But Auggie, why expect that because she's been so convincingly something particularized for so long that that's all she's capable of at this stage of her career? And why assume because her successes in roles that vary from that particularized something were so long ago that she's not capable of delivering now what she could so ably deliver back then?
There's a great irony. People often complain that performers are limited to a certain kind of typecasting, i.e. that "they are always the same." (see the claim about Ms. Coolidge, above). Then these same folks, it seems, often turn around and complain when they find someone cast in something that defies a well-worn mold of portrayals.
That's nonsensically having it both ways.
Isn't trying to keep an open mind, isn't having the imagination of a savvy theatergoer, far more appropriate than, contradictorily, mocking typecasting, on the one hand, and against type casting, on the other?
There's a difference between acknowledging that someone might not be a "natural fit" for something based on what she's been delivering for quite some time - which is merely stating a fact - and assuming that she won't be a great success in a role that's a stretch from that well-worn mold.
Especially since, quite often, casting that conforms to such a held "natural fit" can prove obvious, boring and too "on the nose" as well as perpetuating the complaint that the performer is "always the same."
I do agree that casting someone as Carlota who resonates with a trooper who's been around a great many rough blocks and not shied away from the trashy in her resume is the way to go. And for that reason Carol Burnett certainly struck many of us as not ideal casting.
But, Buckley has indeed careered from career to career, been someone's mother and stepmother, and certainly not shied away from camp (Margaret White)) or vamp (Grizabella) in a career that's had many highs, disappointments and outright oddities. And I wouldn't for a second doubt if she hasn't sometimes been asked "hey lady aren't you Whositz?
Updated On: 3/22/15 at 04:52 PM
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