If LuPone had played Fosca originally...

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 7:57am

I was reading another thread on Passion comparing Donna Murphy and Patti LuPone's performances of the role, and there was a comment made about LuPone being offered the role originally and doing Sunset Boulevard in London instead. The comment made reference to the fact that if LuPone had done Fosca instead it may have changed both her and Murphy's careers. What do people think? If LuPone had done Fosca, who would have opened Sunset in London? And how would Murphy's career have unfolded? She would most likely not have done King and I, and that show and Passion gave her her two Tonys. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 10:44am

She was a known quantity well before these 2 shows (and had received awards for 2 off-B shows in the preceding few years). Personally I think it is silly to think she would not have been cast as Anna had there been no Fosca, but people who don't understand the dynamic or the arc are gonna say things.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 11:34am

I'm just not sure she would've been top of the list as she did King and I on the heels of Passion, and even says that Christopher Renshaw expected her to bring a dark quality to her Anna similar to what she did with Fosca.

[BJR]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 11:46am

I've often thought of this. It's one of those many industry Sliding Doors moments.

It definitely would've changed their careers, but Donna would still have become a huge and celebrated star. Probably even Anna, still.

LuPone would've avoided the head-on collision with Webber, the depression that followed, the claw back, but then she wouldn't have had the Sondheim Act Two she had in the 2000s. Who knows!

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 12:08pm

I feel like Elaine Paige would have possibly been approached to open Sunset in London, obviously she ended up playing the role later, and she was known (at least to British theater-goers) from Evita, Cats and Anything Goes. Honestly now that I really think about it, it's surprising Patti originated the role and not her. 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 12:09pm

I agree that the biographies of both LuPone and Murphy would be rather different. Murphy had been doing very well for herself, and has a unique and powerful voice, but obviously winning a Tony Award for originating a Sondheim role set her on a completely new career trajectory. I bet LuPone would have still gone on to a great “act III” like she has, but the Sunset Boulevard affair unfortunately plays a pretty big chapter in both her personal and professional history. A “sliding doors” moment for both indeed.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 3:53pm

It would be interesting to think that if LuPone had originated Fosca, it might have been reversed in that Murphy may have been a later discovery for Sondheim roles, and she may well have done the NY Phil Sweeney and Ravinia/Lincoln Centre Fosca, etc.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 4:21pm

I don't think it's guaranteed that PASSION would be received as well with LuPone in the role. Her take on Fosca was much harsher, whereas audiences could more easily warm to Murphy. Not that PASSION was some great success –– as we know, it lost a ton of money –– but maybe they would have given the Tony to the star of a beloved musical revival that season: Judy Kuhn in She Loves Me.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 4:49pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I don't think it's guaranteed that PASSION would be received as well with LuPone in the role. Her take on Fosca was much harsher, whereas audiences could more easily warm to Murphy. Not that PASSION was some great success –– as we know, it lost a ton of money –– but maybe they would have given the Tony to the star of a beloved musical revival that season: Judy Kuhn inShe Loves Me."

I forget who to credit this quote to but "when we speculate, anything is possible."

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 5:03pm

"Everything [is] possible and nothing [makes] sense" in the mind.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 5:14pm

Patti didn't do Sunset "instead" of Passion. She told Andy Cohen she'd already signed up for Sunset before the offer for Passion was even made. There was no point in even considering it. She did turn down The Witch in Into the Woods, which she regrets.

Would Donna Murphy have won the Tony for playing Anna if Julie Andrews had not withdrawn from the race that year?

[binau]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 5:58pm

Why would we assume that Donna Murphy would have taken LuPone’s place in the early 2000s Sondheim concerts/revivals etc? Weren’t these about providing a platform for Patti herself not just anyone. If anything, a successful run in Passion could have further reinforced this? 

I agree that it could have affected her casting for the King and I. And I’m not sure someone would have mounted a production of Wonderful Town around her if she didn’t win two Tonys. 
 

In any case, Donna Murphy’s “I read” for me is absolutely top top tier musical theatre acting. And I put it in the same category of performances of perfect combination of role/actor (e.g. Bernadette in Sunday, Alice Ripley in n2n, Ebersole in Grey Gardens, Kelli in Bridges etc). I think they made the right call in the end. I prefer Patti’s work in Sweeney and Gypsy than Passion. 
 

As an aside, if I recall Bernadette was asked to do Passion in London but I believe she turned it down I THINK due to timing. Would have been quite cool for her to knock off the 3 Sondheim/Lapine roles. I’m trying to think of any Broadway-calibre performer has played Dot, Fosca and one of Baker’s Wife or Witch. No one comes to mind. 

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 6:53pm

Maria Friedman? She did Sunday and Fosca in London, and sang Children Will Listen at the Sondheim BBC Proms, if that counts.

[Ke3]

Posted: 1/8/23 at 7:32pm

As Patti tells it, they called to offer her Passion the weekend she was leaving for London. She didn't turn it down. I do think things worked out the way they needed to. That drama gave Patti just as much media attention as doing the Broadway run would've.

[A Director]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 2:27am

I saw Donna as Fosca live and in person. To this day, I remember Fosca's first entrance and her performance.  I saw Patti as Fosca when the production was shown on PBS. She looked too old for the role and played Fosca as a shrill fishwife.  As for her singing, the less said the better.

Patti's story of being offered Fosca the weekend she was leaving for London sounds fishy. This there an outside source for her claim?

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 4:10am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I don't think it's guaranteed that PASSION would be received as well with LuPone in the role. Her take on Fosca was much harsher, whereas audiences could more easily warm to Murphy. Not that PASSION was some great success –– as we know, it lost a ton of money –– but maybe they would have given the Tony to the star of a beloved musical revival that season: Judy Kuhn inShe Loves Me."

Didn't the original audiences hate Fosca? The only Fosca I warmed to was Kuhn, partially because casting Ryan Silverman actually gave the leads some chemistry.