With a marvelously winning turn in ‘MaMma Mia!’ plus an Oscar-bait role in the upcoming ‘Doubt,’ Meryl Streep finds herself in possibly the sweetest dilemma.

WHEN news came that Meryl Streep was playing the lead role in the frothy musical Mamma Mia!, many in Hollywood wondered if the two-time Academy Award winner had taken leave of her senses. After all, this grande dame had cornered the market on far more serious film fare, such as the upcoming Doubt, since she picked up her first Oscar nomination three decades ago for Best Picture winner The Deer Hunter.

But if the first rave review, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, for this summer romp set in the Greek isles is a sign of things to come, Meryl Streep will have the last laugh. Indeed, for Ray Bennett, “it’s no stretch to think of her performance in Oscar terms, ranking with previous musical winners such as Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Catherine Zeta-Jones.”

The naysayers would have done well to remember that, though this versatile actress won her two Oscars for intense dramatic turns in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie’s Choice (1982), she has always had a flair for comedy and a lovely singing voice. Streep best displayed this wide range of her talents in 1990’s Postcards from the Edge and earned both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for her efforts (and her crooning). She lost the Oscar to Kathy Bates (Misery) and the Globe to Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman).

COMIC CHOPS, According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennett, Streep’s outing in the frothy musical Mamma Mia! is Oscar material, “ranking with previous musical winners such as Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Catherine Zeta-Jones.”

Though Streep has a record 14 Academy Award nominations, those two wins date back more than a quarter-century ago (and one of those was in the supporting race). That leaves her well shy of the actress she is often compared with—all-time Oscar champ Katharine Hepburn. However, three of Hepburn’s four wins did not come till after she had turned 60, which just happens to be the next birthday that Streep will celebrate.

As a performer can only get one Oscar nom per category, the powers that be will probably want to push Streep as Best Actress for her appearance in Doubt over Mamma Mia! While both of these projects began on Broadway, it is Doubt that has the more serious awards pedigree with a Tony for Best Play in 2005. In the role that won Cherry Jones her second Tony Award, Streep is unrecognizable as a nun who accuses a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of molesting a boy. When Louise Pitre played Streep’s Mamma Mia! role on Broadway in 2002, she lost the Tony for Best Musical Actress to Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie).

Because the Golden Globes have lead races for both drama and comedy/musical films, Streep could well be a double nominee there (as Nicole Kidman was in 2001 winning for the musical Moulin Rouge! but losing for the drama The Others). Though the Academy turned its nose up at Streep’s appearances in over-the-top comedies She-Devil (1989) and Death Becomes Her (1992), the Globes welcomed Streep with nods as lead actress in a comedy or musical. And while both the Oscars and Globes agreed that her scenery chewing two years ago in The Devil Wears Prada was worthy of a nomination, only the foreign press rewarded her with a win.

While Hepburn never won a Golden Globe, despite eight nominations, Streep could well be celebrating her record seventh win at the Globes months before she blows out those 60 candles next June 22. Throughout her 30 years of collecting showbiz hardware, Streep has done much better with the Golden Globes than the Oscars with 21 nominations. She sits only one behind Jack Lemmon and is tied with Jack Nicholson with a half-dozen Globes. Granted, one of her wins was for a TV appearance (Angels in America), but she also has Globes for her Oscar-winning roles as well as The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Lead Drama) and Adaptation (Supporting) and that one for Devil (Lead Comedy). 

***Mamma Mia! is now in theaters everywhere around these parts from United International Pictures, distributed by Solar Entertainment.

Oh, Mamma Mia!

WHEN news came that Meryl Streep was playing the lead role in the frothy musical Mamma Mia!, many in Hollywood wondered if the two-time Academy Award winner had taken leave of her senses.

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