In regards to Laura Osnes, while she is
divinely talented, there's a sort of sophisticated, almost intellectual self awareness required of Cinderella that I don't know she has. She always does a tremendous job of conveying wide eyed optimism, but everything about her is bright. Yes, she's capable of playing edgier, as she did in BONNIE & CLYDE, but this particular role mandates a very dark sense of comprehension. You want someone who looks like they've lived, not someone who necessarily radiates sun (as Osnes does.) It really is the trickiest role in the show.
If they go with someone from the theatrical community, people like Erin Davie, Leigh Ann Larkin, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jessie Mueller, or even Lauren Ambrose come to mind to me- women who, while fitting the stock physical image of a princess, have an edge that makes Cinderella's journey into the harsh, dour truths of life grounded in reality. Of all the storybook characters, she is the one whose perception is completely upended. That wisdom she grows enough to convey in the second act with "No One Is Alone" definitely necessitates some world weariness, and I don't see that maturity in Osnes. She'd be interesting as Rapunzel, though. That's a better match.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Updated On: 1/10/12 at 04:01 AM
