I don't really have a dream cast, but I do have thoughts about what the production should be like if it wanted to sell.
For starters, I really don't think Elisabeth's commercial possibilities on the English stage lie in the direction of Broadway. (Maybe the West End, but that’s a stretch.) I don't know the book or characters very well, except the barest bones of the plot, and what I've heard of the score sounds dated. (And -- most importantly -- it's hard to pin down which version to try to get into, because I know enough about the show to know that each production seems to have slightly different songs and running order, so every time a new production opens, a new recording comes out, and boy does that prove completely unhelpful to an American producer trying to get into it.)
But I can tell you this: without a hot well-known female star in the lead, or some rather amazing must-see buzz-generating staging, and those are very big maybes as X or "it" factors go, it wouldn't last 10 seconds on 43rd Street. Sissi is not well-known in America (many would confuse the title with the English queen of a similar name, and wonder why someone was trying to tell her story again when The Pirate Queen flopped), and the sad fact is that most (not all, but most) Americans don't like history lessons in their entertainment. Problem is, that's the crowd buying tickets these days. And the story is so rooted in European history and lore, and a historical figure that is so little-known in our country (she was and is an icon in Europe, but here she's a mere curiosity at best, unlike, say, Queen Elizabeth I or Marie Antoinette), that I just don't think the general American public would buy it.
Plus, regardless of the subject matter, the time just isn't right for a show of Elisabeth's tone and type of score. Of course, you could argue the question of how many people actually knew who Eva Peron was before Evita, or why Les Mis did so well for being a piece of French literature virtually unknown to the American theater-going public, but it was another time, another place. (If it helps you feel better, you can -- accurately -- say that we're not evolved enough to appreciate the story.)
I will concede this, though: if I had to pick a production of Elisabeth that might cross over best of all the possibilities, it would be the Stuttgart run. Of the seemingly endless variations, I feel that version easily has the best chance of going down well with an American audience: it included exposition of things that other versions don't explain (for example, Prince Rudolf, in his adult form, has more stage time and a somewhat proper introduction, compared to the Austrian version of the show where no sooner is he tossed onstage than he begins singing with Death almost right away; the Vienna version in general tends to have a lot of symbolism that causes head-scratching to the uninitiated), stylish scenery (including that revolving stage that also went up and down), beautiful costumes, and some great direction regarding characterization. Stuttgart, in my admittedly uneducated opinion, was the best production of the Dutch/German version, and would probably have the best chance of crossing over in America.
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28
Updated On: 11/25/15 at 08:07 AM
