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about some of the extraordinary replacements I've had the pleasure of seeing on Broadway, including those who have superseded the original cast members.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).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.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
Happy Mermorial DayMemorial Day 2008 afforded me with a perfect opportunity to visit our nation's capital, in part to see friends and in part to see
Chita Rivera and
George Hearn in
John Kander and
Fred Ebb's
The Visit at the area's
Signature Theatre.
But it also gave me an opportunity to reflect on the enormous sacrifices our patriots have made to preserve our freedoms -- at glorious venues like the vastly impressive
National World War II Memorial on the Mall -- and consider the liberties we must continue to cherish -- like freedom of speech, which in turn enables and empowers our arts community to push our national discussion forward.
I pondered those freedoms as I strolled through the
National Portrait Gallery on Saturday, surveying the impressive work achieved in restoring the Great Hall to all its former glory. In that Great Hall, a current selection of portraits in its "
Bravo!" series honors America's most acclaimed artists. Among the great names celebrated via paintings and busts are
Helen Hayes,
Paul Robeson,
George Gershwin and -- right smack dab in the center --
Ethel Merman, whose centenary is currently being celebrated. The
1971 oil and acrylic painting on canvas pictured above was the creation of Rosemarie Sloat, and evokes the magnificent Merman's title role in
Annie Get Your Gun.
During one of Merman's performances in her iconic portrayal, her gun failed to fire, yet a bird still dropped right on cue. Without skipping a beat, Merman quickly quipped, "What do you know? Apoplexy!"
It's only fitting that a painting of the American original known as Merman hangs among our nation's greats.
Here's to the artists, who remind us on a daily basis why we should never take our liberties for granted. But here's especially to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in preserving those freedoms.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Ethel Merman, Memorial Day, Special Messages, Washington DC
Gypsy: Everything's Coming Up Opening NightWhat can I say that hasn't already been said?
Tonight, the revival Broadway could only
dream about two years ago is finally here. With
Arthur Laurents at the helm,
Gypsy starring
Patti LuPone as Mama Rose opens this evening at the Great White Way's
St. James Theatre.
Gypsy certainly ranks at the top of my all-time favorite musicals -- after I see this Sunday's performance, it will be among the stage shows I've seen the most. And for good reason.
Based on the memoirs of
Gypsy Rose Lee, features a hallowed score by none other than
Jule Styne and
Stephen Sondheim to match Laurents' masterpiece of a book. And despite the fact that the 702 performance run of original 1959 production with
Ethel Merman and
Jack Klugman failed to win a single Tony Award (it was nominated for eight), it has become synonymous with Broadway itself.
Now in its fifth Main Stem incarnation, the legendary tuner with LuPone also stars
Laura Benanti as Louise and
Boyd Gaines as Herbie.
Will this become
the revival to end all revivals? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Patti Preview: "Brought Down The Roof" .... Literally? (March 4, 2008)
Curtain Up! Light The Lights! (March 3, 2008)
Load-In's Turn (February 24, 2008)
Tag, I'm It! (February 4, 2008)
Laurents' Turn: First Gypsy, Then West Side Story (December 18, 2008)
LuPone's Mama Rose, Part 3? (October 3, 2007)
At 90, Laurents Has Still "Got It" (July 27, 2007)
Everything's Coming Up Patti! (July 9, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: LuPone's Triumph Earns Encores! (March 19, 2007)
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy? (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Gypsy (The SOB Review) (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Arthur Laurents, Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Ethel Merman, Gypsy, Jack Klugman, Jule Styne, Laura Benanti, Musical, Opening Night, Patti LuPone, Revival, Stephen Sondheim
The Curse Of The UnderstudyHave you ever purchased a ticket for a show, long in advance of the performance, only to be disappointed with the words, “In the role regularly played by [insert name here], tonight’s performance of [insert character’s name here] will be played by [insert name of understudy/standby/swing here]”? Has that frustration only been compounded knowing it was the star or one of the stars whom you specifically paid to see in the first place?
If your answers to either or both those questions were yes, I invite you to share with me the name of the show and the performers who skipped the performance. I also invite you to share what your reaction was to that news and whether you thought the understudy/standby/swing adequately measured up to your expectations of the show….that is, aside from your initial disappointment.
Why do I ask? Well, my reasons are twofold.
One is that it used to be the mark of a consummate professional if the thought of missing a performance was anathema to the actor's fundamental make-up. There is plenty of lore about very ill stars who heeded the call that “The show must go on.”
