He's Charlie! Lin-Manuel Miranda to Star in Encores! MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

[Rob]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 12:29pm

Click Here to Read He's Charlie! Lin-Manuel Miranda to Star in Encores! MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 12:30pm

I read this on Twitter and actually gasped. I'm SO excited to see him.

[Overkill]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 12:32pm

Can't wait to see his "Franklin Shepherd Inc." Charlie is my favorite character, I'm sure he'll knock it out!

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 1:02pm

Brilliant casting. The kind of exciting casting that this concert desperately needed.

I had a dream about a week ago that Lin was cast as Charlie. I can't believe it's really happening!

[round2]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 1:46pm

Brilliant casting indeed - now I'm more excited to be seeing this production!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 2:06pm

Excellent.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 2:07pm

I'll give him a chance but he seems completely wrong to me.
Lacking the finese or singing voice I want in a Charlie.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 2:11pm

Wow --- this will be really interesting!! And it sounds like Sondheim himself wanted Miranda for the role.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 2:30pm

Sorry. Too Hispanic.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 2:53pm

This seems like bizarre casting to me. Was really hoping for Raul. And I'm pretty disappointed in this one... I'll give him a shot, but if he starts rapping "Franklin Shepard, Inc" I am OUTTA there.

[jacobp]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 3:07pm

this is disappointing

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 3:08pm

Definitely a very interesting choice for the role. Though I do wonder how he will sound on some of the number, like Good Thing Going, I have no doubt that his Franklin Shepard, Inc. will be brilliant. And I am so glad they did not get Esparza- not only would he look too old, given the rest of the cast, but I don't think he's that good as Charley. His Franklin Shepard, Inc. is annoyingly overacted.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 3:12pm

The thought of him "singing" GOOD THING GOING, one of my fav Sondheim's is very disapointing.
Raul was never considered for this production. (Thank god).

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 3:28pm

This seems totally out of left field but I can definitely see him in the role. I'm excited!

[Brick]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 4:58pm

Nothing less than perfect. Kudos to Lapine, Sondheim or, most likely, the casting director that thought of this.

[Jon]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 5:04pm

And Raul Esparza isn't too Hispanic?

Or am just feeding the troll.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 5:26pm

You're feeding the troll.

And, no, Raul Esparza isn't too Hispanic.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 5:48pm

I'm not sure which I find more irritating--that Sondheim asked him to do it "as a favor" or that Miranda felt the need to tell us that.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 6:12pm

If anything I think Steve owes him a favor for working with Laurents then having most of his work retracted into the run.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 6:45pm

You're not the only one, Baritone. I've always found his unflagging self-promotion to be obnoxious and cocky, so of course he felt the need to boast that "Steve" (his idol!) asked him to step in "as a favor."

Surely we should all sing the praises of humble Lin-Manuel, who's only lending a helping hand to theatre's greatest living composer and his #1 BFF, right?

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 6:47pm

Here's hoping he doesn't turn Franklin Shepard Inc into one of his raps.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 7:50pm

It's incredible how butthurt some people on these boards can be. Lin is an incredible talent who's clearly earned the respect of Stephen Sondheim - I don't blame him in the least for being proud of that fact.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 9:10pm

Butthurt? I'm bitter and cynical but not butthurt :) It's one thing to be proud, it's another to brag. And if you're going to brag, then brag. A little bragging once in a while is okay. But don't disguise it with false humility.

And really, Sondheim should never ask ANYONE to play one of the roles he's written "as a favor." He did US a LIFETIME of favors by writing some of the greatest musicals ever written. For him to have stooped to Miranda in this way was sad, for Miranda to have put this information in his official statement was gross.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 9:22pm

You hit the nail on the head. Every interview I've ever read with him reeks of false humility. I remember him being similarly humble about his involvement with Laurents and Sondheim on the WSS revival.

[wonkit]

Posted: 10/31/11 at 10:38pm

Isn't the technical term a "humble brag"?