Betsy Wolfe departs CAROUSEL- Page 6

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 12:55pm

Hopefully she's able to talk about whatever project (if there is one) soon. I'm sure people are going to be asking her at the stagedoor and at the flea market.

[PurpleSummerHathaway]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:04pm

Okay so first of all I'm shocked. When I saw this thread when I woke up this morning, I actually thought it was a joke. Betsy was just talking about this the other day! When I stagedoored Waitress last week she was talking about how excited she was! So yeah, something crazy must have happened over the weekend. I can't wait to hear if Riedel has anything to say. So yeah, I was really excited for Betsy to be in Carousel, but hopefully this just means something even better (hopefully Eliza). After a couple hours of pouting, JTF's insta story has made everything a bit better, and Betsy's response has made it so much more confusing. Why the beating around the bush? She's acknowledging the speculation, why can't she just make a statement saying she can't announce anything yet, but she has big news or something like that? SO MUCH DRAMA

[Jshan05]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:07pm

This is so bizarre but I'm so intrigued what is next for her!

[starcatchers]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:15pm

PurpleSummerHathaway said: "Okay so first of all I'm shocked. When I saw this thread when I woke up this morning, I actually thought it was a joke. Betsy was just talking about this the other day! When I stagedoored Waitress last week she was talking about how excited she was! So yeah, something crazy must have happened over the weekend. I can't wait to hear if Riedel has anything to say. So yeah, I was really excited for Betsy to be in Carousel, but hopefully this just means something even better (hopefully Eliza). After a couple hours of pouting, JTF's insta story has made everything a bit better, and Betsy's response has made it so much more confusing. Why the beating around the bush? She's acknowledging the speculation, why can't she just make a statement saying she can't announce anything yet, but she has big news or something like that? SO MUCH DRAMA"

Maybe she doesn't want to make a "stay tuned" announcement? Especially if she is pregnant? 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:16pm

PurpleSummerHathaway said: "Why the beating around the bush? She's acknowledging the speculation, why can't she just make a statement saying she can't announce anything yet, but she has big news or something like that? SO MUCH DRAMA"

NDA on the NDA?

Or... she has more patience than you do.

[PurpleSummerHathaway]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:19pm

Maybe she doesn't want to make a "stay tuned" announcement? Especially if she is pregnant?"

I really doubt she's pregnant. 

 

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:25pm

What about Damien Chazelle's Parisian musical for Netflix? Netflix just ordered eight episodes and production will likely start in the fall. 

Maybe he's finally decided to cast people who can act AND sing. 

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:29pm

This is a bit off topic from Wolfe's departure, but I've been thinking about this and didn't want to start an entirely new thread. Is anyone else uncomfortable with the casting of a black actor as Bigelow? Henry is a talented fellow and I'm sure he'll be great, but I'm just wondering how having a black actor beat his wife and committing a crime will play. Feels to me it will add layers that just aren't needed and be a bit uncomfortable to watch. I saw an Oklahoma! with a black Judd and the entire audience was uncomfortable. While Billy isn't quite as awful as Judd, I still wonder if it will play well. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:31pm

That has already been discussed 

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:32pm

Mildred Plotka said: "This is a bit off topic from Wolfe's departure, but I've been thinking about this and didn't want to start an entirely new thread. Is anyone else uncomfortable with the casting of a black actor as Bigelow? Henry is a talented fellow and I'm sure he'll be great, but I'm just wondering how having a black actor beat his wife and committing a crime will play. Feels to me it will add layers that just aren't needed and be a bit uncomfortable to watch. I saw an Oklahoma! with a black Judd and the entire audience was uncomfortable. While Billy isn't quite as awful as Judd, I still wonder if it will play well."

My sentiments exactly. Curious to see what the Great Comet controversy crowd has to say about this. Will they praise Broadway for diversity or condemn them for casting a black actor as a 'villain'? Would it be different had it been a black actress opposite him?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:32pm

Yes. It's come up before (more on twitter than here, though).

In this interview, Kyle Scatliffe said he's kind of afraid for him: https://twitter.com/KyleScatliffe/status/907602600069156865

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 1:42pm

I found an old live stream interview with Betsy and when asked about frozen she said it was "a dream come true" and "exciting" so I'm also doubting that she left willingly. I would LOVE to see her Elsa. Also I had a comment on the Betsy interview thread and I mentioned Patti M and it got deleted? 

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:02pm

Thanks for posting that Lizzie. It's interesting to hear his take of playing Judd.  I think it was a case of casting the best actor, and not realizing how it would play. He says everyone just hated Curly, but I think it just made many uncomfortable, especially when he tells Judd to hang himself. It just added a layer that distracted from the telling of the story.  His performance was good, but why not cast him as Curly or Will? With Henry, how will an audience respond to a black man hitting a white woman? 

 

Updated On: 9/19/17 at 02:02 PM

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:27pm

I'm just saying if you've been following this thread, I'd suggest you go watch Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Instagram Story. Just saying.  

