Meryl Streep At 58: Singing And Doing Splits In Anticipated "Mamma Mia"

Daily Mail:

Filmed last summer in Pinewood Studios and on location on the picturesque island of Skopelos in Greece, the movie version is a glorious and deeply silly confection.

Reports from early test screenings are universally positive - the audiences who have seen it at a secret showing in San Diego came out raving about the transfer of the musical to the big screen.

The surprise?

That Meryl Streep, at 58, is athletic, has a big voice - clear, true and strong - and delivers the goods on Abba's classics without a trace of embarrassment. It is, obviously, her first musical, and the deep thinkers in Hollywood are amazed by the way she is apparently happy to demolish her reputation as a serious-minded Oscar-winning grande dame.

And yet Streep, who is known for her hard-to-live-with perfectionism and love of tricky bits of acting technique and odd accents, emerges from this film as a woman who is accomplished at physical comedy and actually funny when the occasion demands.

'Meryl is very good - it's a revelation,' says one who has seen the film, in which she plays Donna, the mother of a bride-to-be who is confronted by three potential fathers on the eve of her nuptials.

It transpires that Streep saw the stage show in New York with her daughter as a birthday treat and wrote a fan letter to the producers afterwards.

Read the whole story: Daily Mail

Comments

[Eric8869]

What's next? Mel Brooks presents SOPHIE'S CHOICE The Musical! or the all tap dancing DEER HUNTER

[samandally]

Not a big fan of musicals, but I love her and can't wait to see this.

[illinoisan]

Interesting to note that she's the same age as Tim Russert.

[mike53]

My wife is 54..wish she could do that.

[ElPerro]

58?

Damn, she still wicked hot. I guess we're going to have to add a subcatagory to the MILF label.

GMILF

[jashu51]

In "Death Becomes Her", she did that awful musical number at the beginning. But you have to be really good to come off laughably terrible. And what about the "Deer Hunter"? She did the Slavic dances like a natural. So it's no surprise to me that she can do this role.

[WinslowLeach]

I love this woman! So cute!

[Agentlady007]

Let's see her touch her toes standing up --over her shoulders. At least one leg......... Reach dear.

"That's all".

I actually love her.

[naugahydeinplainsight]

That picture is from the birthing scene, right? Maybe a little too much mama for mia.

[RaraAvis17]

My favorite movies with Meryl Streep are 'Bridges of Madison County' with Clint Eastwood and 'She Devil' with Rosanne Barr and Ed Begley Jr. Ha! Now that is two ends of the spectrum when it comes to movies. One of her first movies was 'Silkwood' 25 years ago, but all I remember is it was a true story, Kurt Russel and Cher were in it with her and they all chain smoked throughout the whole movie.

[hypnotoad72]

Death doesn't become her! (Check out the early-90s movie "Death Becomes Her" - also starring Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis. Hilarious stuff!)

[raker]

Remember when Bette Davis in All About Eve was a washed-up old hag at age 40?

[applehead]

i showed my aunt the picture of meryl doing splits at the age of 58 (same age as tim russert) and my aunt said, "her birthday is next week,"

so happy birthday meryl. God bless you,

applehead and aunt

[keah]

She showed her singing ability in Postcards from the Edge. I believe she had voice training and may have used it on stage. So it isn't a new thing.

[shinybear]

So true. Check out Meryl on the DVD "Alice at the Palace" from the late 70's. It was a funky musical version of "Alice in Wonderland" with Meryl as Alice singing and dancing her heart out.

And she's been funny forever- some of her biggest hits have been comedies.

[Charity]

oh, i'd nearly forgotten about that "alice" thing! thanks for the reminder. no surprise about meryl's voice - she's always sang and it has a damn fine voice. so multidimensional a talent. today, the closest we have to meryl is cate blanchett.

[plooger]

Holy crap that's impressive for 58! (Hell, it's impressive for 38. Or maybe we need to check the special effects budget?)

[Dantana]

This proves it. Ms. Streep can do anything and well that she sets her mind to. Can't wait to see this one. Loved her as Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada. Sophie's Choice is probably my favorite.