By chance, "Kismet" showed up on my iPod yesterday in the form of Julia Migenes and "Not Since Nineveh". I couldn't help thinking that this would be a sensational role for Audra McDonald. She would have just the right comedic timing and vocally she would be sensational. I am very pleased they are doing this at Encores - it's a great score and deserves to be heard more often. My cast:
Hajj: Brian Stokes-Mitchell
Wazir: Shuler Hensley
Lalume: Audra McDonald
Marsinah: Kelli O'Hara
Caliph: Matthew Polenzani
Looking forward to this one
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
Can Shuler Hensley do comedy?
Regarding 70 Girls 70 - it would be great to see some Kander & Ebb veterans in it - like Chita, Joel Grey, Ronn Carroll, Marilyn Cooper, etc.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/03
I think that Mc Donald might make a better Marsina. Her voice would be really lovely in those songs.
That being said I think that Kismet is a rather odd choice for Encores as it is done by every community theater at every middlesex village and farm.
Also, what are they going to do with such lines as "Bagdad, you must investigate Bagdad. (ouch!!)
Wow! I'm so excited about 70, GIRLS, 70!
And great suggestions so far, everybody! LOVE the idea of Hal Linden, one of my favorite performers!
Joel Grey would be great too, but in what role? Most of the characters in 70 need to be able to play warmth. Grey is incapable of this. He can play pathos, but cannot play warmth.
I'd like to see some non-obvious talent, personally. I loved my brainstorm of Charles Nelson Reilly. Or maybe Barry Humphries as himself OR Dame Edna!
Austin Pendleton? Ron Holgate? John Cullum? Len Cariou? Angela Lansbury, for God's sake?! Shoot the moon, it's only daydreaming!
Bea Arthur? George S. Irving? Jane Connell? Penny Fuller?
Broadway Star Joined: 2/18/04
I also vote for Marin Mazzie for Lalume. I've thought about her in this role since I first heard the score 5 years ago.
And I also like the idea of Kelli O'Hara as Marsinah.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
"That being said I think that Kismet is a rather odd choice for Encores as it is done by every community theater at every middlesex village and farm."
Encores puts in one of these shows. I call them the money shows. They are ones that everyone knows and will come to. I think that Encores secretly hopes they will transfer to Broadway and they will get the credit. Previously these shows have included "Pajama Game" "Wonderful Town" and "Bye Bye Birdie". All of these are shows that are done all over the place.
AND Kismet is one of the few shows left that hasn't been revived lately.
May I humbly submit for the 3rd selection THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM? One ofmy favorite shows, and one that i can see a great country-western crossover cast in???
Updated On: 9/8/05 at 01:32 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
I keep hoping for "It's A Bird, It's A Plane..."
KISMET hasn't had many full stage revivals here since a NYCO staging in the early 1990s. It is a gorgeous score, well worth hearing. And the show won the 1954 Tony as Best Musical.
That said I do NOT think we need another recording. Already available are the OBC (Sony), Film ST (Rhino), a 1960s studio cast with Robert Merrill and Regina Resnik (London), the 1965 Lincoln center revival with Alfred Drake back to re-create his OBC role (RCA Victor), a studio cast disk headed by Samuel Ramey (Sony) and note-complete 2 CD set with bonus tracks from TIMBUKTU (TER/JAY.)
70 GIRLS 70 has two Cd's (OBC on Sony, Revival on TER/JAY) but the show itself is almost never staged, so it will be most welcome.
I know it's a fine line to walk balancing familiar titles that will see enough seats to fill City Center and still present scores that have never been given their due.
Some Tony winners that have not or perhaps can not be revived that might work well at Encores: REDHEAD, HALLELUJAH BABY!, APPLAUSE, and RAISIN. We're coming up on some major anniversaries of some major blockbusters. 2006 marks the 50th anniversaries of MY FAIR LADY, MOST HAPPY FELLA, LI'L ABNER, BELLS ARE RINGING, CANDIDE and HAPPY HUNTING. 2007 will mark the 50ths of NEW GIRL IN TOWN, SIMPLY HEAVENLY, WEST SIDE STORY, JAMAICA, and MUSIC MAN. Now of couse some of these will receive full revivals but...it would be wonderful if ENCORES brough back the scores of HAPPY FELLA or JAMAICA.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
I keep hoping for "It's A Bird, It's A Plane..."
Me too.
No need to wish for Encores to do The Most Happy Fella. New York City Opera is bringing back their production of it in Spring, 2006.
NYCO - The Most Happy Fella
Videos