ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#1ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 6:12pm
I hear final call-backs for the leads are this week,who would you like to see?
Anyone mentions goat-man gets 50 lashes.
#2ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 6:14pmRaul Esparza!!!
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#2ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 6:16pm
Frank: Colin Donnell
Charley: Euan Morton
Mary: Leslie Kritzer
"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
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#4ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 6:24pmBased on what she did in Sondheim on Sondheim, Kritzer should be a no-brainer. They ought to just offer it to her outright.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
colorandlight2
Understudy Joined: 12/5/08
#6ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 7:09pmI have to agree. I would love to see Kritzer as Mary--I think she would bring a freshness and verve to Mary's scenes and songs.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#7ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 8:31pm
Frank: Raul Esparza
Charlie Evan Pappas
Mary: Kerry O'Malley
Beth: Kate Baldwin
Gussie: Emily Skinner
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#9ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 9:18pm
henrikegerman, in what world could any of those people convincingly play the characters in their younger years? They're all at least ten years too old for the show.
Aaron Lazar as Frank, Neil Patrick Harris as Charley, Leslie Kritzer as Mary, Christina Hendricks as Gussie, and Erin Mackey as Beth would be a dream.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 8/22/11 at 09:18 PM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#10ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 9:30pm
I honestly think Esparza could do it (he was believable as mid 20's in Arcadia) and I like the idea of him playing Frank since he has already done Charley. Lazar is a very interesting idea, but I don't know if I see him as a Frank type.
That said, Kritzer as Mary better happen, her take on the character in Sondheim on Sondheim was wonderful, and I'd like to see her take on the whole thing. I also really like the idea of Mackey as Beth.
NPH would be a fun Charley, but I doubt he would be available (he probably would be interested).
I am trying so hard not to start making wishes, as this is the show I am most anticipating this season.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
hyperbole_and_a_half
Leading Actor Joined: 3/21/11
#11ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 9:34pmUgh. Raul Esparza? The man who thinks popping a vaguely gassy expression onto his face tricks the audience into thinking he's Acting!? He's a****ring on a plate full of onion rolls. No thanks.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#12ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 9:40pm
In the world of an essentially non-realist musical in which the characters age, backwards, over decades, played in a cavernous auditorium like the City Center. By the way, only 7 years ago I saw O'Malley play Sharon, an ingenue if ever there be one, in Finian's Rainbow, quite well and convincingly at the diminutive Irish Rep. I think she could easily handle the world-weary alcoholic Mary at the City Center this coming season.
Having said that, I confess that Pappas is probably too old for Charley. But I stick by the rest of the cast.
#13ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 9:50pm
The casting breakdown for this incarnation of the show said that the creative team is looking for actors in their mid 20s to early 30s, so clearly James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim disagree with you.
For the record, Ann Morrison, Lonny Price, and Jim Walton were 25, 22, and 33 respectively in the original production. Most of the people you suggested are in their mid to late 40s.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 8/22/11 at 09:50 PM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#14ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 10:22pm
What about an experimental production with Patti LuPone as Mary and Mandy Patinkin as Frank AND Charley?
I kid, I kid. I know he's divisive, but I personally think Raul Esparza is one of the most exciting musical theater performers of his generation. I'll do a little jump for joy if he's in this, but I still admit that he's probably too old.
Anyone think Bobby Steggert could pull off Charley? I'd love to see him give it a go.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#16ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 10:29pmIn a few years I think Steggert would be a great Frank, but I don't see him as Charley (to be fair I can't see anyone as Charley really, as that role is so tied to Lonny Price).
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#17ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 10:34pm
I keep thinking of Steggert's moment of righteous anger in Ragtime and have tried to extend that into a simmering boil for "Franklin Shepherd, Inc." I realize I'm stretching!
I also have never seen the show, only heard the recordings, so it's a REAL shot in the dark.
Also, I was surprised to look Steggert up and discover that he's 30!
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#18ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 10:37pm
Somethingwicked, we all know how well that first production went. I'm fine with the age breakdown for this production, but I wasn't familiar with it when I weighed in here on who would be good for the show.
Be that as it may, I love your idea of Christina Hendricks as Gussie.
#19ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:03pm
Esparza was not at all believable as mid-twenties in ARCADIA. He stuck out like a sore thumb next to Gummer and Robbins.
Hendricks would LOOK great at Gussie, but what's the fun of having her do that great solo when you have a voice like hers? Skinner--so good in the DC production--should return.
"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
Updated On: 8/22/11 at 11:03 PM
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#20ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:18pm
Skinner would have to be Gussie's mother.
I'd like to see Natalie Joy Johnson's Gussie.
#21ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:19pmSkinner is only 41--and isn't Gussie supposed to be at least a few years older than Frank?
"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
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#22ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:23pmReally? Does Skinner read older to anyone else?
#23ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:26pmI don't think she reads any older than her actual age. That said, she was 32 when she played Gussie opposite 40-year-old Michael Hayden.
"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
#24ENCORES ; MERRILY cast???
Posted: 8/22/11 at 11:27pm
Skinner looks great for her age, but she'd definitely read a little too old opposite more age-appropriate actors (which is what they're going for in this production.)
I still love the idea of Christina Hendricks, but Sara Ramirez would also be a knockout Gussie. I can't even begin to imagine the things she'd do with "Good Thing Going."
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 8/22/11 at 11:27 PM
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
