In one of this year's most inspired casting decisions, the producers of the current revival of La Cage Aux Folles announced today that Harvey Fierstein will replace Tony Award-winning actor Douglas Hodge as Albin starting February 15, 2011, for twelve weeks.
Fierstein won his third Tony Award for writing the book for La Cage Aux Folles back in 1984. The tuner would not only win that year's Tony for Best Musical, but would go on to become the only musical in Tony history to win Best Revival for each successive production -- both in 2005 and again this year.
Surprisingly, for all his acting honors, Fierstein has never before acted in a production of La Cage. His presence come February will certainly make me want to return again.
The only question remains, who will replace Kelsey Grammer after he leaves the show on February 13? If the producers really want to carry their inspiration to the Nth degree, how about bringing on Arthur Laurents, director of the original production? He may be a cantankerous senior and may not have liked the current incarnation, but it would be a hoot to see him tackle the stage.
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 Laurents, Broadway, Casting Changes, Douglas Hodge, Harvey Fierstein, Kelsey Grammer, La Cage Aux Folles, Musical, Replacements, Revival
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about some of the extraordinary replacements I've had the pleasure of seeing on Broadway, including those who have superseded the original cast members.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
Second Verse, Better Than The FirstTwo nights ago, I had a fabulously ridiculous dream.
In it, I was seeing a Broadway show alongside
The New York Times' critics
Ben Brantley and
Charles Isherwood, two men I've never met in person, but have certainly observed. It was a bizarre dream to be sure, especially since much like the rest of last season, I found myself disagreeing with Isherwood's assessment of the show, but agreeing with Brantley's (fortunately in this phantasm, the Gray Lady's
senior critic was responsible for writing the review).
Imagine my delight upon waking to find myself
agreeing with Isherwood regarding his
excellent assessment of replacement casts.
In particular, I could not agree with him more that
A Little Night Music constitutes the "must-see" production this summer. It's been positively transformed, largely on the heartstopping performance of
Bernadette Peters. So transformative was her rendition of "Send In The Clowns" that you could hear a pin drop as she delivered it.
Having also seen Peters and her replacement
Reba McEntire in the most recent Broadway revival of
Annie Get Your Gun, I have to admit to concurring with his assessment that McEntire's performance eclipsed that of the tried-and-true Broadway Baby she replaced. I enjoyed Bernadette Peters in the title role, but the scrappy McEntire was born to play Annie Oakley. It is rather ironic that until I saw Peters as Desiree Armfeldt, Reba McEntire was my favorite Broadway replacement I ever had the thrill of seeing.
Additional props to Isherwood not only for discussing how truly disappointing the successors to
Nathan Lane and
Matthew Broderick were in
The Producers, but also for mentioning the fine replacements
Jonathan Pryce and
Estelle Parsons made for
John Lithgow (
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and
Deanna Dunagan (
August: Osage County), respectively. While I thought Pryce's sophisticated delivery of the con artist Lawrence was an improvement over Lithgow, I'm convinced after
beholding Dunagan perform as Violet Weston yet again last week that no one can ever quite match her bravura Tony Award-winning performance.
That goes double, by the way, for Dunagan's co-star
Rondi Reed as Mattie Fae Aiken. I've witnessed two other actresses attempt making that delicious role their own. Try as they might, neither could erase my fond memory of
the quintessential Mattie Fae. Coincidentally, Reed has also succeeded in winning my heart as the absolute best of the dozen or more Madame Morribles I've ever seen in
Wicked.
So, dear readers, who are
your favorite replacements? Or if your fabulously ridiculous dreams could come true, whom would you want to see as replacements in a current Broadway show?
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: A Little Night Music, Annie Get Your Gun, August Osage County, Bernadette Peters, Broadway, Charles Isherwood, Deanna Dunagan, Jonathan Pryce, Reba McEntire, Replacements, Rondi Reed, Wicked
Closing Notice For The Most Scrappy Fela!Yesterday, in one fell swoop, the Broadway musical
Fela! not only
announced it would close on January 2, 2011, but that on September 14, singing legend
Patti LaBelle would assume the role of Funmilayo (Fela Kuti's mother), currently played by outgoing Tony nominee
Lillias White.
Evidently, the scrappy, revolutionary tuner isn't going down without a fight. The show will have played 463 regular performances by the time it closes.
What is remarkable is that for a show all about "originality," it appears to be employing one of the stage's most tried and true devices of keeping a Broadway production chugging along:
stunt casting. Now before you jump all over me, keep in mind that I have
long championed Fela! It was undeniably last season's most innovative, new musical, and in my opinion, the
best musical of the past year.
