KellI O'Hara Hints at Kiss Me, Kate Revival - Page 2

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:44pm

OlBlueEyes said: "Yes, but she isn't telling you she is qualified on this, but that it is a reason she was attracted to do a role. If you go to the show, she's not going to be passing out pamphlets at intermission... if she brings something unique to a role that makes you see this aspect in a new way, then good on her. But mostly, she takes a job for her reasons, and you buy tickets for yours.

I don't think Ms. O'Hara was referring to the education of women in the United States. If you were well-informed on the subject, than you would presumably know that globally, 65 million girls are not in school. There are 31 million girls of primary school age not in school, and 17 million of these girls will probably never attend school in their lifetimes.

Points well taken from both of you. I should have thought of the international theme since that was what she was facing in The King and I. I hope that this message somehow gets out to those around the world most in need of hearing it.

For everyone who wants to see in Kelli in Carousel, it's not the same as live theater but the DVD of the 2013 Live From Lincoln Center one time performance backed up by the New York Philharmonic and starring Kelli, Nathan Gunn and Jessie Mueller was released last month and is available everywhere.

 

ol blues eyes- happy sunday to you!

i second the recommendation on the absolutely wonderful capture of kelli and jessie in carousel- honestly the first production of carousel that truly brought me to fall in love with this musical...

more than happy to see kelli bring fresh interpretations of these classic musicals with her amazing gifts

 

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 3:01pm

i tweeted the tweeter in question and he very snarkily replied that the video he posted was not related to his original post so apparently she believes she will soon be starring in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 4:34pm

I see that the last Broadway revival is being made available on Blu-ray. It's on Amazon if you search kiss me kate blu-ray. It's the Broadway production, but with Brent Barrett and Rachel York as the leads...captured when the production went to London.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 4:59pm

O'Hara would be delightful in a KISS ME, KATE revival, and I think it's clear that's the show to which she was referring. I can certainly see this coming together at Roundabout much like SHE LOVES ME, which also had a concert staging prior to the gorgeous revival.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 7:29pm

I'd rather see Audra or Laura Benanti as Lili/Katatrine, but Kelli is so talented and would still be fabulous. Audra and Steven Pasquale would be a dream!

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 9:33pm

i have no issues with kelli playing the lead in either carousel or my fair lady at 41

i dont think either character requires a very young woman to work well 

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 10:00pm

Great suggestions of Audra and Steven! I just don't think Kelli is right for this.

[carnzee]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 10:11pm

Brave Sir Robin2 said: "I'd rather see Audra or Laura Benanti as Lili/Katatrine, but Kelli is so talented and would still be fabulous. Audra and Steven Pasquale would be a dream!

Yes, Audra and Steven would be a dream team and I would expect them to do it somewhere, even if only in concert. But Kelli is also ideal, and there isn't the issue of age. 

 

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 12:56am

Phillytheatreguy10 said: "I just don't think Kelli is right for this."

I'm just curious to know how many of you who don't think Kelli is good casting for Lilli saw her do the benefit concert in December.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 1:09am

I know Will Chase did the concert with her, but I must say that I tend to find him to be a little bland for my taste.  Kelli has such a glorious voice and I'm not sure that Will is a proper match for her.  I didn't see the concert, but he doesn't quite seem right to me.  I could see someone like Stephen Pasquale (her onstage lover) or maybe even Norm Lewis being a great match for her.  I don't understand why people don't see her in the role.  She's wonderfully funny!

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 3:54am

If you google Kelli O'Hara Kiss Me Kate you get directed to this thread.

I think that she would be fine in Kiss Me, Kate. Just surprised that she would want to do that now after telling Zirin that she wanted to spend more time with her children and she was doing the opera and concerts. And especially since she said that she didn't have time to do shows just for fun. She had to play parts.To qualify this a little, she said that she wanted to now only parts that "started a conversation" about national issues 

Watching the bench scene from Carousel on my left monitor, I could make the argument that Kelli at 36 or 37 in 2013 looks a little too mature to be as naive as Julie Jordan.

There's so much of the score that never made it onto the OBC album my mother played all the time.

Updated On: 3/27/17 at 03:54 AM

[Soaring29]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 4:59am

I don't know much about the plot of Kiss Me Kate, but from hearing Kelli singing the music, it seems as if she can get away with playing the role. Remember, Marin Mazzie was only two to three years younger then Kelli is now when she played the part on Broadway and Kelli looks younger now then  Marin  did then. 

 

If Kelli is doing a Carousel revival, I'm putting my foot down: I'm a huge fan of hers, but she was too old for it in 2013 and is too old for it now. The character of Julie requires a younger person with an innocent, fragile essence. On top of being 15-20 years too young for it,  Kelli has never really  had  that kind of essence   anyway . She played a lot of ingenues, yes, and because she's a great actress she was able to pull it  off, but she frequently was told by casting directors "that she was too put together".  Even with her beautifully genuine honesty in her singing, she's always had a stronger, more mature  essence that she's applied to all of the characters she's played.  The only exception would be  Clara, who she has admitted was a very difficult role for her  to play(Although she was amazing in it of course). I would rather see her play roles her age or younger roles  that are  strong female characters: Eliza being one of them, even Marian in The Music Man would be a good fit to me ( people  prioritize Marian's ingenue qualities over  her     strength and intelligence).  Or Mother in Ragtime? That would be perfect. Doesn't seem like they'll be another Ragtime revival anytime soon though. Maybe a benefit or staged reading?Looking forward to Cosi Fan Tutte  though!!! 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 3/27/17 at 04:59 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 5:27am

Soaring29 said: "If Kelli is doing a Carousel revival, I'm putting my foot down"

So, there are two tickets they won't sell...

