COMPANY starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone will open March 22 — Page 7

None of the Hollywood names - Anne Hathaway, Amy Adams, or Scarlett Johansson - can sing this score 8 times a week. Since Anne Hathaway has been the surest name thrown around so far, I imagine she'll need some rigorous vocal training and strengthening because her Les Mis bits were frankly very weak singing.

I would love for Jessie Mueller, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, or Renee Elise Goldsberry to happen, but I guess that's just wishful thinking at this point.

BJR said: "If they’re after a major actress and there’s an EPA up gearing for a production this season, wouldn’t the actress have pretty much already committed? Most major actress are busy and don’t have 6 months laying around."

Assuming Company would open in late April, they're still 7 months away from 1st rehearsal...though final approval for a theatre might also hinge on signing an actress for the lead role. They're getting down to the wire, but weirder things have happened. After months of rumors about various actresses for the last Night Music revival, Catherine Zeta-Jones was announced just 2 months before the 1st preview. For The Price, Mark Ruffalo stepped into rehearsal on January 5 ahead of a February 16 opening.

Posting the EPA could also be a negotiation tactic to try to get the actress's deal done.

Updated On: 7/10/19 at 10:34 AM

Emily Blunt sounded lovely in ITW and Mary Poppins, but there’s obvious auto tune used on the tracks, hence why I said I’m not SURE she could handle it, I didn’t say she couldn’t handle it.

How quickly they forget. Long before Les Mis Hathaway was constantly being talked about here as one of the few Hollywood figures with legit broadway-style pipes. Her whisper-singing in Les Mis does nothing to diminish that. Here's her singing Sondheim at the Hollywood bowl about 10 years ago, and a more recent example (with crappy sound, unfortunately) of her MORE than holding her own in a duet with one Kelli O'Hara at a Clinton benefit concert. She, or Amy Adams, would do just fine as Bobby. Blunt as well but she has young children and may not want to commit to a lengthy new york run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtVqjW8-t-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNT9Ixoefjw

Anne Hathaway would be wonderful, and it seems like she has the perfect gap in her schedule to allow for a 6-month run. I would love to see her tackle something dramatic again. Weird to think Les Mis was 6 1/2 years ago.

Wasn't Hathaway also very well received int he Encores Carnival staging she did with Brian Stokes Mitchell?



https://youtu.be/WNZ8uaw_dDE

Updated On: 7/10/19 at 04:17 PM

Was the "Poor Baby" section odd? It's hard to imagine a group of married men repeatedly trying to set a single female friend. It's not even something women are likely to do today for a male friend (which is why, to me, it makes sense to keep it in the era when it was written).

joevitus said: "Was the "Poor Baby" section odd? It's hard to imagine a group of married men repeatedly trying to set a singlefemale friend. It's not even something women are likely to do today for a male friend (which is why, to me, it makes sense to keep it in the era when it was written)."

IMO the production is a totally fascinating exercise but you can’t really ignore the fact that if Sondheim were writing this for a woman he simply would have written a lot of completely different material. Swapping pronouns and genders doesn’t ultimately cut it in my book - though I agree this production makes the case for a woman playing the central role, I’d honestly love to see Sondheim further develop changes in the score if it’s going to go to NYC.

QueenAlice said: "IMO the production is a totally fascinating exercise but you can’t really ignore the fact that if Sondheim were writing this for a woman he simply would have written a lot of completely different material. Swapping pronouns and genders doesn’t ultimately cut it in my book - though I agree this production makes the case for a woman playing the central role, I’d honestly love to see Sondheim further develop changes in the score if it’s going to go to NYC."


That was my issue with it, too. And the three "boyfriends" all came across as gay...You Can Drive A Person is a delightful number, but I didn't feel it worked in the context of this production. None of Sondheim's new lyrics are an improvement; he would have even taken fault with them if another writer had written them.

I'm curious about how this production will register with people in the general public who haven't seen COMPANY before –– those who know it's gender-switched, and those who don't. It's not like Oklahoma or West Side where everyone's seen a "normal" production (or the movie).