Pirate Queen Leads Announced

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:38am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=9632

Stephanie J Block and Jeff McCarthy lead. No Colm Wilkinson. (Jean ValJean, perhaps?)

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:44am

Colm must be sick to death of playing Jean Valjean... to establish a new role would have been much more prefrable I am sure but who knows what happened.

[WickedLauren]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:47am

And tickets go on sale next Friday. I can't wait to see this show!

[mrkringas]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:48am

Nice to see one of the UK's sexiest young leading men getting to go to Broadway! Go Hadley!

So presumably Jeff McCarthy is playing the role that was previously associated with Brian d'Arcy James?

[Adjie]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:49am

Me neither!!!!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 11:52am

So excited so see this show!!

[Wolfram]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 12:03pm

Tickets actually went on sale to American Express Goldcard holders on Wednesday the 10th.
I got mine for November just in case the first previews in October are bit shaky.

[Popular]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 12:03pm

Well it's about time this was all official!

What great news to wake up to.... this show is going to be great!!

[WickedLauren]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 12:45pm

So how many more leads do they have left to announce now?

[Popular]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 1:18pm

I think the part of Donal hasn't been announced yet but I had to skim through the articles quicly so I may have missed it.

I want to know who Steph's u/s is! Does that get decided during the rehearsal process or beforehand?

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 4:45pm

Has anybody noticed that they are planning this show to be a cross between Les Miz and Riverdance??? From the publicity materials, it sounds like they plan on the show having Irish music and dancing. This sounds like a movie studio pitch (a cross-breed between a blockbuster lite-rock musical and a popular Irish dance show). As someone who is allergic to Riverdance and its progeny (Lord of the Dance, etc.), I'm very scared!

Also, has anybody forgotten that Frank Galati cannot direct musicals? Graciela Daniele did most of the heavy lifting on the Ragtime direction...and it still came out looking like Grand Central Station, the musical. They should bring Trevor Nunn to direct this- it may not be subtle or original, but at least he's an expert in staging mega-musicals.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:22pm

"I want to know who Steph's u/s is! Does that get decided during the rehearsal process or beforehand?"

I'd like to know as well...since Steph doesn't have the greatest track record. I hope they get someone really good.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:36pm

As far as I know Steph's track record is fine...If you are refering to the Wicked tour that isn't quite a fair assesment of her track record since she got injured BECAUSE of the show. She took only a few weeks off and was back in the show within a few weeks, and only missed three or so shows for the rest of the Toronto leg of the run..and then producers decided to let Eden take over for the San Fran leg of the run so Steph could make a full recovery, but that was all pre-planned.

Akiva

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:51pm

It's no secret that i LOVE Stephanie J. Block. I was fortunate enough to catch her on the Wicked tour and thought she was the best Elphaba I've seen. However, I'd be surprised if she averaged 6 shows (out of per week. Maybe this is in their contract as part of the tour (to do 6 shows per week) because I know Julia (who I also LOVED in the role) takes days off every now and then. This assumption I am making is ONLY due to what I read on these message boards. I kept hearing about Maria Eberline going on as Elphaba. I never hear about Eden Espinosa missing performances. Again, maybe it's in the tour contract. I have no idea. Just going by what I read on these boards.

I also think she missed a lot of Boy From Oz performances.

I will end this on a positive note. I LOVE Stephanie J. Block. She is a fabulous actress and singer and I LOVED her when I saw her in The Boy From Oz and Wicked. I am very excited to see her in The Pirate Queen and I hope the show does well and that she gets great reviews in it. Congrats, Stephanie, on getting a leading role on Broadway and hope you are working a lot in years to come!

[Dre2387]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 5:59pm

so, does that mean Brian d'Arcy James might be taking over for Norbert in DRS?

[DebbieDowner2]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 6:25pm

Les Miz and Riverdance? In the same show??

IM THERE

[Popular]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:06pm

And to add on to what Akiva said, touring is a lot different than if you're staying in one place.

New climates, traveling, etc.. take a toll on the body. Hopefully she'll stay healthy and miss as little as possible being in one place. Steph hates having to miss shows but she's not one to be the hero and damage herself further by going on when she should be healing herself... and I, for one, respect that.

Updated On: 5/12/06 at 08:06 PM

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 8:35pm

Deos anyone know if these tickets will sell out fast? I can't plan ahead to October since I don't even know my school schedule yet (and won't know until August)

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/12/06 at 10:00pm

Wasn't Colm Wilkinson associated with some other role in this production, and not the one to be played by the always wonderful Jeff McCarthy?

As for Valjean, I can't see how he could convincingly play the younger Valjean in Act 1.

[Popular]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 12:54am

"So presumably Jeff McCarthy is playing the role that was previously associated with Brian d'Arcy James?"

"Wasn't Colm Wilkinson associated with some other role in this production, and not the one to be played by the always wonderful Jeff McCarthy?"


An attempt to end the confusion...

The role Brian was rumored to play is that of Donal (Grania's husband)... no announcement has been made about that role as of yet.

The role Jeff is playing is that of Owen Dubhadra (Grania's father) This is the role that Colm was rumored to play.
Updated On: 5/13/06 at 12:54 AM

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 5/13/06 at 1:41am

::Side to Wolfram/everyone:: Don't you just love the new logo? It's so much more visually interesting than the old one. Plus it'll look better on the CD cover Wolfram, I do believe we had the same idea to use it as our avatar.

Posted: 5/13/06 at 10:18pm

As any SJB fan knows, Steph sustained a serious injury during her rehearsals with Wicked and like MANY OF US actors..she continued to perform..and didn't get the rest she needed AND she continued to do as many shows as she could. More than likely, she did MORE shows than was recommended for her to do.
so she got a little vocally tired sometimes too. who cares?!?!
Personally, I think its kind of bad energy and unfair to ASSUME that Stephanie, A TRUE PROFESSIONAL, will be out or average a certain amount of performances per week. Its just not nice.
This is not directed at anyone specific so don't anyone get defensive. i'm just sayin....its not nice.

tooodaaaaaaay we are going to learn about NIIIIICE and NOT NIIIICE Updated On: 5/14/06 at 10:18 PM

[Popular]

Posted: 5/16/06 at 1:20am

YAY!! Finally a hometown mention for Steph. But where's the pic? Where's the interview? C'mon L.A. Times... do it RIGHT next time. As Andrea says, be NIIIIICEEE :)
LA TIMES