#1
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:17am
was just catching up on some old NY Times reading, and I fell upon this article in which current B-way directors talked about their "dream productions." I just LOVED Susan Schulman's casting for "A Little Night Music" and Scott Ellis's dream for "Hamlet." Thought I'd post to get some feedback...
SUSAN H. SCHULMAN ("Little Women")
Almost 20 years ago, I did a showcase of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” Hugh Wheeler, who wrote the book, came in and loved it. He said: “In 20 years, you’ll get the other part right — the heartache.” The humor was very attainable for me, but I was missing the helpless madness and suppressed vulnerability. Of course, it’s loving and tender, as well, and that’s the perfect combination. It’s the crisis of rapture, when people are in love. And looking at oneself in the mirror and saying: “Who was that person?” So I would like to direct “A Little Night Music” again, this time with Emma Thompson as Desirée, John Lithgow as Fredrik, Donna Murphy as Charlotte and Hugh Jackman as Carl-Magnus.
SCOTT ELLIS ("Twelve Angry Men")
I did a workshop on staging Shakespeare with Cicely Berry of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I worked on “Hamlet” and fell in love with it, so my dream production would be “Hamlet” with North American actors: Adrien Brody as Hamlet; Claire Danes as Ophelia; Victor Garber as Claudius; Morgan Freeman as Polonius; and either Blair Brown or Meryl Streep as Gertrude (Blair because she played the role in our workshop; Meryl because who doesn’t want to see her onstage?). Adrien has this childlike quality, and then all of a sudden this man comes out, which is who Hamlet is. Morgan Freeman may not come to mind when you think of Polonius, but it’s very simple: I think he’s one of the best actors around, and I have no doubt that he could do it.
SUSAN H. SCHULMAN ("Little Women")
Almost 20 years ago, I did a showcase of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” Hugh Wheeler, who wrote the book, came in and loved it. He said: “In 20 years, you’ll get the other part right — the heartache.” The humor was very attainable for me, but I was missing the helpless madness and suppressed vulnerability. Of course, it’s loving and tender, as well, and that’s the perfect combination. It’s the crisis of rapture, when people are in love. And looking at oneself in the mirror and saying: “Who was that person?” So I would like to direct “A Little Night Music” again, this time with Emma Thompson as Desirée, John Lithgow as Fredrik, Donna Murphy as Charlotte and Hugh Jackman as Carl-Magnus.
SCOTT ELLIS ("Twelve Angry Men")
I did a workshop on staging Shakespeare with Cicely Berry of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I worked on “Hamlet” and fell in love with it, so my dream production would be “Hamlet” with North American actors: Adrien Brody as Hamlet; Claire Danes as Ophelia; Victor Garber as Claudius; Morgan Freeman as Polonius; and either Blair Brown or Meryl Streep as Gertrude (Blair because she played the role in our workshop; Meryl because who doesn’t want to see her onstage?). Adrien has this childlike quality, and then all of a sudden this man comes out, which is who Hamlet is. Morgan Freeman may not come to mind when you think of Polonius, but it’s very simple: I think he’s one of the best actors around, and I have no doubt that he could do it.
