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Bernadette Peters and Kim Cattrall to star in Kennedy Centers Follies — Page 5

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#106

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I actually think Ann-Margaret would be much more appropriate as Stella than she would be as Carlotta.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 8/27/10 at 07:34 PM

#107

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I really hope they cast someone contemporary with Peters for Carlotta. City Center was right in casting someone like Christine Baranski in the role (a pity she was not good in it), as opposed to casting say Polly Bergen (who I'm sure was terrific but do we really need a Carlotta who actually has been through the Depression, etc? ).
I don't mind if Bernadette Peters has to sing the score differently than traditionally performed, I can only imagine the kind of haunting emotion she would bring to a complex piece like "Too Many Mornings," one of the best romantic songs ever written.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#109

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

"I really hope they cast someone contemporary with Peters for Carlotta."

Look at it this way, Ann-Margret, who will be 70 by the time this production opens, would be 22 years older than Yvonne De Carlo was when she originated the role, at the age of 48. Bernadette, who will be 63, will be 19 years older than Dorothy Collins, who was 44 when Follies opened.
#110

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I still just cannot get over the fact that Bernadette looks as radiant and youthful as she does...and she's 62, going on 63. Amazing.

In any case, I am so excited by these casting choices. I have such high hopes for this production. I'm sure it will be wonderful.
"...and in a bed."
#111

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I think Ann-Margret would be interesting as Hattie. Judging by the text, Carlotta needn't be the only aging sex symbol (Doesn't Ben recall Hattie wearing a low-cut dress when he watched her sing many years before). I also think Broadway Baby would suit her voice more than I'm Still Here.

Cybill Shepherd - now there's an appropriate Carlotta for Peter's Sally and Catrall's Phyllis.
#112

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

While I'm a fan of a 50ish Carlotta, I don't think Ann-Margret is a bad choice at all, particularly with Peters as Sally. I just hope she doesn't sustain any injuries before the show, because when I saw her in Whorehouse several years ago she had just hurt her wrist. I'm assuming she was hopped up on painkillers, and while I give her props for being a trouper, her performance was simply... inexplicable.

#113

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I think Goldie Hawn might be an interesting Carlotta.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson
#114

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

theeatah, Cybill Shepherd was heavily pursued to play Carlotta in the Encores! production several years ago. Her deal fell apart fairly late in the game, which is when Christine Baranski came into the picture.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#115

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

Somethingwicked, that's interesting. I imagine they'll have a better chance of getting Shepherd this time, if indeed she's on the list.

With Peters as Sally, I wonder if they've gone after Mandy Patinkin for Buddy?

#118

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

Can Ann Margaret sing well anymore? Her vocal performance wasn't exactly demanding nor impressive in the WHOREHOUSE a few years back. And the end of "I'm Still Here" ain't easy. Just ask Christine Baranski.
#120

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

I am going to have to go to DC to see this. I'm very excited for another Follies extravaganza. Bernadette and Danny Burstein seem fantastic to me. I had no idea about Cattrall's credentials, but taking that into account she should be a fantastic Phyllis, which is good because she is my favorite character.
I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.
#123

Bernadette Peters to star in Kennedy Centers Follies

The Hattie humor that's largely gotten lost was that Ethel Shutta had the kind of "wisecracking tough-girl" persona that was popular in the 1930s and early 40s, with with performers like Joan Blondell Barbara Stanwyck and Martha Raye and "Baby" Rose Marie, the wisecracking tough-girl child star who probably most inspired the song. (As an adult, she was the same wisecracking Rose Marie of the Dick Van Dyke Show.)

So when Ben tells Hattie she looked pretty in the low-cut dress, it's both a nice compliment to an older woman from a dashing and still somewhat young man and also an acknowledgment that many of the "tough girls" were in real life attractive women taking on a butch character.

It would be nice to have a Hattie who had that butch quality, rather than Ann-Margret's aging sex-kitten quality. It gave a nice texture to the show.

I remember being obsessed with Ethel Shutta for a while.

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