Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
#1Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 2:50pm
"A multiday reading of the show, the 1993 Tony Award winner for best musical, was held last week with three big theater names playing the major roles: Audra McDonald as the title character, Alan Cumming as the gay prisoner Molina, and Steven Pasquale as the Marxist revolutionary Valentin. The Tony-winning director John Tiffany (“Once”) oversaw the reading,"
Audra McDonald and Alan Cumming in a Reading of ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#2Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 2:57pmI don't see her in this at all. I can't picture her in this role.
Alessio2
Broadway Star Joined: 11/15/13
#3Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:03pmI dont know the show well but isn't this suppposed to be a big dancing role? I love Audra and all, but can she dance?
#4Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:04pmAurora is supposed to exude SEX APPEAL...I don't get that from Audra. But hey, who knows people didn't think she could pull off Billie Holliday and she did. So anything is possible.
#6Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:06pm
Yes, it was conceived with Chita Rivera so the dancing is a very important component for the role.
Updated On: 1/13/15 at 03:06 PM
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#7Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:10pmAlan Cumming is the perfect choice for the role. Pasquale is iffy, and I dont know about Audra, but the first thing this show needs is a major book overhaul.
#8Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:12pmSteven Pasquale is actually a very good fit for that role. I would love to see him do it. But then again I would pay good money to see him read the phone book.
#9Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:14pm
The Tony-winning book of a Tony-winning musical needs a 'major' overhaul?
I think Audra can do anything...I'm just not sure why she would want to do this. It's a great song and dance role, but it doesn't give her a chance to do what she does best, which is act a character's arc through song better than anyone else around.
#10Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:16pm
The Tony-winning book of a Tony-winning musical needs a 'major' overhaul?
I was going to say something about that comment but I've already ruffled enough feathers around these parts already. Especially that one's..
But I digress...
Falling
Stand-by Joined: 12/1/14
#11Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:17pm
How about Catherine Zeta-Jones or Lesli Margarita as Aurora?
And I envision Paolo Szot and Robin DeJesus or some other young Latino gentleman in the other role.
#12Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:19pmCatherine Zeta-Jones would actually be a very good fit for the role. I'm sure many on here would not agree solely based on the fact that she pissed a lot of people off by supposedly "ruining" A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#13Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:20pmI actually went out with someone who works for John Kander last year when they did a private reading of this. It is HIS wish for Audra to play the role and they are revising it so she fits the role (aka less dancing) better.
#14Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:23pmSo it is a revised version? I wondered why a multi-award-winning established show would need further workshops.
#15Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:25pm
Well there you go. I knew there was some sort of "catch" to this.
Well, at least they got the dance part out of the way...
#16Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:33pmAre we calling Paulo Szot 'Latino' now? Isn't he of 100% Polish descent, though raised in Brazil?
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#17Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:43pm
Every now and then the theater world goes a little wrong.
And this is one of those times. John Kander is a very talented man, but he should keep his hands off casting decisions. I mean why not have Lilla Crawford play Mama Morton?
Audra is not right for the role. I realize they are redoing it, but the dance was such a major component of Aurora. She was a Hollywood screen goddess and that's not Audra. I think Kander must be thinking the Lena Horne aspect, but Audra doesn't have Lena's sex appeal.
Alan Cumming as Molina? Why not get Betty White to play the role as she would be more interesting. Cumming is just going to camp his way through the role. Molina should have a bit of innocence about him as well as some optimism, not the creepy, sleezy Cumming. Weren't Jonathan Groff, Billy Magnussen or Patrick Wilson available for the role?
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.
#18Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:44pmI really don't see Audra in this role. but would love a revival of this show.
#19Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:46pm
Szot would be stunning as Valentin. I can see Cumming in the role, it's not like Brent Carver was Latino when he played it, but I do wish one of the few gay Latino characters in a musical went to an actual Latino actor. Robin DeJesus would be interesting, same with Wlson Cruz or Raul Esparza (a bit out of the box casting but I think he could bring something). Obviously none of them would sell as many tickets as Cumming, who really does seem perfect for the role as it's written.
I don't see the Spider Woman character being much of an acting challenge. The role seems to be a vehicle for a show woman more than for an actress like Audra. I think the character is too aloof and sort of uninteresting IMO, someone like Karen Olivo or even Donna Murphy (who won a Fred Astaire award for WONDERFUL TOWN) would intrigue me more. Still, it's such a strange idea, Audra in this role, that it might just work.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Updated On: 1/13/15 at 03:46 PM
#20Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:48pm
She was a Hollywood screen goddess and that's not Audra. I think Kander must be thinking the Lena Horne aspect, but Audra doesn't have Lena's sex appeal.
Well at least they took care of the dancing part....right?
#21Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:49pmI feel the casting for this reading is fabulous and terribly inspiring especially the part of Aurora that we all know can't be matched by Chita Rivera's amazing Tony award winning performance. Yes, I feel Audra can basically take on any role and succeed at it but yes the question is how is her dancing as it plays an important part while it highlighted Chita's skills.
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
Sunday in the Park with George
#22Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:50pm
I love CZJ.
I so wish she would come back to Broadway.
....but the world goes 'round
#23Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:50pm@Robbie2: They are allegedly re-defining the role, so the dancing component will be paired down to accommodate Audra's talents.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#24Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?
Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:52pm
My cast would be:
Brooke Shields as Aurora
Billy Magnusson as Molina
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Valentin
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.
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