To her credit, apart from
three separate concert series through the eighties and nineties, Patti LaBelle has performed in one Broadway musical. She appeared nearly 28 years ago in the short-lived
Your Arms Too Short To Box With God revival
with another soul legend
Al Green. In addition to appearing in several
films and television shows, she's also portrayed Mama Morton in
Chicago out in Los Angeles.
Also to LaBelle's enormous credit, she has graciously said
this about
Fela!:
After seeing the show, I was struck by the choreography and work of Bill T. Jones, and the passion and joy that overflows from the stage. Fela's mother, Funmilayo, was a strong, truly inspiring woman, and I am so privileged to be able to pay tribute to her on the Broadway stage.
Indeed, she will be. But will LaBelle's new attitude be enough to keep ticket sales humming through the pipeline during the fall when so many other
new shows are opening?
Let me say this, if you haven't already seen
Fela!, do yourself a favor and go. You'll see why I've been saying "Yeah, yeah" since it opened last November 19.
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: Broadway, Closing Notices, Fela, Lillias White, Musical, Patti LaBelle, Replacements, Stunt Casting
Send In The ReplacementsThe week immediately following the
Tony Awards often tends to be one of transitions. Often, nominated shows and/or original cast members take their final bows.
This year is no different as the just crowned Tony-winning Best Actress in a Musical
Catherine Zeta-Jones and her Tony-nominated co-star
Angela Lansbury offer their final performances in
A Little Night Music this Sunday. (Leave it to my dear friend
SarahB for snaring coveted house tickets to be a part of it all.)
While
A Little Night Music had previously
posted its closing notice when its producers seemed to have long given up on finding suitable replacements, along came a new buzz of rumors that the ultimate dream pairing in Great White Way replacements were actually in negotiations: Broadway legends
Bernadette Peters and
Elaine Stritch.
Some (including me) were even swooning at the idea that they could be lured into taking over the juicy roles of Desiree and Madame Armfeldt. In particular, many were thinking Ms. Peters could finally provide the nuanced performance we'd been waiting for (click
here for my SOB Review to see what I thought of the Tony winner she's replacing).
Then on June 7, theatre lovers rejoiced at
the news. While the show would remain dark for three weeks commencing immediately after this Sunday's final performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, the musical would resume on July 13 with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. The dynamic duo are contracted through this November; however, tickets are now on sale through the first full week of 2011.
In addition to
A Little Night Music, what other major shows are bringing in replacements?
Here are a few of them:
Race - Ethel Barrymore Theatre
(
SOB Review: *1/2 out of ****)
On Tuesday,
Eddie Izzard,
Dennis Haysbert and
Afton C. Williamson joined the cast of this
David Mamet play as replacements for
James Spader,
David Alan Grier and
Kerry Washington, respectively.
Even though I wasn't a very big fan of this work, I thought Spader and Grier acquitted themselves very well, thus I find the casting of Izzard and Haysbert (in his Broadway debut) rather intriguing. But the one problemetic original cast member,
Richard Thomas, somehow remains in the cast.
Race is now scheduled to close August 21, 2010.
next to normal - Booth Theatre
(
SOB Review: ***1/2 out of ****)
The big news over the last couple weeks for
next to normal should have been that
Alice Ripley was
leaving the show for which she earned her 2009 Tony Award to tour with the production nationally
and that real husband-and-wife actors
Jason Danieley and
Marin Mazzie will take over the roles of this show's couple beginning July 19.
Instead, a flipplant
Facebook remark by Ripley rippled like an electroshock wave through the gay community. Ripley has since apologized.
When Mazzie and Danieley succeed Ripley and
Brian d'Arcy James, it will be first time this married duo will ever have been in a Broadway show together. As for the once "
criminally underused" d'Arcy James, he not only created
next to normal's Dan Goodman Off-Broadway and came "
full circle" in returning to the role as a Broadway replacement himself for
J. Robert Spencer, but now he is departing to perform once again in the next show on my list.
next to normal remains an open-ended run (meaning no closing date has been posted).
Time Stands Still - Cort Theatre
(
SOB Review: ***1/2 out of ****)
On May 12, one of those rarest of
rare announcements was made about a Broadway show that's already closed.
Time Stands Still, which had enjoyed an acclaimed
run at the non-profit
Manhattan Theatre Club's
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre earlier this year, will enjoy a return engagement at the Great White Way's
Cort Theatre, the mid-sized commercial house currently home to
Fences.
