Hate against "Replacing"- Page 2

Posted: 5/23/13 at 12:41pm

I saw LuPone in Masterclass and she gave a wonderful performance. Of course, she was playing a bitter old diva, well past her prime, who was forced into a jobs he never wanted or respected, dealing with the knowledge that perhaps, just perhaps, she never was all that she thought herself. She knew that role inside out.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 1:07pm

.... shade!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 1:13pm

Here's an interesting article that Isherwood wrote about replacements
Broadway replacements

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 6:26pm

Would Patti make a great Madame Morrible? Probably. But the problem is, it's just not a great role. As a casting director, I wouldn't want to offer her the role.

Agreed. I don't understand the obsession with LuPone taking over the part of Morrible. (We've now had two threads on the subject.)

Even if she were willing, LuPone would be badly miscast in what is more or less a non-singing role. Unless Stephen Schwartz wrote a (absolutely unnecessary) killer number for her, the audience would spend 2 and 1/2 hours waiting for her to sing!

Terrible casting idea and I suspect LuPone would know it, even if she were willing to replace in a supporting role.

(For the record, I see no shame in replacing. John Cullum was such a strong replacement in 1776 that he got to keep the role (Rutledge) for the film! But casting LuPone as Morrible is not a good idea.) Updated On: 5/23/13 at 06:26 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 7:09pm

I'll also point out that on the opposite end of the spectrum you have stars like Brooke Shields who, after her debacle with Leap of Faith, has said that she is no longer interested in originating roles and is perfectly happy replacing.

[PTOPhan]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:15pm

I doubt there's any stigma at all in replacing a lead in a long-running show. Wicked, Les Mis, and Phantom have all given huge career boosts to replacements. And, as someone who has seen a bunch of actors interpret Phantom, I can honestly say that their interpretations all differed greatly from each others'.

I'm showing my age here, but I wonder how many people remember that the late Zero Mostel originated Tevye, as opposed to the late Herschel Bernardi, who made the role his own.

If someone gets unlucky, he or she follows a magnetic personality like Rex Harrison. Say "Henry Higgins," and people automatically think of Rex Harrison. I doubt too many folks think of his replacement, Edward Mulhare. Or, God forbid, the actor my parents saw as Higgins in summer stock: Richard Chamberlain.

Yet as many people probably think of Sierra Boggess as Christine as think of Sarah Brightman.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:35pm

I don't think Patti has a problem with replacing. Beyond the fact she replaced Zoe Caldwell in Master Class, y'all need keep in mind she AUDITIONED to be Bernadette's replacement in Sunday in the Park, and obviously didn't get it (because Sondheim didn't want belting). I think that she's offered enough new material that she doesn't feel the need to replace.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:44pm

No one "hated" Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Netty Grable, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller or Ethel Merman for replacing Carol Channing in HELLO, DOLLY!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:51pm

I'm showing my age here, but I wonder how many people remember that the late Zero Mostel originated Tevye, as opposed to the late Herschel Bernardi, who made the role his own.

There's no question that Bernardi made a career out of playing Tevye. I saw him in Miami and he was excellent!

But nobody forgot Zero Mostel. When he revived FIDDLER in the mid 1970s it was considered a huge event on the road and on Broadway. I know we sold out a 3,000-seat house in Miami Beach for an entire week, which was a lot of tickets in those days. Only Lansbury in MAME and Brynner in THE KING AND I were similar draws.

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:57pm

Yeah. You say Fiddler, and Bernardi doesn't even come up for most people. It's Mostel or Chaim Topol (of "Flash Gordon" fame).