Merle Louise (born Merle Louise Letowt, April 15, 1934) is an American actress, best known for appearing in four

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, most famously as " The Beggar Woman" in ''Sweeney Todd''.

Broadway and Sondheim

Early in her career, (when she was still known as Merle Letowt), she played "Thelma" in the original cast of '' Gypsy'' (1959). Eventually, she moved up to the lead role of "Dainty June", playing it for much of the Broadway run and on the first national tour. Louise returned to Broadway in ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

'' (1970) as "Susan". Her biggest success was as "the Beggar Woman" in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (1979), for which she won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. However, her "ravaging crazy" performance is not preserved in the video recording as she was not a member of the national tour that was videotaped. In '' Into the Woods'' (1987), she played a trio of roles: the ethereal " Cinderella's Mother", the practical "Granny" (of " Little Red Riding Hood" fame), and the unseen vengeful "

Giantess A giantess is a female giant: either a mythical being, such as the Amazons of Greek mythology, resembling a woman of superhuman size and strength or a human woman of exceptional stature, often the result of some medical or genetic abnormality ( ...

". Louise has originated roles with other Broadway

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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 role she also played on

London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government bui ...

, in Toronto and on the national tour. Off-Broadway, she created the role of Cecily MacIntosh in ''Charlotte Sweet'' (1982). Regionally, she is an acclaimed actress in classics by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Molière, Pinter,

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

, and

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...

. 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.

On-camera and later career

Louise's on-camera work 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'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

''. Her most recent performances include "Frau Schneider" in '' Cabaret'', "Mme. Armfeldt" in '' A Little Night Music'', Lady Henslowe in ''

Elizabeth Rex ''Elizabeth Rex'' is a play by Timothy Findley. It premiered in a 2000 production by the Stratford Festival. The play won the 2000 Governor General's Award for English language drama. Plot The plot involves a meeting between Queen Elizabet ...

'' with Nicu's Spoon Theater Company and "Jeanette" in '' The Full Monty'' in Massachusetts, and in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

she appeared in Luke Yankee's award-winning show, ''The Jesus Hickey'' in July 2007."'The Jesus Hickey' Wins Inaugural Erlich Award"
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Broadway credits

* '' Billy Elliot: The Musical'' (Grandma understudy/Ensemble) 2008 * '' Into the Woods'' (Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giantess) 1997 * '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (Molina's Mother) 1993 * '' Into the Woods'' (Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giantess) 1987-89 * '' La Cage aux Folles'' (Mme. Dindon) 1983 * '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (Beggar Woman) 1979 * ''

'' (Susan) 1970 * '' Gypsy'' (Thelma; later Dainty June) 1959

References

External links

* *
Profile
ibdb.com; accessed June 15, 2017. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Louise, Merle 1934 births Living people American musical theatre actresses American sopranos Drama Desk Award winners Place of birth missing (living people)