Because time doesn't stand still, only three of the four original Broadway principals --
Laura Linney, Brian d'Arcy James and
Eric Begosian -- will return to the production. But the fourth,
Alicia Silverstone (who had also been in the
world premiere mounting of the play on the West Coast) will not be joining them. She will be replaced by film actress
Christina Ricci in her Broadway debut.
Time Stands Still resumes performances at the Cort on September 23 with a second opening night slated for October 7. The limited engagement is currently scheduled through January 23, 2011.
Currently, of those four shows, I already have tickets to see
A Little Night Music and am contemplating a revisit to
Time Stands Still. How about you? Will any of these new names lure you back to see what these replacements can do?
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: A Little Night Music, Bernadette Peters, Broadway, Christina Ricci, Dennis Haysbert, Eddie Izzard, Elaine Stritch, Jason Danieley, Marin Mazzie, Next To Normal, Race, Replacements, Time Stands Still
August Turns The Page On Color-Blind CastingOver the last two years, I've thrown virtually every superlative imaginable at
Tracy Letts' Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning
August: Osage County. I love this show for its gritty "truth."
Come Tuesday, the composition of the Weston family will experience a dynamic change when one of the stage's most celebrated and accomplished contemporary actresses,
Phylicia Rashad, assumes the mantle of matriarch. When I first learned that Rashad would join the cast, I was positively intrigued. I had wistfully imagined whether she might be joined by
James Earl Jones, along with some of the stage's top African American actors, so they might do for
August what they had done for other classics like
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
However, in the latest attempt at color-blind casting, Rashad's Violet will just happen be mother to three white daughters. Will it matter?
Robert Brustein, founding director of the Yale and American Repertory Theaters,
assesses how he believes audiences will respond:
My guess, and it’s an educated guess, is that after 10 minutes you’ll forget what color anybody is.
The New York Times reporter Felicia R. Lee today
writes:
There were no changes in the script to reflect Ms. Rashad’s race.
Yet, interestingly enough, she adds:
And though she was picked foremost because of her talent, Mr. (Jeffrey) Richards said, she was also viewed as a Violet who could expand the play’s audience, especially of black theatergoers.
Is the production now trying to have it both ways?
One of the things I long have appreciated about live theatre has been its innovative casting irrespective of color, particularly when it makes sense or matters little to the central theme of the plot. In the realm of entertainment, live theatre can proudly stake a claim as the true leader in this area. As Rashad herself points out, she's being reteamed with
John Cullum for the second time as her stage husband; they appeared alongside one another in the superb 2007 production of
Shakespeare's
Cymbeline.
There's no question that entertainment can and should do a better job in casting to better mirror today's America. To that end, color-blind casting could easily be employed in more stage shows. Among Broadway's newest plays like
reasons to be pretty and
God Of Carnage, or in new musicals like
9 To 5, what difference would any of the primary character's skin color really make? The stories would still play the same without anyone even questioning the decision.
On the other hand, when race is truly central to the plot, it would be pure folly. Can you imagine any production for a show like
Raisin In The Sun or
Joe Turner's Come And Gone to substitute its principal characters with actors who aren't African American? It would be considered a contrived nuisance and rightly so.
My quandary about
August: Osage County is wondering how audiences will respond to this substantive change. It's not just because of the play's starkly realistic portrayal of a rural Oklahoma family. It's particularly because of Violet's own acid-tinged racist bile directed at her Native American caretaker Johnna. Violet's reflections on race pose an interesting challenge to Rashad and the rest of the
August ensemble. Is that insurmountable?
While the verdict on this choice remains to be seen, I'm still intrigued.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Broadway, Phylicia Rashad, Play, Replacements
Great Reason To Return To Osage County In FebruaryAccording to
Playbill, Tony Award winning actress
Elizabeth Ashley is now set to tackle the plum dramatic role of Broadway's favorite wacky Aunt Mattie Fae Aiken in
August: Osage County.
Ashley will replace
Molly Regan, the
Steppenwolf ensemble member who herself had replaced the amazing
Rondi Reed. In June, Reed won a very well-deserved Tony for her portrayal, which
London audiences are now enjoying).
While I've had two opportunities to see Ashley tread the boards of Broadway -- in 2003's
Enchanted April and in the excellent 2000 revival of
Gore Vidal's The Best Man -- my biggest regret of this year has been my inability to see Ashley perform in
Horton Foote's
Dividing The Estate.
Given how much I admire her tremendous body of work, I just may opt to see
August: Osage County for my fifth time. I can only imagine how delicious it would be to see her opposite
Estelle Parsons.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Broadway, Dividing The Estate, Elizabeth Ashley, Enchanted April, Estelle Parsons, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Molly Regan, Replacements, Rondi Reed
August: Coming To A County Near YouIt's
official!
