Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town

Why is this show still playing. Will it be gone in Nov? This is exactly what I thought when LITTLE SHOP announced Joey Fatone.

Updated On: 8/20/04 at 05:51 PM

she wasnt so terrible in cabaret, but that role pretty much requires mediocre singing

I thought her Sally Bowles was TERRIBLY sung. Her Maybe This Time, the one number that needs to be sung well, was bellowed and was so far out of tune it was practically back in tune again.

---

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Watching Brooke act is like watching a Cardboard cut-out give it a try

i seriously think the show will close the day she opens

---

jrb....I have seen Brooke do her thing....she just isnt very talented, although she is a very nice person, so I will give her points for that

However, her acting is stiff beyond belief

JRB-I agree with you.
Although I dislike Brooke's acting you should wait until you see her in the show in question before trashing her performance.

---

For me, it has nothing to do with Shields' acting or singing abilities, and everything to do with not being sure whether the show makes any sense with someone so beautiful in the role. Ruth is supposed to be the older, frumpier, "unmarriageable" older sister who gets upstaged and ignored by men whenever her pretty sister Eileen is around. Does it make any sense that men would fall over themselves to get to Eileen and ignore Ruth if Shields is playing her? Wouldn't men go crazy over BOTH of them?

For that reason, Shields' casting makes no sense to me. Aren't there any less attractive 40-ish comediennes out there (with a big enough "name" to sell tickets) who could have been recruited to take over this role for a few months?

---

Updated On: 8/21/04 at 08:09 PM

morosco-I wouldn't go that far.

---

Those were just rumors.

---

I've never seen the show, but that's really depressing.

First and foremost, the role requires a gifted Commedienne. Brook may not be gifted, but comedy, certainly, has been the arena wherein she's done her better work. Her series, though indifferently written, wasn't a stinker. Ruth was written for Roz Russell, and never really required the vocal chops that Murphy brought to the role. So that isn't the issue. What Brooke lacks is that bigger than life cynical worldview/star presence--and perhaps being believable as the less marriageable older sis, as has been posted here. I'd rather see the role go back to a comic -- say Andrea Martin, who is more my taste in the part. Or Tracy Ullman, who has vocal and comedic chops. And if you want a TV star -- if she could sing ... Patricia Heaton, on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND seems more right that Brooke, no? She began in the NY theater.

Brooke will sell tix for the Weisslers, but since Donna has made her mark, wouldn't it be fun to see the show really ... re-invented? You know, maybe with a black Ruth and Eileen? Jackee? Who's out there? Think about a black Ruth landing on "Swing" in act two and taking off the roof. The show could stand an injection of something brande new.

---