& JULIET Replacement Casting — Page 7

EDSOSLO858 said: "James Monroe Iglehart will play Lance from August 5 - November 2."

This seems inspired in a weird way. He’s definitely a ham for sure and that’s what the role requires.

TheatreFan4 said: "Truly is the summer of survival jobs for this year's Tony Nominees."

Can't roll my eyes hard enough at this

quizking101 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "James Monroe Iglehart will play Lance from August 5 - November 2."

This seems inspired in a weird way. He’s definitely a ham for sure and that’s what the role requires."

I said the same thing, I would never have thought of it but that's also why I'm not a casting director! I think he's such a great choice and this feels like a really fun pivot from the physicality that playing Louis Armstrong required. We know he can ham, and I know they're bringing in Cheryl Porter as Angelique. She's a classically trained singer but I don't think she's really acted. I can imagine knowing you're playing opposite as experienced on Broadway as James will do wonders for helping her feel settled.

Anyone catching James and Cheryl tonight?

AC126748 said: "Bayardelle's departure makes me wonder what happened with Charity Angel Dawson. She was initially supposed to be out of the show for a few weeks -- with Bayardelle coming in as a temporary replacement -- but she obviously never returned (and is now going into RAGTIME at Lincoln Center). It just seems a little odd that there was never a formal announcement that she wouldn't return."

Charity posted a video mentioning the physical toll the role took on her body with having arthritis and nerve issues that affected her lower spine and weakened her right leg. Although she may have had a projected return, which was 8/6/2024 per her video, the producers and her may have just realized that the more sensible option was to keep Bayardelle on board so Charity could heal in a way that was meaningful and not put her under additional stress/pressure to come back - letting her go quietly.

If she had a spinal injury that was weakening her right leg, any form of return would have likely inhibited healing processes and caused severe long term damage.

Playbill Sale!: https://www.ebay.com/usr/missvirginiahamm

Updated On: 8/5/25 at 07:38 PM

quizking101 said: "I went last night for Bayardelle’s last performance and the love in the room for her was absolutely palpable. She was firing on all cylinders (which - I’ve never seen a performance in any showwhere she wasn’t). Alison Luff made a very sweet and hilarious curtain speech honoring her - I believe it’s on their Insta.

As for the show itself, I haven’t seen it in about 18 months, so I still had a large chunk of the OBC - Wolfe, Szot, Walker, Arroyo, and Sullivan were all still there, with Austin Scott as Shakespeare, Maya Boyd as Juliet, and.Charity Angel Dawson as Angelique.

Luff was an inspired choice because she nails the dry humor, but also goes full out in her singing (which, considering she was Mrs. Walker in TOMMY, it tracks). Liam Pierce was also absolutely excellent and I think I liked him more than Ben Walker. I only knew him from HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO, but he’s been hiding this rocker voice and I was VERY impressed. Harris was a great Juliet - she fits the role and has a bit more of an urban flair in her cadence, but otherwise is a great singer. I also had Reese Britts on for Lance and…oooof…that is a FIIIIIIIIIIIIINE looking man with a voice to melt butter with. I completely bought why Angelique would’ve fallen in love with him (probably more than if I would’ve seen Joey Fatone).

The big problem in the room though is Drew Gehling as Shakespeare. He neither has the sardonic cockiness of Stark Sands, nor the “sexy and I know it” swagger of Austin Scott. He plays the role with all the sex appeal of a Midwestern dad, doing every self-referential joke with a wink-wink quality and singing every song through his nose and in head voice. I even asked a friend who had seen it a few times recently, including when Drew started and they said he has not improved at all and appears to have gotten worse. If you plan on going back, I would wait until Gehling is out."

Completely agree on Luff. A beautiful piece of casting. Also lucky enough to catch Reese Britts as Lance a few weeks ago and on top of being utterly gorgeous, he is a very good actor with a smooth as silk voice.

And AGREED on Gehling. I've seen him multiple times since he started and the performance just continues to deteriorate. More concerned with entertaining himself and dragging out (unfunny) bits than he is in moving the story forward.

Kandi Burruss will play Angelique from December 11 - March 8.

I really enjoyed Teal on tour. She was probably the standout performance

Miriam-Teak Lee is in New York and finally got to see the show last night!

(It's really a shame what happened to her voice after the 2019 Manchester run.)

EDSOSLO858 said: "Miriam-Teak Lee is in New York and finally got to see the show last night!

(It's really a shame what happened to her voice after the 2019 Manchester run.)"

Can you talk to me more about Miriam-Teak's voice?

My journey with the show is I saw it first in London with an understudy and to be honest I thought it was cringe and ridiculous. Then, I saw Miriam and suddenly the whole world changed for me - she had so much sincere vulnerability starting with "Baby, Baby" that it wasn't cringe anymore, it was actually moving. And she just had this kind of star energy and likability that also dripped throughout the whole show. It quickly became one of my favourite shows and performances in recent years.

HOWEVER, I did notice that the voice I heard in the theatre was not the same voice I heard on the cast recording. It had this kind of uncanny hoarse feeling not unlike hearing Alice Ripley in next to normal live after a couple years and on tour vs the cast recording (ok not that bad).

What happened? Has it been able to recover? How did they handle this during the run in terms of regular performances/absences etc.?

Updated On: 12/10/25 at 03:03 AM

binau said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Miriam-Teak Lee is in New York and finally got to see the show last night!

(It's really a shame what happened to her voice after the 2019 Manchester run.)"

Can you talk to me more about Miriam-Teak's voice?

My journey with the show is I saw it first in London with an understudy and to be honest I thought it was cringe and ridiculous. Then, I saw Miriam and suddenly the whole world changed for me - she had so much sincere vulnerability starting with "Baby, Baby" that it wasn't cringe anymore, it was actually moving. And she just had this kind of star energy and likability that also dripped throughout the whole show. It quickly became one of my favourite shows and performances in recent years.

HOWEVER, I did notice that the voice I heard in the theatre was not the same voice I heard on the cast recording. It had this kind of uncanny hoarsefeeling not unlike hearing Alice Ripley in next to normal live after a couple years and on tour vs the cast recording (ok not that bad).

What happened? Has it been able to recover? How did they handle this during the run in terms of regular performances/absences etc.?"

I think you just about summed it up.

MT was in great voice in Manchester. Towards the end of the run, though she still sounded great, she was starting to strain her voice a bit and seemed to be pushing through.

The show transferred to the West End just a few weeks later, not giving MT a ton of time to recuperate. The cast album was recorded a day or two after their first preview. Once again, she started off very good, but there was more straining, and shortly after the show’s official opening she started getting pitchy. From then on she was hit-or-miss - seems to me like improper vocal training or warmups (or lack of), but you can never guess these things unless you know the person IRL. Absences started piling up but not overly so.

I believe her voice is somewhat better now, now that she has had some extended rest + some dabbling in the fashion field.

It’s a similar situation to Ryan Vasquez when he was in THE NOTEBOOK. Eden Espinosa also comes to mind, but her vocals have been a wild card long before she started working on LEMPICKA.

Updated On: 12/10/25 at 07:40 PM

Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez will assume the featured ensemble dance role of Charmion from March 17 - June 14. This will be her Broadway debut.

Updated On: 2/3/26 at 09:55 AM

She’ll sell 2 tickets