Characters You Never Liked Until You Saw A Different Interpretation — Page 2

Schmerg who have you seen as Eponine?

I've seen some outstanding Eponines, the very best in my opinion being Felicia Curry, who was adorable. But none of them could make me actually care for the character. I left the performances loving the actors but still disliking Eponine.

---

Lovett. Until the 2005 revival.

I know, I know... I've always thought the part was amazing, but felt that everyone worked so hard trying to mimic Angela that no one played the obvious darker colors of the character.

I'll never forget the moment in the 2005 revival when Micahel Cerveris' Sweeney grabs Lovett by the throat - well, by the face, I guess - and then let's go, sending Lovett panting across the room in fear. Patti's Lovett retreated to the chair across the room, leaned on it's back, with her hair covering her face. Then, she slowly pulls her hair out of her face while looking over her shoulder at Sweeney. The look on Patti's face was a revelation. She liked his brutality. And of course she did: this is a woman who in an hour's stage time will hatch a plot to bake corpses into pies.

Loved it.

Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, until I saw the all-male production at the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C. Dang, Finn Wittrock gave kind of a bizarre performance, very immature and awkward and hyperactive, but he made Romeo so much more human and loveable, and he completely nailed the awkward teenager aspect of the character in addition to being totally adorable. I'd never seen the balcony scene played as a comedy before. I loved that production...

He said in an interview about the role:
I am feeling the power of youth in my life right now, and this is the quintessential play about youth's glory, as well as its downfall. It is also a play about love, obviously, but in not such obvious ways. For instance, there?s the love of friendship, which is incredibly vivid in this play.

---

Aida. I think a huge part of it is how the role is written but I've only seen one girl (in a high school production at that) embody the character in a way that made me feel some sympathy for her.