Did anyone here see Susan Egan play Millie?

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:20am

How was she? Words can't describe how much I love Susan Egan but I'm having trouble picturing her as Millie. Can anyone inform me on how she did?

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:31am

She only did the last 4 months, when the show had sort of lapsed into desperation (having gone through Delta Burke and Dixie Carter in roles for which they weren't well suited).

As always, Egan sounded great. But she looked far too old, and acted with her usual theme park/summer stock flatness.

Updated On: 4/25/13 at 10:31 AM

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:34am

but other than that, she was wonderful.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:38am

"her usual theme park/summer stock flatness"

You do know she is a tony nominated actress right?

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:39am

Oh, I didn't realize that a Tony nomination automatically confers perfection in all prior and subsequent endeavors. Sorry.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:43am

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. IMO Susan has such an honest/natural quality about her that really shines through with the roles she plays. She took a 2 dimmensional princess type like "belle" and made her into a 3 dimmensional woman the audience really cares about.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:52am

I'm fine with agreeing to disagree. I thought she was perfect as Belle, in that she brought a perfect Disney flat sheen to the role. In Triumph of Love, I thought she was out of her depth. If she were a better actress, I think she would have originated more roles than those, and perhaps still be working on Broadway today.

[JRybka1611]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:56am

I find Susan Egan to have had a wonderful talent. I saw her do some amazing work in BABY. And ironically, she was in the original workshops of Millie.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 10:58am

She was perfection as belle. I haven't seen triumph of love so i can't comment on that. I mean she does have 2 kids, Maybe it was never her dream to work on Broadway forever. She got to play a couple iconic roles, has a tony nomination, a beautiful family..what more could you want?

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:00am

And Chenoweth did some of those, too. Imagine if she had stuck with the project - how would it be different?

And where would Sutton Foster be today, if Erin Dilly weren't quite so average and the team hadn't fired her out of town? Would Sutton have gone on to Little Women, Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek, Anything Goes, Bunheads? (Wait... 1/2 of those were flops, weren't they?)

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:02am

"She got to play a couple iconic roles, has a tony nomination, a beautiful family..what more could you want?"

Stardom, maybe, I don't know. I doubt that there are that many actors who dream of semi-retirement at 35. But I could be wrong.

[Fire and Music]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:10am

"She took a 2 dimmensional princess type like "belle" and made her into a 3 dimmensional woman"

Technically, didn't every actress do that since Belle was a cartoon?

[Miss Piggy2]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:12am

I think Erin Dilly stepped out of the project because she was pregnant - not based on her talent...

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:15am

Stardom? lol not many broadway actors have reached stardom. It also depends on what your definition of stardom is. Either way Susan is a class act and went out on top.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:17am

Anyone here know why Erin Dilly was replaced by Sutton?

[bobs3]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:46am

The official story is that it was "a mutual decision between the director, producers and actress."

The unofficial story is "the actress and the role just weren't connecting."

Updated On: 4/25/13 at 11:46 AM

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 12:02pm

I think bobs3 is right. That's how I remember it being described in the press release.

[JRybka1611]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:21pm

Sutton has a mighty great life in California. She does some amazing cd work and she continues to teach and perform. I am not sure where all the Egan dislike is coming from.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:30pm

Sutton lives in California?

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:34pm

As always, Egan sounded great. But she looked far too old, and acted with her usual theme park/summer stock flatness.

I think you are being generous, it was like watching an animatronic!

I do think she can act, however. Or at least she was jaw dropping good in Cabaret. Millie, not good at all.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:41pm

Too bad. She spent many years and a small fortune on all those animatronic lessons.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:43pm

Back to topic, from what I can remember she sang beautifully of course, and acted it fine. I think the larger problem (aside from what newintown alluded to) was that she wasn't quite able to pull off the young ingenue vibe the role requires. There was a little too much "life lived" knowingness showing.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:44pm

I never allude.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:48pm

We saw it early on and Sutton was out sick. I don't remember who the understudy was but she was very good. Was it Suan or someone else?

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 2:49pm

I think the larger problem (aside from what newintown alluded to) was that she wasn't quite able to pull off the young ingenue vibe the role requires. There was a little too much "life lived" knowingness showing.,/i>

I always liked her work and maybe she was having an off night.

I really think she looked like she could care less. The role requires a true effort that, in my opinion, just wasn't there. She just made it trough the end somehow.

Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE