Hugh Panaro!

[Janki]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 7:02am

I'm sooooooooo in love with this man!
Sounds great, is gorgeous etc.....I LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:11am

Even the head-bobbling?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:17am

I love him to!!
Oh, and Lizzie - especially the head bobbling!
Yum

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:22am

Even the walking-with-a-load-in-his-pants?

[tazber]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:33am

Ok, I can do without the load-in-his pants bit.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 11:57am

Even after the dreadful "Lestat"?

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:03pm

Even after the dreadful "Lestat"?


It's not really his fault he had nothing to work with....

Although I did prefer Drew Sarich as Lestat.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:03pm

Yeah...I saw him, and really liked him, in Martin Guerre. But after Lestat, I'd never be able to look at him the same way again.

Except for his chest in those Company promo pics.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:29pm

oh come now! you can not blame an actor for the script. i felt like he played the character very well considering the source material. Hugh is a fine actor (not a favorite, but i do enjoy him).

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:30pm

It wasn't the script. HE was horrible in it.

Although, to be fair, I believe he was mis-cast and poorly-directed.
Updated On: 2/16/07 at 12:30 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:44pm

oh come now! you can not blame an actor for the script.

No, but you can blame him for the head-bobbling, strutting, and weird accent!

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:45pm

hahaha they ALL had some cracked out inflected accent in that show. i felt like Claudia was the only one who was "the American" in the cast.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:46pm

Not when I saw it! (And saw it and saw it.)

Hugh sounded like William Michals' Chauvelin on quaaludes...everyone else sounded standard American.

[Danielm]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:47pm

He may not have been good in it, but it had something to do with the script as well. And I use the term "script" loosely.

I saw him in a few Reprise shows in LA as well. He was wonderful in "Call Me Madam" with the incredible Karen Morrow.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 12:50pm

yeah when i saw it Drew was in for him so i was just watching him pull the wig on over & over again.

it wasn't until i saw it at home through another source that i was able to see the accent everyone had made mention of.

[Danielm]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:15pm

You know, in a show, there is a time where a director should say to an actor "your accent is really bad--let's work on that." Actors don't neccessarily know what they sound like so other people connected with the show share the responsibility.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 1:27pm

I love his soup in a bread bowl...oh wait, that's Panera. Damn!

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:11pm

Yeah Lestat = bad
but besides that love him.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 2:11pm

haha Bettyboy, that was cheesy but funny :)

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 4:39pm

Don't judge him by that horrible accent & mannerisms he had in the first few weeks of the San Francisco run of Lestat. That was not his decision, and he was glad to be rid of it by the end of the run. By the time the show came to NY he sounded & walked normal.

(In fact, let's just forget Lestat altogether shall we? )

In case anyone is interested, he will be performing at the Broadway Musicals of 1938 concert next month.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 4:40pm

His Bobby in the Seattl Company last Fall was solid.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 4:44pm

He was still miscast in Lestat, even if his accent and mannerisms were toned down. The role called for a rebellious, dripping-with-sex rock star, and Panaro is a dashing, pretty-boy leading man. It just didn't work for me.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 5:06pm

Since when did the script call for a "rebellious, dripping-with-sex rock star"? Wrong movie/show hun, that was "Queen of the Damned" starring a VERY miscast Stuart T. Loved the movie, not Lestat. This musical was not based on anything besides "Interview With A Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat". Don't blame him for the DIRECTOR'S call. The director wanted him that way, and so he performed that way. Do I believe it was the BEST interperatation? No, but don't blame him for a call that wasn't his. And, enough with Lesat bashing. It's over, it's gone. Some liked it, some hated it. MOVE ON!

p.s. Hugh will always be my Phantom. 10/1/05 I was there...

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 5:13pm

Well, HUN, I didn't say the "script" called for it. I said the role called for it. Based on the way he was directed, the way songs were written, and the attention his character was given by others in the show, Panaro did not have the charisma or the edge to match the role AS IT WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED IN THE MUSICAL.

I've never even seen Queen of the Damned.

[Gingersnap]

Posted: 2/16/07 at 6:15pm

My goodness, some of you do enjoy beating a dead horse. If clubbing equine corpses ever becomes an Olympic event, BWW will have more than its share of gold medalists.

I knew this thread would go this way and I refrained from commenting earlier becaue I didn't want a migraine at work.

But I have a couple of comments.

First of all, it's 2007. The SF run of Lestat ended over a year ago. The Broadway production ended about ten months ago. Even for those of us who did like some things about it (how shocking), who reminisce once in a while about its brief run, and who would still like to have a cast recording it's still water under the bridge.

Hugh took a big risk in leaving Phantom for Lestat. He knew it was a gamble and it was, sadly for Hugh and others involved, one that did not pay off. There were many, many problems with the show that went far beyond the flaws on stage. I do know that a lot of the things that were mocked here...his accent, body language...were, in large part, part of the director's take on the character and were dropped by the time it came to NYC. But most of what I know comes from off-the-record conversations and I would prefer to leave it that way.

Hugh has moved on. He did "Company" in Seattle. Both he and the production itself deserved the good reviews they got. He's done several concerts...Broadway Romance in Oregon, a very touching cabaret benefit for amFAR performed under the worst circumstances (including spider-bite induced fever and chronic problems with the sound system), and taken part in several concerts back in NYC, including BWW's own holiday show at Joe's Pub and last week's Leading Men II benefit.

And, while there are still fans who miss Lestat, who wish they could've seen it, who discovered and love Hugh because of it, most of his fans have also moved on and are looking forward to other projects from him...the Broadway Musicals of 1938 concert next month, the solo album he is currently focusing on, etc.

But to read this thread, you'd think that Lestat was the only role that Hugh has every played in the now thirty years he has been working in theatre. Like anyone in the business, his career has had its ups and downs and, unfortunately, Lestat happened to be a down.

But it's just one chapter. Those of us who know and admire him look forward to the rest of the story.

~ Paula


PS No pun intended, but the Panera bread jokes got "stale" at least two years ago.