Which Original Cast Do You Wish You Could See?
Which Original Cast Do You Wish You Could See?On Thursday, I wrote about some of the extraordinary replacements I've had the pleasure of seeing on Broadway, including those who have superseded the original cast members.
But I concluded my post by discussing August: Osage County and the superlative performances offered by both Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed. I noted how no other actresses I've personally had the pleasure of seeing in the roles the Dunagan and Reed created could surpass the originals.
It's at that point that I'd like to pick up.
Back in the summer of 2009, immediately after I first wrote how Australia's Sydney Theatre Company (STC) would import August: Osage County for audiences Down Under, I heard from more than one Aussie friend about their deep-seeded resentment toward the STC. They were angry that the STC would dare to overlook the 2009 mounting offered by the Melbourne Theatre Company (the first production of Tracy Letts' excellent play to be mounted in Australia) or at least produce its own version using Australian actors and crew.
To those friends, I countered, "Regardless of where the production originated, wouldn't you prefer -- or at least be curious to see -- the actors for whom the playwright originally envisioned the roles performing the work?" I can certainly appreciate the legitimate desire to keep Australian actors working, but it is a rare opportunity to see most of the original cast perform, isn't it? Isn't there something innately magical about experiencing a production as originally intended, replete with nuances that subsequent productions inherently fail to replicate?
If I had the opportunity to go back in time to see any Broadway show with its original cast, I'd relish the chance.
I can only dream about how incredible it would be to have seen Ethel Merman perform as Rose in Gypsy or as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, to have swooned over Chita Rivera as Anita in West Side Story or alongside Gwen Verdon in Chicago, to have marveled at Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman in the original Death Of A Salesman, or to have witnessed Uta Hagen opposite Arthur Hill in the first production of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
So, dear readers, if you had your chance to go back in time to see the first production of any theatrical work with its original cast, what would it be?
Also, please vote in the poll below.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Arthur Hill, August Osage County, Australia, Broadway, Chita Rivera, Deanna Dunagan, Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon, Lee J. Cobb, Original Cast Members, Replacements, Rondi Reed, Uta Hagen
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Saturday, August 28, 2010
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