Bette's Dolly Cast Uninspired?- Page 2

[rjm516]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 6:08am

Totally. Everyone they cast is amazing, but of all productions this should have been one to take some chances with bending the rules of traditional casting and stuff. Producers always blame playing it safe on the fact that it's so hard to have a successful show, so they don't want to risk making any missteps or alienating audiences when it could mean their show fails. But this show cannot fail and is going to sell out, so why not push it a little! And seriously, having a few featured characters that aren't white/cis/ablebodied/whatever straight laced thing is going on is not exactly pushing boundaries! 

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 7:26am

I think that it's a wonderful cast, but I would love to see Tonya Pinkins as the Dolly alternate.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:00am

brian1973 - the post is not questioning Midler's casting, but rest of it. It's a very safe and white cast. There's a lot to be happy about, since it's theater vets like folks above have noted, but a few POC would have rounded up the cast better. 

 

Also, Audra will be a lot of things, but she most certainly won't be a "boring" choice. I'd love for her to be a replacement once Midler leaves.

Updated On: 9/19/16 at 08:00 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:19am

There's also the question of the secondary/tertiary roles. Gower Champion, in the original cast, seemed to be the only one to get that everyone in this show is a nut. Which explains why the original Cornelius, Irene, Barnaby, and Minnie were all slightly off-center (Eileen Brennan) or totally loony (Charles Nelson Reilly).

The upcoming quartet (assuming Minnie Fay will be someone who fits in with the others) will be adept, attractive, and utterly quotidian. But they also won't upstage the star, which may be a major consideration.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:31am

Might just be me, but Simard can totally steal the scenes away from pretty much anyone else in the cast. And she played a certifiable nut rather convincingly in the only other thing I've seen her in.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:53am

No one is coming for anyone other than Midler.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:58am

As a Bette fan, that is true... but I also can't wait to see Pierce, Creel, Baldwin, and Trensch, since I've liked them all in previous things, too. Would I have bought June 2017 tickets for those three this far out, though? No.

Updated On: 9/19/16 at 08:58 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:58am

Simard and Trensch have the potential to be fun and zany. I know Baldwin is quite popular around here, but I've always found her bland as mayonnaise on white bread. Creel is fine, but I'd have rather seen someone like Rob McClure in the role.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:11am

I'm a man of color and I don't have a problem with the cast they chose. 

[newintown]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:13am

I wish they had gone for character and funny for Cornelius and Irene, like a pairing of Greg Hildreth and Leslie Kritzer, or Carson Elrod and Annaleigh Ashford.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:33am

Based on the movie Irene, I do NOT see Annaleigh as Irene. I do love the idea of Leslie Kritzer in the role, or even Lesli Margherita. My ideal Irene would probably be Mandy Gonzalez or Ruthie Ann Miles.

[newintown]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:40am

"Based on the movie Irene, I do NOT see Annaleigh as Irene."

Well, the movie of Dolly has as much to do with the stage show as the movie of Grease has with its source. But I agree that Margherita would mine a lot of laughs with Irene in a way that Baldwin (and most past Irenes) will/have not.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:45am

Am I the only person who saw Parental Guidance and really thought Billy Crystal would make a terrific (and age-appropriate) Vandergelder opposite her?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 9:55am

 

I suggested Billy Crystal in the earlier thread. His "It Takes a Woman" and "damned exasperating woman!" would have been funny in an original way, totally unlike David Burns or Walter Matthau. 

 

[Oak2]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 10:05am

I wholeheartedly agree. Really needed more Nathan Lane. Absolutely devastated by the lack. 

[SweetLips]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 10:07am

Mr Roxy said: "No one is coming for anyone other than Midler.

Appreciate your learned and very astute comment MR------no one?

"

 

[SweetLips]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 10:31am

I wonder how strictly to script Ms Midler will play Dolly, or as someone suggested previously, she could/would nightly break that 4th wall. This is the perfect musical for her to do just that.

The supports I feel would be directed to stay well within their script, allowing their character to develop, cast for their own unique personalities so that there will only be ONE star with solid but non-scene-stealing back-up.

This still presents a perfect blend of talents-just as a headliner starts off a 'big number' then disappears for a while[to rest] then re-emerges for the Big Finish---I'm SO Exhausted/I'm the Star and I finished Front and Center--and deservedly so too.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 11:19am

Carol Channing got pissed whenever she was, or thought she was, being upstaged, so it doesn't surprise me that the supporting cast isn't full of comedians. That said, as a Dolly aficionado since childhood, I would be thrilled as long as Minnie Fay can dance like there's no tomorrow. As for Irene Molloy, Ashley Brown was perfection in the Goodspeed production. Would have liked to have seen her in this one.

What the NY Times said about Ashley Brown in Dolly:

"Ashley Brown, another refugee from Broadway, brings the silvery soprano and inextinguishable sweetness that brightened her Mary Poppins to the role of Irene Malloy, the husband-shopping milliner. And unlike some of the other cast members on the night I attended, she could be heard clearly above the orchestra. But this problem is easily remedied, and besides — you already know the words."

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 1:03pm

Mr Roxy said: "No one is coming for anyone other than Midler.

 

"

Call me crazy, but when I saw Kate Baldwin's casting, I texted my friend stating "we're going for Kate. Midler who?!"

[whatacharacter]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 1:46pm

Nikki Menaj = Minnie Fay

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 2:20pm

Unless we know who was considered, who was seen, who was interested, who was available, and who was a good fit, then I don't think we can slam the casting for not being more inspired/exciting/diverse/out-of-the-box/whatever.

Personally, I'm OK with the cast (although I think David Hyde Pierce is wrong for Horace).

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 2:23pm

I'm very excited for Kate Baldwin, but whoever mentioned Ruthie Anne Milles for Irene is brilliant! I'm interested to see who plays Minnie Faye, as well!

[SweetLips]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 2:58pm

I can't imagine the joy/excitement/anticipation/nerves from all those who are going to share the stage each performance with Ms Midler.

The audience will go beserk [those poor ushers and those cameras]---I just hope there will be enough silence while the very clever and witty dialogue is delivered before every VERY recognisable song is not overly-cheered or screamed every time Ms Midler opens her mouth to say/sing whatever.

There will be many who have never been to a musical theatrical experience so this is all a positive for the whole Arts Community.

Congrats. to those already cast and those still to come--you have auditioned and soon your very special space on stage will be known.

Each morning now when I tune in here I am expecting to read----??? is your other Dolly.

Who will it be ?---love the guessing and all the suggestions.

SL.......................................x

 

 

 

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 3:16pm

Two of my guests have never even BEEN to NYC, so indeed this is going to be quite an experience.

[Steve C.]

Posted: 9/19/16 at 5:07pm

In response to audience behavior, I don't think that will be a huge problem. When I saw "I'll Eat You Last", Bette got appropriate entrance applause and basically the laughs and applause from the play. Don't get me wrong; the audience loved her, but respectful.

As to the lack of color questions, I'm so stuck in the middle on this. People are going to say "Where's the diversity?" and that's a valid question, but then what do you say about "Color Purple" or other productions where color is very important? August Wilson plays, "Ain't Misbehavin", "Shuffle" ?? You would be ripped to shreds if you put Sierra Boggess in "Purple" or Sutton Foster in "Shuffle Along". However, having an Audra as "Dolly" would be great with audiences and I agree. That's why there was a Pearl Bailey led "Dolly";  also Diahhann Carroll was Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" after and during the runs of that show because it's written like that.  

I think this is just one where you can't please everyone, all the time.