz McCartney’s maternity leave.

The show opened last month to mixed-to-unfavorable notices and has not been doing well at the box office. According to the news item in the IMDb’s Celebrity News section, “Reports suggest O’Donnell’s move is a desperate attempt to help the struggling show attract larger audiences and alleviate its financial problems.” But a Taboo publicist denied the IMDb report, declaring that it was nothing more than a rumor. He also said that McCartney’s maternity leave has already begun and that understudy Brooke Elliott has assumed the role; in fact, Elliott performed Big Sue’s big song, “Talk Amongst Yourselves,” on TV’s The View this morning. McCartney is scheduled to return to Taboo on January 6.

O’Donnell replaced David Shiner in the Broadway production of Seussical after that show opened to negative reviews in 2000. She stated during one of Taboo‘s pre-opening press conferences that she had been approached to play Big Sue but declined due to the vocal demands of the role. (According to the IMDb, “An insider says, ‘Rosie’s been working with a voice coach.'”)

The news items contained within IBDb’s Celebrity News section are licensed from the World Entertainment News Network; a disclaimer at the end of the section states that “The Internet Movie Database takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the articles above.”

Directed by Christopher Renshaw, Taboo has a book by Charles Busch and a score by noted pop composer Boy George, who appears in the show as performance artist Leigh Bowery. Also featured in the cast are Euan Morton, Raúl Esparza, Jeffrey Carlson, Sarah Uriarte Berry, and Cary Shields.

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Closed: February 8, 2004