Profile for candydog2

I too would have loved to see her in Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's eccentric characters are so perfect for strong character actors, as Lansbury has proved in Death on the Nile and The Mirror Crack'd.

I'm glad I got to see her in Blithe Spirit. At her age I'm not surprised that she doesn't want to lead a show anymore though! It would be wonderful if she continues to work in some capacity but she has certainly earned her retirement. 

The Broadway Cast of The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper transferred with its American cast last year. That was the last one I can think of and that was only a year ago.

And also, equity keeps tabs on how many actors are working from abroad and vice versa to try and give as much opportunity to American actors as possible. That being said, if Kelly is in fact now a full-time US resident then she has every right to pursue roles in the US just as any American actor would.

For me the most surprising thing about this thread is that Shrek3 doubt's Midler's comic timing. Or at least in comparison to Lupone's. I mean yes, both women can be very funny, but Bette Midler's skills as a comic actress are legendary! If anything this could be the funniest Dolly there has ever been!

If she's the star name responsible for pretty much every ticket sold then I'd be very surprised if she wasn't doing eight shows a week. Even if she takes vacations they're going to have to get someone pretty big to fill in for a few weeks like they did with Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria.

As for discussing how much she's making: it may be none of my business, but to be honest, when big stars like this do Broadway shows I'm always curious!

American casts come to London pretty frequently actually. The whole cast of The Elephant Man came over for example, and the two leading men of Book of Mormon in London have always been played by actors from various US casts. I actually find it highly surprising that Steven Boyer and Geneva Carr are not being brought to London to do Hand To God.

I know a lot of performers spit because they're enunciating and projecting, but the one show I remember where it was particularly noticeable was Newsies. Some of the guys in that spent half the show dancing in pools of there own saliva.

I guess it does seem unprofessional, but as long as it isn't noticeable does it really matter?

As long as the performance is good, I'm not too concerned about how they got there.

Every now and then male swings fill in for female ensemble members if there aren't enough female swings and vice versa. It's not uncommon. Sometimes the ensemble member's "track" has to be split between more than one swing though in order for it to work.

Actually more than just the three leads transferred with The Elephant Man. Most of, if not all, of the ensemble went to London as well.

I'm stunned that they're not bringing Steven Boyer with the show. I assumed that the whole cast would go with it since all the news articles I've read said that the show was "closing on Broadway and immediately transferring to London". Makes it sound like they're taking the whole show, cast included, to the West End.

The high notes at the end of "No One Mourns the Wicked" and "Thank Goodness" are optional as far as I'm aware, and it would be silly not to cast an actress who plays the role perfectly in every other way just because she cannot hit a ridiculously high note that isn't particularly important to the overall show eight times each week.

"And I can't stand smelling food when I am trying to watch a show!"

You can smell ice cream?

But I do appreciate that if theatres did start selling ice cream in the US, they probably wouldn't be the small, discreet tubs that are sold in the UK. They would, unfortunately, probably be "supersized" into enormous chocolate fudge sundaes that would not be as appropriate.

I really don't understand the American reaction of disgust to ice cream being sold in theatres. I've worked in theatres in both New York and London and can assure you that the cleaning process is much easier in London!

"On my trip across the pond I found the West End a bit more pedestrian friendly than BW, or maybe because generally speaking the streets are narrower."

Possibly, but my observation on crossing the street in New York compared to London is that a New York cab driver will beep his horn at you but hit the brakes, a London cab driver will beep his horn at you and hit the accelerator.

The most noticeable difference to me tends to be that there does seem to be a lot more room for "less commercial" productions in the West End. A Broadway run of a play that was unknown and had no names attached would be very rare in New York, whereas in London it is quite common.