A friend of mine went to see the show about a week ago and was talking to one of the ushers, and the woman said the cast "hates her". We all know that Miss Stritch is a Broadway Diva in every sense of the word. But the person said she flubs lines nightly, ad-libs and is very ugly towards the other members of the show.
Has anyone noticed any flubbing or ad-libs? I haven't seen the show, so I don't know what's true.
When I saw the show back in July she flubbed a few lines and had a couple lyrics yelled out to her but it wasn't anything huge. I doubt I would have noticed has I not previously heard she was having issues with her lines.
If this thing is true about this usher, then she should loose her job. That is incredibly unprofessional for her to be telling audiences members that the company of the show hates her. I can't see that being true though, the cast seemed very gracious to her when I saw it. And she was really sweet at stage door too, for the most part anyway. She came out and there was a group of kids that wanted the entire cast to sign their poster. Well, when she came out, they asked if she could and she said no because she had to go home to get something to eat and to take her insulin. They kept pestering her (literally, they asked her about six other times) and she screamed at them. It was kind of funny.
Cast members have constantly praised her in her interviews, etc. She made a curtain call speech for Betsy Morgan's final performance. She gave Stephen Buntrock flowers when he took over as Fredrik. Sara Jean Ford just this week said Elaine was giving her support right before her first performance as Petra.
Doesn't sound like someone who is "very ugly" towards other cast members.
A friend of mine was in a show with her a while ago and said she was difficult to work with. I saw the show a few weeks ago and she definitely paraphrased lines, but she never forgot anything. I only picked up on it because it's one of my favorite shows and I know the book so well.
Well, it's not ME who heard it. I thought the same thing about the usher, though. And I LOVE Elaine Stritch. I really just wanted to know if anyone else had heard these things.
I went last night and it was a complete mess, Elaine forgot half her lines, it was worse than during her 1st week. Bernadette also forgot some of her lines, and repeated some of her lines twice, it was a disaster. Thank goodness for the rest of the cast that was brilliant. Ramona, Hunter and LeighAnn are always flawless and the new Fredrick is very good too.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
When I saw the show two weeks, Elaine had a few flubs, but nothing too awkward or prolonged. However, I would like to give a shout out to both Keaton Whittaker (Fredrika at my performance) and Katherine McNamara. Keaton handled all of Elaine's line problems like a pro. Must be difficult for such young actresses to perform along side someone who may say something different from performance to performance, but no nerves ever showed.
Hunter is OK but unremarkable. Let's face it: he is young, he is cute, he is gay, and talks like a valley girl. If gay himbo supreme Nick Adams continues to work, so will Hunter.
Do you know what happens when you let Veal Prince Orloff sit in an oven too long?
Stritch is Stritch! The audience eats her up with a spoon. She could fart in that wheelchair and she'd get a standing ovation. When I saw her she flubbed her lines and forgot song lyrics but she's a dynamo and crowd went apes@#t. She had them in the palm of her hand.
I agree that the girls playing Frederika are getting a great education in improv and staying on course when a fellow actor goes blank. Its great training for them.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
I saw the show a week ago. Ms. Stritch seemed to have no difficulties at all. At her curtain speech for BC/EFA, she said that the cast of ALNM was the "best effing cast" she's ever worked with. So I didn't detect any animosity at all. Perhaps that usher had a personal problem stemming from a particular incident involving Ms. Stritch...?
"Well, it's not ME who heard it. I thought the same thing about the usher, though. And I LOVE Elaine Stritch. I really just wanted to know if anyone else had heard these things".
Yeah, but it's YOU making the rumor public. If you LOVE Stritch so much, and you doubted the usher, whom you didn't even talk to, why are you spreading around second and third hand poison around this way?
Elaine was absent from today's matinee. When I got to the theatre announcements were being made as people were lining up to see the performance. You could either exchange your ticket for another performance, or get a refund.
I had no intention of leaving as I loved the show when I saw it in May. Bill & Hillary Clinton entered the theatre about 15 minutes before the show started, and they sat in the row right in front of me. Couldn't believe it! Audience members were clapping and taking tons of pics. A few minutes later, Chelsea, her hubby and a friend sat down. During intermission they both got up and spoke to people and got their pictures taken with anyone who would ask.
When the show was over with, Bernadette did the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS curtain speech and thanked Karen Murphy, Elaine's understudy. No mention of Bill & Hillary was made. As they left the theatre, that's when I stuck my hand out and said to Bill, "What a pleasure." He shook my hand, thanked me, and was very, very nice. They didn't go backstage, and walked right into their motorcade.
What a thrill - how many people can say that they've seen a US President, let alone shake their hand. A moment I'll never forget.
Why on Earth would you ever post something like that, that is borderline libelous? You're re-posting secondhand information from an usher, who had no business telling that to a total stranger. By all accounts, like ljay posted earlier, the members of her cast like her.
It's interesting that any time a strong-willed female performer like Stritch, LuPone, or Betty Buckley, demands the best from the cast, they get labeled a "diva" or "b*tch." Yet, when a male does it, he's labeled a "consummate professional." The same thing happens in politics.
I think it's clear that the success of this production isn't Nunn's staging, but the skill and energy Bernadette and Stritch are bringing to it. I've seen it twice, and both times the dreariness of Nunn's direction was canceled out by their performances.