Ethel Merman certainly comes to mind as one trouper who'd never miss a performance -- in fact, the great
Elaine Stritch worked a vignette into her eponymous one woman show (
Elaine Stritch: At Liberty) about her role as Merman’s standby during the run of
Call Me Madam back in 1950. So confident was she that Merman would never let anything keep her away from performing that Stritch confidently took on a concurrent role in another show at the same time all the way up in Connecticut.
My second reason is that I finally took in a performance of
The Drowsy Chaperone this past weekend only to learn that
Sutton Foster was temporarily out. I inquired why she was out and learned that she had just married actor
Christian Borle (
Monty Python's Spamalot) a week or so earlier. While I’m certainly thrilled for Foster, I wasn’t thrilled by the fact that
this was not the only time I had paid to see this Tony-winning actress perform only to be disappointed when I arrived at the theatre.
Shortly after she won her 2002 Tony for
Thoroughly Modern Millie, I made tracks to the very same
Marquis Theatre to see her perform. I even bought a ticket for a sure-to-be-there Friday night performance. But when I arrived, she was out and her understudy was in. While I enjoyed the show, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed it more with Foster.
Fast forward to March 2005 when I went to see
Little Women. My desire to see the show was completely founded on the hope I’d be able to see Sutton Foster finally perform (OK, I also wanted to see the incomparable
Maureen McGovern). But when I arrived, I learned once again that Foster was a no-show (in her defense, I later learned that she was ill). Regardless of the reason for her absence, I was underwhelmed by the show. However, when Foster was subsequently nominated for her second Tony, I couldn’t help but feel cheated in missing this rising star once more.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I entered the Marquis Theatre on Sunday afternoon. I knew that Sutton Foster was portraying Jane Roberts/ Janet Van De Graaff and had earned a
third Tony nomination for the role. So when I saw those dreaded words on the board, “In this performance, the role of Janet Van De Graaff will be portrayed by…” my heart sank. I had even joked in advance about the possibility of her being out. At the Marquis, I was told that she and Borle tied the knot and were now vacationing for two weeks in Hawaii.
The additional irony is that Foster's character in
The Drowsy Chaperone is contemplating leaving the stage to marry her beau, Robert Martin. I couldn't help but wonder if that irony wasn't lost on Foster.
Now, I don’t necessarily hold Foster responsible -- I mean she did get married, after all. Yet when you’re paying good money to see a thrice Tony-nominated star only to find her away from each of the shows for which she was nominated and for which you’ve paid
specifically to see her, I think you can be forgiven for starting to wonder what the deal is with her or the show or the ticketing companies.
Personally, I track sites like
Playbill and
Broadway.com on a daily basis, not only for the latest theatrical news, but also to ensure I’m not disappointed when I step foot into the theatre and learn that a star is out. It would have informed my decision when I purchased my ticket on June 15 if her absence had been announced or if Ticketmaster had listed key dates when Foster would be absent from the production (of course, that’s assuming that the impending Foster/Borle nuptials were already set). I certainly would have planned appropriately.
Fortunately, I have found myself disappointed only a few other times:
John Lloyd Young was out of
Jersey Boys one Friday night in advance of the Tony Awards. I thought his understudy
Michael Longoria was excellent. But
not seeing the much ballyhooed star of the show certainly dampened my appreciation for what was ultimately named Best Musical.
Another huge disappointment was when
Nathan Lane began his serial absences from
The Producers in early 2002, reportedly due to strained vocal chords. Of course, I had purchased my tickets for that show way back in May 2001 and anxiously awaited my turn in seeing the dynamic duo of Lane and
Matthew Broderick. They were
the reasons why I wanted to see the acclaimed show (as good as
Brad Oscar was, it wasn't the same). Fortunately, in early 2004, I finally got to see the real deal Lane/Broderick team as they celebrated their triumphant return to the show.
Did Sutton Foster’s absence make me enjoy
The Drowsy Chaperone any less? Well, yes, strictly from the point of view that I’ve yet to be able to see her perform. I keep hearing how great she is, but I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone with my own first-hand knowledge. Thankfully, she has an exceptional understudy in
Andrea Chamberlain, who is very ably filling her shoes (my personal review will be posted soon). But will it give me pause the next time Foster’s in a show when I decided whether or not to see it? You bet.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets, and hopefully you’ll have better luck in seeing Foster! Related Stories:Jersey Boys' Valli Understudy Gets Spotlight (June 15, 2006)
Is It Just Me, Or... (June 14, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Curse of the Understudy, Elaine Stritch, Ethel Merman, Jersey Boys, John Lloyd Young, Nathan Lane, Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Producers, Understudy
