Who's filling in for Hank?- Page 2

[Ladyofthe Lake]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 7:40pm

Robin Williams is not a "comparable name replacement" - he's a much larger star than any of the three current leads. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go with a name - I'll even venture to say they *will* want someone with some degree of name recognition - but to go with someone like Robin Williams would be counterproductive. Suddenly the big selling point would become Robin Williams - who'll be outta there in six months, for a span of time in which the show is pretty much sold out anyway, so the value he could add would be fairly minimal. It would be much smarter to keep the emphasis more on the show itself. Incidentally, I'm saying this as someone who saw the show solely because Tim Curry is in it, so I understand full well the draw of a name performer.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 7:45pm

Agreed. I've already seen the show with the original cast and thought Azaria was amazing. There would be somewhat of a hole in the show if he wasn't replaced with someone comparable. I agree that Williams might draw attention away from the show itself, but if they were to choose him, I wouldn't be upset. I have tickets to see it again in July and am eager to see who they go with as a replacement.

If it's Williams, I'll be excited. If they go with someone else, I'll just have to wait and see. I just can't seem to think of who would be the right choice of a replacement.

[Ladyofthe Lake]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 8:20pm

I can see why you, as someone holding a ticket to see the show after Hank's departure, would be excited to see Robin Williams join the cast. For me - someone with no reasonable prospect of seeing the show again, at least not before the original cast is long gone - I would be (selfishly) a bit disappointed for the sake of Tim and David, whose star status might suddenly seem pretty marginalized. Of course I may just be projecting how *I'd* feel; maybe they'd be okay with it, or at least see it as a worthwhile sacrifice. At any rate, I have to admit I'm jealous of your opportunity to revisit the show, as I know there were probably a lot of things I missed that I'd be able to pick up on were I to see it again. Then again, given the difficulty and expense of getting seats now, I suppose I should be grateful I had the chance to see it once!

As for other appropriate replacements for Hank, I haven't a clue. I'm terrible at coming up with names for the"casting game"...although that doesn't necessarily stop me from criticizing the names suggested by others more imaginative than I.