Kathy, Kelsey Grammer seems tailor-made to play Sir; but having seen his sloppy and often pitchy Sweeney Todd, I'm not sure I'd trust him with such a large role. But that is definitely the right idea.
I saw Roger Rees in 1776 in LA and he seemed rather small even to play John Adams. I don't see him as Sir and I doubt he could sing Cocky.
But I'm sure there are others who can. Joel Grey in his day, certainly.
"i too LOVE the score...having never seen the Broadway production i listen to the score all the time...from THE BEAUTIFUL LAND...to THE JOKER...to LOOK AT THE FACE the score is one of the most singable scores written..."
Trivia note: I read an interview with Newley years ago (long before "links") in which he said he and Bricusse always started with a Richard Rodgers song and then altered it enough to make it their own. (And did so well: I've never been able to point to a song in GREASEPAINT and say, "Oh, they started with such-and-such Rodgers song.")
But when it comes to "singability", you can't go wrong aping Rodgers.
I saw The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd in Boston Pre Broadway Tryout. I saw most of them (inc. Wonderful Flops)from 1964 thru 1977 beginning attending alone as a child. The music was so memorable It still can echo in my mind. Thanks for the poster and photos attached...nice memory also of Newley and Ritchard.
Saw it as a kid at the Shubert- remember hearing that Who Can I Turn To was the big hit- did not understand any of it- it left me completely in the dark- but so did so many of the plays I saw a kid- I understood many of the shows- but was baffled by many as well- did not understand The Price- Arthur Miller- Great White Hope, The Wild Duck- at the Lyceum- Ibsen, I think- Any Wednesday- I think Sandy Dennis starred-and others I cannot even remember. Remeber loving The Impssible Years with Alan King, Skyscraper with Julie Harris, Flora with Liza, The Apple Tree, Golden Rainbow- to name a few. Liked but did not love as a kid- Sweet Charity- and saw Lansbury and Bea Arthur in Mame- but had lousy seats- and did not fully appreciate it.
Probably not a great show, but liked it far more than STOP THE WORLD, score was great, Cyril Ritchard was wonderful. I was also an unsophisticated teen at the time, and probably didn't get it all, but remember having a great time watching it (from the Shubert's second balcony). Thanks for all the photos and remembrances.
Jay, I think the great thing about ROAR is that the story somehow works even if one doesn't get all the references to class struggle. There's still a small musical about a friendship there. And that's why I like it better than STOP THE WORLD: in a story with two characters there is conflict; with only one main character there is simply introspection.