there was no announcement along with Barnhardt & Johnson, but Brian Sears has also left the cast. Might he be returning?? Ben Estus is in his track now.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Brian Sears has returned to the cast, but only as the standby for Elder Cunningham & Elder McKinley. Current Elder Price standby K.J. Hippensteel will be leaving the Broadway company to play the role on tour.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Is there a reason this show has two standbys for each of the two leads? Is this normal? Lots of shows have one standby for each of the leading roles (along with an understudy or two) but this is the first I'm aware of with two. Any particular reason?
I saw the show on Tuesday. Both Elder Price and Cunningham were played by standbys. I didn't care for K. J. Hippensteel as Elder Price, but found A.J. Holmes to be fantastic. On a side note, I found that Sysesha Mercado lost all of the humor in that role. She fell really flat. Maybe it was just an off night.
I agree about Syesha Mercado. I saw the show Wednesday and she was really phoning it in.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Compared to what I saw in Chicago and San Francisco, some of her early Broadway performances were a bit of an improvement, but not really. It is too bad; she's cute and has a nice voice, but she plays it like a ditz and just isn't that funny.
Oh, and in casting news, AJ Holmes and KJ Hippensteel will be headlining the first national tour for at least Detroit... www.broadwayworld.com/detroit/article/THE-BOOK-OF-MORMON-to-Say-Hello-to-Detroit-July-1-13-20140621?PageSpeed=noscript
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
I was not overly impressed with Mercado's voice, either. I've never heard her sing before, so I don't know if she was ill or having an off day when I went. But her music didn't seem like a great fit for her voice, and there were a few times when I noticed she didn't seem to be singing in the right key.
I don't know if this was a sound design issue or not, but KJ Hippensteel was often very hard to hear when I saw it. None of the other performers seemed to be having amplification problems, though, so I wondered if his voice was just naturally small, even with amplification. I also didn't find him to be particularly funny.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
I agree about K.J. He was harder to hear. I didn't care for his voice from what I could here. He seemed to be trying far too hard to make things funny, which worked against him.
Holmes, on the other hand, was excellent. Nice voice and effortless personality. Detroit will be lucky to see him. I could see him becoming a permanent Broadway replacement Cunningham at some point.
I'm sad to hear that I didn't just catch Mercado on an off night. She was really wasted in a part that is funny and the heart of that show.
I've seen KJ twice and he can be very polarizing. :) His voice is not particularly loud, but I do think he can be very funny, and the fact that he looks like a missing Romney son doesn't hurt either.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
Rob Colletti will be on as Cunningham tonight and both shows tomorrow and Brian Sears will be on the rest of the week. Anyone know when Ben is coming back?
I saw KJ at one of the performances I attended during my NYC trip last month. I thought he was pretty good and had no trouble hearing him. Also, though Syesha was fine, I'd rate her as my least favorite of the 4 Nabalungis I've seen.
I almost hate to rate the individual performers because, overall, I was incredibly disappointed with the Broadway performances I saw. There's far too much "auto-piloting" going on. Timing was slack, character bits were just tossed off, and the ensemble was sloppy and lacking energy. (At the 2nd performance, "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" was such a mess, it looked like regional dinner theater.) This show deserves much better. And, at those prices, so does the audience.
After I returned from NYC, I went to see the 2nd National Tour in San Diego. Unlike what I'd experienced on Broadway, this cast was KILLING IT! And when this show is firing on all cylinders, it truly is "something incredible".
I'm thinking of doing standing room next wednesday July 2nd matinee. Does anyone know (or have a guess) who'll be on for Cunningham? Did anyone see Rob Colletti on B'way?
andrcort: Yeah, I just saw Rob Colletti (who was great)! Rob's heading back on tour after this week, so either Ben Platt will be back or Brian Sears will continue to play the role.
Thanks for the info! Is it confirmed if AJ Holmes is in the tour for more than just the Detroit stop? This cast has been switching and swapping a lot recently.