Shoutout To Kelli O'Hara-Classic Roles!- Page 2

[Soaring29]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 3:18am

I'm excited for it too- I also hope she creates a brand new album soon! 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 9:24am

This has turned into an interesting thread.

Except that nowhere in the Carousel script does it say anything about the race of Billy and in West Side Story it says in the first paragraph Maria is Puerto Rican. 

In a Victorian era New England village, no Negro would have been permitted to work in a white carnival, especially as a carousel barker who talked to and even touched the white women. The affair with Mrs. Mullin would have been scandalous, as would even have been the mix-raced marriage to Julie.

Kelli as Julie? I can't see it. For better or worse she's very very, well, white. I think Julie has to be believable as a mixed race woman. 

Good point. But they have wigs and they made her an Italian in Bridges?

Bridges needs to find an audience sometime- What if it went through an extensive preview/editing process and came back to Broadway? Would it work out?

No one would every finance a full Broadway production, no? I agree about rewriting the script and then maybe it could do a Brigadoon type one week concert run. 

Go up on YouTube and listen to the songs being recorded and read the user comments. I think that there's something special there. If Sunday in the Park with George could make it to Broadway. Maybe a limited Roundabout run? They owe Kelli for Kiss Me, Kate. They were badly in need of a major splashy musical.

I think she’d be a fantastic Aldonza! She’d obviously sing the hell out of it, but I also think it would be a fun acting departure from the typical soprano ingenue. 

Very interesting. I wonder if that show would be financially viable. It ran for a surprising 2300 performances in its initial Broadway run, but only 300 in the last 2002 revival with Brian Stokes Mitchell. Maybe it was a limited run production.
 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 3:06pm

TexanAddams18 wrote: Except that nowhere in the Carousel script does it say anything about the race of Billy and in West Side Story it says in the first paragraph Maria is Puerto Rican. 

I think the reason for this is that, when CAROUSEL was written...and based on the time period in which the story took place...there was no need to call out the race of Billy. It was just understood.

For WEST SIDE STORY, it was important then to separate the Sharks and Jets in casting or "looks"...and their friends.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 3:12pm

Kelli O'Hara would never except the roles of Maria or Julie because she's a decent human being who cares and respects people who are different from her and understands the optics of her accepting those roles.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 4:02pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Kelli O'Hara would never except the roles of Maria or Julie because she's a decent human being who cares and respects people who are different from her and understands the optics of her accepting those roles."

Word!

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 4:28pm

Sorry, I did not know that it was hurtful to the theater community to have Julie played by a white and I did not know that Lonette McKee was mixed-race.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/10/18 at 4:29pm

We have choices now and we don't need to do things like Othello in black face anymore. I know it still happens in opera, but there's been tons of scholarship, debate, and finally getting perspectives from black tenors about the issue and it seems to be moving forward.

Updated On: 6/10/18 at 04:29 PM