Tracy Letts'
August: Osage County is set to tour beginning just a little over one year from now.
The first stop for the tour will be at San Francisco's
Curran Theatre, beginning -- appropriately enough -- in August 2009 (August 11, to be precise). Other tour stops will be announced soon.
While the touring cast of
August: Osage County has yet to be announced, many key cast changes are set to occur on Broadway after Sunday afternoon's matinee performance, which dovetails with the 2008 Tony Awards. The show, of course, is the overwhelming favorite to win "Best Play," and as
I've stated previously, there are likely to be other key award winners from the production including, I hope, a couple key folks set to depart.
Chief among them are the amazing
Deanna Dunagan and
Rondi Reed, who portray sisters Violet Weston and Mattie Fae Aiken, respectively. Don't be surprised to see either of these outstanding actresses taking Tonys home with them to Chicago come Sunday -- just don't expect to see them in the show come Tuesday. June 17 marks the first performance in which Dunagan will be succeeded by Academy Award winner
Estelle Parsons, while Reed will be replaced by Steppenwolf ensemble member
Molly Regan, who most recently was appearing in the Chicago troupe's production of
Dead Man's Cell Phone.
Regan last appeared in the 1992 Broadway revival of
The Crucible. If you're not familiar with Regan, I can tell you that she was "
wonderfully sardonic" in
Dead Man's Cell Phone, and
I adored her in Steppenwolf's 2006 production of
Love Song in which she played
Francis Guinan's loveable, lovely wife and
Ian Barford's sister.
Speaking of Guinan and Barford -- and coming full circle -- they'll
also be exiting
August: Osage County come Sunday. Guinan's superb performance as Mattie Fae's husband Charlie will be followed by
Robert Foxworth (best known for television's sudsy "
Falcon Crest"), while Barford's Little Charles will be portrayed come Tuesday by Steppenwolf ensemble member
Jim True-Frost (best known for
HBO's "
The Wire").
I last caught Foxworth around 2003 in the touring production of
Proof as he offered an intelligent take on a genius father who went mad. As for True-Frost,
I saw him, interestingly enough, under
Amy Morton's taut direction in the 2006 Steppenwolf production of
The Pillowman (which also starred none other than Tracy Letts); at the time, I saluted True-Frost's "right mix of indignation and fear" in his portrayal of Katurian Katurian Katurian.
As if all those departures aren't enough, a fifth original cast member from the original Chicago incarnation is set to bid farewell. Steppenwolf co-founder
Jeff Perry's Bill Fordham will now be played by Tony-winning actor
Frank Wood (
Side Man).
Of course, with the onslaught of Tonys that
August: Osage County is expected to enjoy, it's likely that the production just might last on Broadway well beyond August. Not bad for a little ensemble piece that was initially set for a limited run.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Who Will Win (June 10, 2008)
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part III (June 6, 2008)
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part II (June 5, 2008)
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part I (June 4, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best New Plays (May 30, 2008)
More August Honors (May 19, 2008)
Whoopi! Tony Eligibility And More Handicapping (May 9, 2008)
An August Award (April 7, 2008)
Today's The Day ... Or Maybe Not (April 7, 2008)
Producer's Perspective Is Sneak Peek (March 24, 2008)
Fantasy Casting Calls (February 26, 2008)
Dennis Letts - RIP (February 24, 2008)
August: Osage County (The SOB Revisit) (February 20, 2008)
August: Osage County Will Extend Again, Moving To Music Box (February 15, 2008)
Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III) (January 22, 2008)
Hot, Hot, Hot August Just Got Longer (January 14, 2008)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #1: Deanna Dunagan (December 31, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #3: Amy Morton (December 29, 2007)
ModFab: The Jury Is In (December 28, 2007)
August: Best Time Of The Year (December 15, 2007)
Sorkin "No Tracy Letts" (December 14, 2007)
More Than One Critic Letts August Esteem Show (December 5, 2007)
August Heat Fires Up December Opening (December 4, 2007)
Cold Opening Possible For August: Osage County? (November 16, 2007)
Finally, Back To The Table (November 14, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
An August Work (October 30, 2007)
Steppenwolf Letts "Juicy" August Move Forward (September 15, 2007)
This October, Letts' "August" Begins On Broadway (August 22, 2007)
August: Osage County (The SOB Review) (August 19, 2007)
Labels: August Osage County, Broadway, Chicago, Deanna Dunagan, Francis Guinan, Ian Barford, Jeff Perry, Play, Replacements, Rondi Reed, Steppenwolf, Touring Production
