Benanti has tons of television credits while true Ambrose doesn't have the resume that Benanti has, it's not as if she scoffed at doing theatre. She's done two Off-Broadway productions and two Broadway productions before My Fair Lady:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Lauren-Ambrose/
Also, read this Ben Brantley review of her performance in Romeo and Juliet:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/theater/reviews/25bran.html
"Mr. [Oscar] Isaac, last seen in the park as Proteus in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” two years ago, is sweetly and convincingly in thrall to his Juliet, a clumsy, overgrown puppy with the loyalty of a one-owner dog. But it’s Ms. Ambrose who gives the production its devastatingly torn heart.
Best known as the petulant Claire in “Six Feet Under,” Ms. Ambrose, who recently appeared on Broadway in “Awake and Sing!,” makes Juliet into a compelling bundle of mixed instincts. Even at 14, she’s the smartest person in Verona, capable of analyzing exactly what’s happening to her. Had she lived, she might have been a Viola or Rosalind, a Shakespeare heroine to tutor brash men in the finer arts of loving.
But because she is 14 (and you don’t doubt it), Juliet leads not with her head but her hormones. Every line she utters is infused with equal amounts of intelligence and impetuosity. She has enough erotic life force for both herself and Romeo, but Mr. Isaac gallantly contributes his share. And without a hint of the now usually obligatory nudity, this couple can make a drawn-out kiss light up the night, as Michael Friedman’s mood-enhancing (but never mood-pushing) music swells in the background.
Red-haired and luminously pale, this Juliet is a such a brightly glowing candle that the water motif at last makes perfect sense in that final, fatal scene in the Capulet family tomb. It takes a whole lot of water to quench such a flame. But, ah my friends, before then, it gave a lovely light."
Maybe if Ambrose does well here, she'll do more productions on Broadway. How many productions does she have to do for you to stop dismissing her as a "television" actress. If we keep hiring the same names, then how do people become acceptable stage actresses? I don't know if dismissing Ambrose as a television actress is an expression of unfounded theatre snobbery/elitism, or if it's just fans of Benanti and co. who are just mad that they weren't cast.
Sometimes Broadway producers strike gold when they think outside the box and cast someone one wouldn't expect because their background was known for outside of theatre. Wasn't Tyne Daly simply considered a television actress when she did Gypsy while Linda Lavin was the much more seasoned stage actress?
Updated On: 10/5/17 at 05:19 PM
