The Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part Four- Page 113

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 9:26pm

I'm going to Titanic, too. I have some friends involved. Sad to be missing that, though, especially with the Doyle factor. And Guettel is one of my favorites, who has written some songs that would be glorious on Raul. The pricetag would have been a hindrance anyway though, even without the conflict.

Updated On: 6/4/10 at 09:26 PM

[wonkit]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 9:33pm

Ouch - just noticed those benefit prices! At least TITANIC was relatively inexpensive.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 9:36pm

Yup! It'll be a good time, and their concert hall is gorgeous. This is the second benefit of that kind at NYSEC and they've been great about making it affordable.

Updated On: 6/4/10 at 09:36 PM

[wonkit]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:06pm

I've never seen TITANIC and I'm very excited about the performance.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/4/10 at 11:11pm

Me either, but I am a geek for all things Titanic. I have always wanted to see the musical.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/6/10 at 8:16pm

Someone on All That Chat is saying that they've cast the female lead opposite Raul in Leap of Faith, and it's going to be.....


Brooke Shields


WTF??

[wonkit]

Posted: 6/6/10 at 9:51pm

Oh, shoot! Sure doesn't work for me...


ETA: IF it is true. Updated On: 6/6/10 at 09:51 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/6/10 at 11:03pm

Ok, I could be eating my hat on this soon because I know nothing from the inside. BUT. Having seen the show, this is my thought. I am having a hard time believing it, not because I don't like her (I do, I saw her in Wonderful Town and thought she was quite good), but because she goes against everything they have spent more than five years creating this character to be. Sutton is not not doing it because they've decided to take the character in another direction, she's not doing it because she's not available. And I just can't understand why, after all this time of one idea for the character, and having it work almost perfectly, they would suddenly switch to something completely different.

The differences between the movie and the musical are subtle, but their ramifications are huge, and the relationship between Jonas and Marva is very complicated and very very delicate. Such that the dynamic is with Raul playing Jonas, I can't see it working the way it, IMO, should. It's completely illogical to me, and I hope it's just a weird rumor. It just doesn't fit.

If it's true, however (of which I am skeptical), I hope I am wrong in that (assumptive) assessment, and that she surprises me. The powers that be have done too much right with this show to screw it up like that (again, not by putting her in it because she's Brooke Shields, but by messing with the character as much as it seems like this would). I just want it to be as good as it has the potential to be.

So that's my opinion, for what it's worth, since I saw the show in pretty recent form. And honestly, don't these kinds of rumors turn out to be false almost as often as they turn out to be true?

Updated On: 6/7/10 at 11:03 PM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 6/7/10 at 2:21am

I must admit, the idea of the not very tall Raul next to the incredibly tall Brooke Sheilds cracks me up.

Did their stints in Cabaret ever cross paths? I wanna say it didn't, but now I can't remember.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/7/10 at 9:24am

I'm pretty sure it was just Gina Gershon and Molly Ringwald.

[wonkit]

Posted: 6/12/10 at 2:13pm

From an internet interview with Frank Grillo, one of Raul's co-stars in "My Soul to Take," the news that the movie is going to be post-produced into 3D format, and that Craven wasn't happy about a lot of the ambiguity of the villain's character and did a significant re-shoot to make the bad guy seem more like a traditional horror villain. I'm definitely going to have to have a drink before viewing this one. Somebody please put Raul in a Woody Allen movie!

ETA: spell check. Updated On: 6/12/10 at 02:13 PM

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/12/10 at 3:00pm

Sigh. I wouldn't be surprised if, after all is said and done, there will be one fragment of a scene with a recognizeable Raul in it, and the rest will be the stunt guy in makeup and CGI. Poor Raul may end up on the proverbial cutting room floor (which, in my somewhat skewed opinion, is not a bad thing).

[wonkit]

Posted: 6/12/10 at 5:40pm

I am kind of thinking the cutting room floor might be a blessing. I was watching PUSHING DAISIES last night and thought - he's cute and romantic and funny in that. He just needs the right material/director/billing.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/12/10 at 6:05pm

The idea of a Desi Arnaz biopic is really appealing, but I have absolutely no idea if the appropriate Powers That Be have even thought of it.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/17/10 at 8:53pm

Maybe I'm in a weird mood, but this struck me as supremely amusing.
What is an...?

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 4:54pm

Well, it's officially a done deal.
Raul Esparza, Brooke Shields to star in 'Leap of Faith'

[Hest882]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 5:29pm

Yes well...they must have read together, right? And they must have been good together? And if Brooke Shields creates some buzz it's gotta be good.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 5:41pm

I would hope they had Raul in to read with any serious candidates. And I honestly think they will have really good chemistry in all of the ways that Raul and Sutton did not.

[Hest882]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 7:01pm

That's good, Luv. Chemistry is important.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 7:49pm

They've changed the dates of the run, pushing it back a week. So now the first performance is Sept 11, opening night is Oct 3, and closing is Oct 24.

Closing is Raul's birthday!

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 8:19pm

Man. I really didn't want this to be true.

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/2/10 at 12:45pm

Lucky people living in the Southeast - Raul is performing in Georgia Saturday night at a Ritz-Carlton outside of Atlanta (don't know much Georgia geography so sorry to be so vague) (fireworks followed by fireworks, if you know what I mean) and then is reprising BABALU in Miami from July 8 - 11. Have fun!

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 3:45pm

So did anyone make it to the GA thing last night? I wanted to go soo much but being in upstate NY it wasn't going to happen. Tell us all about it!! :)

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 6:49pm

It was a nice evening. Held on a SPECTACULARLY Beautiful spot on Lake Oconee...

The Symphony Orchestra Augusta did a few "family friendly" pieces (Dance of the Hours, LooneyTunes Medley and Finlandia), before bringing Raul on stage, accompanied by Mary-Mitchell Campbell.

He opened his set with "Younger Than Springtime;" "Everybody Says Don't" from Anyone Can Whistle; did a Fantastic "Begin the Beguine" (half in Spanish); "America the Beautiful" matched with Parade's "The Old Red Hills of Home"; "Out There" from Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame;" a kickass "Georgia on My Mind" (piano only); and finished with "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" which he dedicated to his parents in the audience. (He said it was *their song*) Only a 35 minute set! But the crowd ate it up (especially "Georgia" and "The Old Red Hills of Home.")

He was OK with his chatter, talking up Sondheim & Mencken & Stephen Schwartz, and the upcoming "Leap of Faith"
I was with a crowd who had never seen him perform other than the DVD of "Company" He went over well.

After a 15 minute Intermission, the concert closed with the Orchestra's 1812 Overture and collection of Sousa & patriotic songs and Fireworks.



Updated On: 7/4/10 at 06:49 PM

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 7:14pm

Oh, that sounds pretty amazing! I'm a Menken geek, so I would have particularly liked to hear Out There, but it all sounds good!

Do you think any of it will end up on Youtube?