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 10:10am

icecreambenjamin said: "I know Will Chase did the concert with her, but I must say that I tend to find him to be a little bland for my taste. "

Will was maybe the one person in the benefit I was disappointed with.  I thought everyone else was fantastic.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 12:24pm

Honestly, I would MUCH rather see this be Roundabout's 2017-2018 musical than the GYPSY transfer that's being whispered about. I mean, long live Imelda and all, but we get a revival of that show every five years. It's overkill...and I say this as a lover of the piece.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 5:48pm

Soaring29 said: " Or Mother in Ragtime? That would be perfect. Doesn't seem like they'll be another Ragtime revival anytime soon though. Maybe a benefit or staged reading?"

100% 

 

 

 

 

 

"

 

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 5:53pm

VintageSnarker said: "Soaring29 said: " Or Mother in Ragtime? That would be perfect. Doesn't seem like they'll be another Ragtime revival anytime soon though. Maybe a benefit or staged reading?"

100% 

 

 I've always wanted to see Kelli and Danny Burstein as Mother and Tateh.

 

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 5:57pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "Honestly, I would MUCH rather see this be Roundabout's 2017-2018 musical than the GYPSY transfer that's being whispered about. I mean, long live Imelda and all, but we get a revival of that show every five years. It's overkill...and I say this as a lover of the piece."

It's been more than 8 years since the last Gypsy revival closed on Broadway. 

Anyway, I've always found Kelli O'Hara to be terribly bland and would be quite disappointed if she led a revival of Kiss Me, Kate. I'm aware my opinion of her is an unpopular one, but I didn't much care for her in The King and I and there's at least five other people I would rather see do it. 

[JAS]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 6:10pm

Why, oh, why must Kelli O'Hara be EVERY choice for EVERY revival?!?!

Kelli's voice is lovely, but I'm not sure I'd be able to buy her as Lili/Kate in Kiss Me, Kate.  I do NOT think she's very funny: her Ella Peterson in Encores' Bells Are Ringing was wrong, wrong, wrong: not funny enough and the wrong voice type. Lili is a Broadway diva like Lynn Fontanne or Gertrude Lawrence. She must be outrageously over-the-top and funny. Neither are Kelli's fortes.

Lili, Eliza, Julie Jordan? No! Can't we broaden the search, just a little bit??

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 11:44pm

I have to defend Kelli a little bit here. She's not a broad comedic actress like Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett, but I think she has a deft touch in comedy. Throw out Bells are Ringing, which I actually did see. It was a vehicle for Judy Holliday and a few hit songs. Especially "Hey There." Never been successfully revived. I won't give you Brantley's review of O'Hara, since we all know that Brantley would give Kelli a glowing review if she played Rizzo in a Grease revival.

You didn't think she had a deft comedic touch in South Pacific - "Yes, I know, three lumps is a heavy load for a demitasse cup, " and "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy." And The King and I, "Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You" and the "Your head must always be lower than mine?" 

How about her Met debut in The Merry Widow in Susan Stroman's knockout number "We're the Ladies of the Chorus."

And the performance of the Tour de Force "They Don't Let You in the Opera (If You're a Country Star," on her last album, which is taking over as her Eleven O' Clock number in concert just due to audience response. 

I agree no Eliza. Can you imagine if Mary Martin had been cast as Eliza instead of Julie Andrews?

Updated On: 3/28/17 at 11:44 PM

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/28/17 at 10:03am

Has it been that long, perfectlymarvelous?! Wowza. It definitely doesn't feel like it. I feel old now...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/28/17 at 11:26am

It's been more than 8 years since the last Gypsy revival closed on Broadway. 

Another 8 wouldn't hurt anybody.  And as for Kiss Me Kate, I've never been a huge fan.  There are loads of other classics I'd much rather see than that.  First on the list would have to be Most Happy Fella.

[TheSongbook]

Posted: 3/28/17 at 4:05pm

Regarding a revival of CAROUSEL, Laura Osnes was a stunning Julie Jordan opposite Steven Pasquale's Billy Bigelow in the 2015 Lyric Opera of Chicago production. I imagine she would be a leading contender if it returns to Broadway.

[Butter Broadway]

Posted: 3/28/17 at 6:04pm

Kelli said in a recent interview that whatever she chooses to do next, she wants it to be meaningful, and say something that means a great deal to her. There are a few projects that she needs to choose wisely from, and she will know it when she sees it. She also said that ship has sailed when it comes to My Fair Lady.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 3/29/17 at 2:05am

Here is what Kelli said exactly when her interviewer a month or two ago was feeling her out on what her next role might be and challenged her with "Eliza Doolittle"?

I think that ship has sailed. I'm sad about that. I feel like, well you know, Mary Martin was playing these things well into her 40s.... I love that role, that show, that score. But if that ship has sailed that's all right, I got to do it once with the Philharmonic. And, uh, I think I'll know it when I see it.

As for Kelli in Carousel, I found this on Youtube. Don't know if most have already seen it, but it was new to me. John Raitt and Jan Clayton were the original stars of Carousel which had debuted in 1945. When my mother used to play the OCB for Carousel, my young mind was grabbed most by The Carousel Waltz and next by Julie Jordan's so poignant and wistful "What's the Use of Wond'rin." As I got older and never heard anything about Jan, I assumed that she hadn't been so great a performer and was just out of the loop of ingenues.

Not so, according to our leading source on anything, Wikopedia. She had received excellent notices but had children and when offered the plumb job of the mother in Disney's Lassie, had snapped it up.

Anyway, in 1954 there was a TV special devoted to Rodgers and Hammerstein, and John Raitt and Jan Clayton, in full makeup and costume, recreated The Bench Scene. Jan was 27 on opening night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfCyUugiWm8

Oscar Hammerstein III

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 02:05 AM