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:30pm

The guy playing Jigger is also black, so having Joshua Henry play Billy might be more "color conscious" casting than "colorblind" casting. R&H obviously did not mean for Carousel to be about race, but with a black Billy and black Jigger, race and racism will certainly become a subtext in the production (unlike the black Carrie and multi-ethnic Snow children in the Lincoln Center revival many years ago, which was clearly "colorblind." Carousel has not aged well in many ways, so maybe doing something like this (especially with the BLM movement) might make it seem less quaint. Having white police officers come after Billy and Jigger during the robbery would definitely bring some modern day relevance to the show. And hey, inclusiveness! Maybe the casting will attract an audience other than middle aged and elderly white people.

ANYWAY, to get back on topic...Elsa and Eliza are both cast, so Betsy Wolfe is either pregnant or doing like, a Martin Scorsese movie. You just don't drop out of a Broadway show after casting has been officially announced unless you have a REALLY good reason.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:33pm

Could we please take the Billy casting conversation back to the main Carousel thread and not derail this one? Thanks!

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1102728#4948244

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1100567#4915914

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:34pm

Is she guesting on "Modern Family?" 

[MCfan2]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:42pm

Suppose whoever was originally cast as Eliza had to drop out for some reason . . . they would have had to go back to the old drawing board. It's not impossible. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:49pm

The rumoured casting of Eliza on this board has always been nothing more than rumour. We don't know if anyone has even formally been offered the role, though we DO know that Bart Sher said he wanted to wait and cast Eliza until after they cast Higgins.  If (and I'm speaking in pure conjecture here) they ended up, as an example, finding a Higgins that was, say, younger than originally imagined,  it could necessitate casting a younger actress than some of the names suggested on this board as front-runners for Eliza.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:51pm

RippedMan said: "Is she guesting on "Modern Family?""

No, but you have to watch it and see. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:52pm

>The guy playing Jigger is also black<

Amar Ramasar? He's Indian, Trinidadian and Puerto Rican, I think. Dance Magazine referred to him as an "Asian American" dancer. As a principal with New York City Ballet, I think his presence in this Carousel indicates dance will be an even bigger factor in the production, if a ballet dancer is playing Jigger. It may be why there would be an October lab or workshop.  

[CorkySt.Clair]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:55pm

Oh My Goodness, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is gonna be Carrie now, right?

Updated On: 9/19/17 at 02:55 PM

[carnzee]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 3:11pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "The guy playing Jigger is also black, so having Joshua Henry play Billy might be more "color conscious" casting than "colorblind" casting. R&H obviously did not mean forCarouselto be about race, but with a black Billy and black Jigger, race and racism will certainly become a subtext in the production (unlike the black Carrie and multi-ethnic Snow children in the Lincoln Center revival many years ago, which was clearly "colorblind."Carouselhas not aged well in many ways, so maybe doing something like this (especially with the BLM movement) might make it seem less quaint. Having white police officers come after Billy and Jigger during the robbery would definitely bring some modern day relevance to the show. And hey, inclusiveness! Maybe the castingwill attract an audience other than middle aged and elderly white people.

ANYWAY, to get back on topic...Elsa and Eliza are both cast, so Betsy Wolfe is either pregnant or doing like, a Martin Scorsese movie. You just don't drop out of a Broadway show after casting has been officially announced unless you have a REALLY good reason."

You and I had a discussion on this board a few months ago. I wrote about the distinction between "colorblind" and "color conscious" casting. IIRC, you were opposed to the use of the term "colorblind" casting. You said it was an outdated term.

What made you change your mind?

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 3:23pm

ClumsyDude15 said: "RippedMan said: "Is she guesting on "Modern Family?""

No, but you have to watch it and see."

Any way to summarize instead of all these hints? I'm not on Instagram, so I don't seem to be able to access Instagram Stories.

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 3:29pm

carnzee said: "The Distinctive Baritone said: "The guy playing Jigger is also black, so having Joshua Henry play Billy might be more "color conscious" casting than "colorblind" casting. R&H obviously did not mean forCarouselto be about race, but with a black Billy and black Jigger, race and racism will certainly become a subtext in the production (unlike the black Carrie and multi-ethnic Snow children in the Lincoln Center revival many years ago, which was clearly "colorblind."Carouselhas not aged well in many ways, so maybe doing something like this (especially with the BLM movement) might make it seem less quaint. Having white police officers come after Billy and Jigger during the robbery would definitely bring some modern day relevance to the show. And hey, inclusiveness! Maybe the castingwill attract an audience other than middle aged and elderly white people.

ANYWAY, to get back on topic...Elsa and Eliza are both cast, so Betsy Wolfe is either pregnant or doing like, a Martin Scorsese movie. You just don't drop out of a Broadway show after casting has been officially announced unless you have a REALLY good reason."

You and I had a discussion on this board a few months ago. I wrote about the distinction between "colorblind" and "color conscious" casting. IIRC, you were opposed to the use of the term "colorblind" casting. You said it was an outdated term.

What made you change your mind?"

@The Distinctive Baritone - Could you please answer this question in a private message or on a thread where this discussion is actually somewhat relevant to the subject of the thread, so we can keep this thread Betsy-related?