A question about BARNUM

[Yoga Girl]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 8:29pm

I've been listening to the score from BARNUM with Jim Dale and Glenn Close. Here's my question: there is a song on there called THANK GOD I'M OLD and the woman who sings it is named Joyce White. Is it possible that Joyce White is, in fact, Lillias White? Her voice has the same vocal power as Lillias's does. Does anyone know if Joyce White and Lillias White are one and the same??

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 8:37pm

there's a little confusion here. IBDB sez JOICE Heath was originally played by Terri WHITE. Later in the run, Lillias made her B'way debut replacing as Heath (though i would have thought she'd have sung the blue-sy "Black and White" not the peppy "Thank God I'm Old").

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 8:41pm

Are you thinking of Terri White who played the character of Joice Heth? Terri was in the original cast and on the OBC -- a heck of a singer. Interestingly, though, Terri's replacement (about a year into the run) was, in fact, Lillias White making her Broadway debut. I don't believe that they're related.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:11pm

BARNUM trivia: Joice Heth, described in the script as "a black lady," was understudied by none other than Mary Testa.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:19pm

Terri White is not the same person as Lillias White. Terri can be seen on the VHS/DVD version of Nunsense and Nunsense 2 with Rue McClanahan.

Terri sometimes sings in the clubs in Greenwich Village. One time she sang "Thank God I'm Old" and a woman in the audience was heard saying, "She sounds just like the woman on the cast recording."

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 7/5/04 at 9:33pm

i think Margo and i crossed postings!