Interesting Facts You Didn't Know About Your Favorite Shows.. — Page 4

Colm Wilkinson was originally offered the role of the Phantom in POTO before Michael Crawford, however he was also offered Valjean in Les Mis and had to choose between the two.

I thought he was considered but didn't have the vocal chops according to ALW

Is that true about West Side Story or are you joking?

The tapping on the CHORUS LINE recording during "I Can Do That" is actually Michael Bennett.

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That was kind of a d*ck move. Why didn't he let the actor do it?

Other random fun stuff:

-"Send in the Clowns" was written during rehearsals for A Little Night Music. Sondheim was trying to come up with a song for Frederick to sing in that scene, but ended up writing one for Desiree instead.
-The roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett were both written with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury specifically in mind.
-They used real dirt for the grave in the opening scene of Sweeney, causing severe respiratory issues for Mr. Cariou. His doctor wanted him to take some time off from the show, but he refused, and never missed a performance.
-The Phantom in TPOTO was originally going to have a full mask, like he does in the films; it was the costume designer's idea to do a half-mask.
-Betty Buckley was supposed to be the original witch in Into the Woods, but was "let go" during the developmental phases.
-In West Side Story, at the end of "Gee, Officer Krupkee" Sondheim originally wanted to have the last line be "f*ck you," but was forced to change it to the more 1950s-friendly "Krup you." Which is actually funnier.
-Anthony Warlow would have been the original Broadway Jekyll and Hyde, but dropped out before the New York plans were made because he was sick of the authors' constant changes to the show.

I'm sure I'll think of more later...

The tune of "Getting to Know You" was originally from a thrown out song from South Pacific called "Suddenly Lucky"

The beginning newscaster speech in the 1994 revival recording of Damn Yankees was done by Greg Jbara who was not credited for it on the album. I learned that factoid from the man himself

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Not so much interesting facts but some interesting trivia. Tonya Pinkins and Idina Menzel both played Kate in the two musical productions of The Wild Party. Four years later, they were competing for the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical and Idina Menzel won.

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Wicked:

-"The Wizard and I" replaced a song called "Making Good"
-The converstation between Boq and Nessarose about the punch was done in previews by Galinda and Fiyero.
-Many roles were recast entering Broadway's production. The Wizard and Boq are examples.

I really love this blog its so interesting to find out fun facts
Sarah Brightman turned down a role in a verson of Phantom of the Opera that her and ALW went and saw which sparked him to write POTO

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they wanted to have them be ruby slippers for the stage... but the ruby slippers are copyrighted. same reason for why glinda's dress isnt the pink one.

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Mario Cantone was originally offerd the part of Carmen Ghia in The Producers but turned it down because (at the time) he was going to be in a revival of Assassins as Sam Byck but it got cancelled due to 9/11. He later got to re-create the role in 2004.

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Careful how you say that, Kunt!

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It's because the "ruby slippers" are copyrighted. They can only shine a light on them.

StageManager2, actually the shoes start out jeweled. They're not red yet.

And I totally agree with your statements about TheatreDiva.

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