Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
#2Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:03amAnybody know the story here? Could she just not cut it on stage? It's the eve of the first preview--seems very sudden, unless this has been in the works for a while and is just being announced.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#2Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:15amIsn't the understudy the one featured in those press picturs released yesterday?
#3Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:17am
Apparently she was fired because of her dad's behavior, not because of her acting ability. Sounds like some serious, serious drama.
NYTimes Article
#4Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:17am
Pat Healy has some interesting information.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/actress-thora-birch-fired-from-dracula/
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
fallingawake
Understudy Joined: 8/30/09
#5Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:19amJake Silbermann alluded to "upcoming cast changes" on his fan facebook last week, and when the press photos were released without Thora Birch, I thought she had dropped out. That NYT story sounds crazy though
Tom1071
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/04
#6Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:22amFollow the link. The article will tell you what happened and why. She was released due to the antics of her manager/father.
#7Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:27amThis actually isn't the first time that she was fired on short notice--she was the original Tracey Flick in Election and was let go just before shooting was about to start.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#8Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:30am^ Hmm, that's interesting. I never would have pegged her as Tracey Flick. I'm glad it went to Reese Witherspoon, she was fabulous.
#9Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:32amI was mistaken; she was supposed to play Tammy, but was fired.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#10Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:33am
"(It is unusual for anyone other than a production’s director to instruct an actor.)"
The NY Times needs to stop having their interns write material.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#11Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:36am
Thora's father sounds creepy.
And it wouldn't be the first time an actor has been fired because the producers don't want to deal with crazy stage parents.
She won't be able to get any other work until she dumps her father.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
chellie
Stand-by Joined: 6/7/10
#12Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:36amIt sounds like she and her father have a very strange relationship. She's nearly 30 years old and her father follows her to work? Sure, he's her "bodyguard", but the whole thing is really odd.
#13Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:38am
The dad does sound creepy. I mean, would you want to hang around the set while your daughter films a sex scene? Plus, 28 seems a little old to still have stage parents hanging around.
Perhaps this could explain why she hasn't done a major film since Ghost World.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Tom1071
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/04
#14Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 11:56amShe is his meal ticket. It's likely that she is his only client and the only one in his family bringing in steady income for the last 2 decades. Evidently, he used to be an adult film star. He was in Deep Throat.
Boq101
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/20/06
#15Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:00pm
He wasn't, the mother was.
I love how everyone involved in this cast change has famous parents, all of this lineage talking makes it sound like a tolkien novel.
Tom1071
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/04
#16Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:02pmActually he was in Deep Throat as well. You can find it on IMDB. It's likely where he met Thora's mother.
Boq101
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/20/06
#17Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:04pm
I must admit I was not familiar with the movie as you are. I stand corrected.
The creepiest part of this whole thing is the idea of the father being backstage looking at a scene from a set window. That's just wrong.
Tom1071
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/04
#18Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:09pm
I am not familiar with the film. I have never seen it. I just googled his name and the IMDB link came up.
Updated On: 12/14/10 at 12:09 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#19Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:10pmWhy in the world would they allow him to attend rehearsals?
#20Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:13pm
Per the NY Times article:
Mr. Birch had been a frequent presence at “Dracula” rehearsals. Ms. Birch’s contract had called for her to have a bodyguard, and Mr. Birch said that he was serving that role because “Thora had had some stalking issues in the past.” But he and Ms. Birch also said he had been on hand to offer support and advice to Ms. Birch and confer with her about upcoming projects, including a film that Ms. Birch said her father was co-producing.
“My dad is my support, and he is the best support that I could ever have,” Ms. Birch said.
Mr. Alexander, the director, said that “it was odd to have Jack Birch around so much, but that it hadn’t really been a problem until Thursday.” At another point during Thursday’s rehearsal, Mr. Alexander said he noticed Mr. Birch peering through a window that was part of a library set while a scene with Ms. Birch was underway.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes and turned to a crew member and said, ‘Is that Jack Birch looking through the window at Thora?’ ”
Mr. Birch said that he had been backstage at that moment examining “a loose, very wobbly platform that Thora and others had to walk across.”
Weird.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#21Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 12:29pmShe needs to change her name. Everytime I see her name, I immediately think of the British actress Dame Thora Hird. I saw this thread and thought "They fired that poor old lady?" Then I realized that Dame Thora passed away several years ago.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
hpeabody930
Featured Actor Joined: 9/8/08
#22Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 1:20pm
http://www.popcornnation.com/news/thora-birchs-dad-likes-to-watch/
This is from a couple of years ago... sounds like a creepy, creepy guy...
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#23Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 2:05pmThis could be a blessing in disguise for Ms. Birch. The production photos look really hilarious -- is that guy really going to play Dracula with that thing dangling in the middle of his forehead?
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
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#24Thora Birch Released from DRACULA; Understudy Bridges to Play Lucy
Posted: 12/14/10 at 2:19pm
A quote from someone over on ATC:
"This is not the first time that her father has cost her a job. I know this for a fact."
This probably explains why she hasn't made a major film in nearly a decade.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
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