Jeremy Jordan playing Leo in PARADE- Page 4

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 10:45am

For those of you whose argument is that it's "just a concert version" are pretty delusional. Just because it's a concert version means it's okay to throw everything out the window as long as the people cast are actually talented? Whether or not they're actually right for the role? No. And we all know that there are no longer just plain ol' concert versions anymore. Today a "concert version" means fully staged and with costumes, etc. If ANYTHING, a concert version is more raw and broken down and demands perfect casting. Because there aren't any distractions on stage.

As for Jeremy Jordan...NOTHING about him screams Leo Frank. Nothing. He's young, edgy, angsty, a high (screaming) tenor, modern...none of that is Leo Frank. Sure, he's an actor so he can morph into any role. But, if that was the case for all actors then why wasn't Cheyenne Jackson, Nick Adams, or Gavin Creel given the role? Because they're all wrong for it.

Sure, I'd love for Jeremy Jordan to surprise us all and be wonderful. But, Leo Frank is a fragile, timid, hesitant, somewhat creepy little man. Those aren't Jeremy's strong suits.

Casting Jeremy Jordan doesn't serve the piece (Parade)...it serves the producers. Not that he's a household name by any means, but he is one of today's Broadway "it" boys. Unfortunately, not all of the "it" people are capable of playing every role given to them.

Updated On: 12/17/14 at 10:45 AM

[musikman]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:05am

Although I'm not his biggest fan, I feel like Santino Fontana would have been the perfect choice. He screams nebbish-y and nervous on stage (see: Sons of the Prophet).

For those who spoke about Lea Salonga being an out of left field choice for Mother - and that it was ok because it was just a concert - well, Lea Salonga is perfectly suited for the role other than her ethnicity. Her voice, personality, and gravitas are perfect for Mother. I wouldn't go cast her as Emma Goldman just because she was talented and physically able to perform the role.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:06am

This thread really makes me want to burn something.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:09am

Be specific.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:10am

Yes...please show your work. Cause I'll co-sign if we're on the same page.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:13am

The rants on here (yes I am looking at you mywonderwa11) are HILARIOUS.
My guess is you won't be going?

[Kad]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:14am

If it were possible to burn down a website, I'd burn down this website.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:16am

Girl...just gimme a five minute head start so I can get a-runnin'.

There are a lot of comments on here that make me think, 'Are you sure you're not thinking of Jerry Herman's PARADE?'

[Kad]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:25am

Girl, you're already flaming.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:27am

"I kind of think a guy who was part of creating the show in the first place would know better than us."

Hahahahahahahahahaha

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:32am

I think participating on this website means I can no longer make fun of my brother for playing fantasy football.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 11:33am

'Girl, you're already flaming.'

HEY!

I mean, true. But still. HEY!

Updated On: 12/17/14 at 11:33 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/17/14 at 2:51pm

"Sure, I'd love for Jeremy Jordan to surprise us all and be wonderful. But, Leo Frank is a fragile, timid, hesitant, somewhat creepy little man. Those aren't Jeremy's strong suits."

How do you know? This concert hasn't happened yet.

[topiflo]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 12:39am

"He is half Jewish"

Last time I checked, Ben Stiller, Liev Schreiber, Zach Braff, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Segel, Lea Michele, and Adam Goldberg were all also ancestrally only "half Jewish" (and the list goes on and on). And I won't even get started on 1/4 Jew Jay Baruchel and total non-Jew Jason Biggs.

If the criteria to be a Jew is that you have to be of fully Jewish descent, quite a lot of people you seem to consider "Jewish" would be out.

It would also mean that full Jews Logan Lerman, Mila Kunis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Natalie Portman could 'only' play Jews, which I support.

I don't know what "doesn't practice Judaism" means in this context. Dustin Hoffman didn't celebrate any Jewish holidays at all growing up, is he not Jewish as well?

Jeremy's mother is Jewish, which makes him Jewish under most definitions of the word.

Unlike, of course, Norbert Leo Butz (who starred in the original Last Five Years) and Laura Benanti (who is playing his Jewish wife in Parade).

And if the Jewish actors aren't nerdy enough, maybe they should finally consider writing non-nerdy Jewish characters?

Updated On: 12/18/14 at 12:39 AM

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 7:35am

Wowee

[topiflo]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 8:15am

BTW, the other major productions of Parade starred Brent Carver, David Pittu, Bertie Carvel, and T. R. Knight, none of whom are Jewish.

Congratulations to Jeremy Jordan for being the first Jewish actor to play Leo Frank in Parade.



Updated On: 12/18/14 at 08:15 AM

[JRybka]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 9:15am

They Better Recording it or show it on PBS.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:44am

"Sure, he's an actor so he can morph into any role."

At the end of the day, that - and how good Jordan turns out to be in the role (which can only really be assessed after seeing the concert) - is all that matters.

I have never seen Parade. But there is no apparent reason Jeremy Jordan can't play Leo Frank.
Jordan even looks a little like Leo Frank.

By the way, Peter Gallagher played Frank, and as I recall, quite satisfactorily (with no one complaining of miscasting), in The Murder of Mary Phagan.

"It would also mean that full Jews Logan Lerman, Mila Kunis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Natalie Portman could 'only' play Jews, which I support."

Ah, yes, a world without Sarah Bernhardt's Hamlet, Paul Muni's Scarface, Harry Baur's Jean Valjean, Jean-Pierre Aumont's Oedipus, Debra Winger's Emma Greenway, Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo, Benjamin Braddock and Jack Crabb, Claire Bloom's Ophelia, juliet and Lady Ann, Janet Suzman's Cleopatra, Hedda and Alexandra, Kirk Douglas's Van Gogh and Spartacus, Stephen Fry's Oscar Wilde and Malvolio, Howard da Silva's Franklin, Lauren Bacall's Margo Channing, Bebe Newirth's Velma Kelly, Joanna Gleason's Baker's Wife....

Gevalt... who could live in such a world?













Updated On: 12/18/14 at 10:44 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:51am

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 10:54am

Rybka - if the last three years have been any indication, this one-night-only event will not be recorded or televised.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 11:23am

Between all the schlemiels k'vetching when a frequently typecast actor gets cast against type and all the schlemazels k'vetching that frequently typecast actors are always the same in everything they do - and I have my suspicions that sometimes, ironically, these schmendricks are exactly the same mitten drinnen k'vetching out of both sides of their punims - one could really go stark raving meshuggeh!

"Sure, he's an actor so he can morph into any role. But, if that was the case for all actors then why wasn't Cheyenne Jackson, Nick Adams, or Gavin Creel given the role? Because they're all wrong for it."

Actors have ranges. Most of them.

Actors can be right for some things and wrong for others.

(The only inconsistency between the above two statements would be a completely imaginary one)

The issue isn't whether Jordan or any of these gentleman can morph into "any role." The issue is how well Jordan might play Leo Frank.

Just because you've never seen him do anything like Leo Frank, doesn't mean he can't. Or shouldn't.

by the way, Jordan played Charley - a role that no doubt many would not think him right for - to Darren Criss's Franklin and America Ferrera's Mary in Six by Sondheim. And it didn't strike me as bad casting at all. Quite the opposite.






Updated On: 12/18/14 at 11:23 AM

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 12:37pm

Have the majority of comments attended the previous MCP's productions? Casting is considered based off of the fact that it is a concert version. Yes, they'll probably be movement like Titanic and Ragtime, but it's a concert. Lea Salonga, while beautiful and voice, would never play Mother in Ragtime for the obvious reasons. Titanic had a reunion of sorts, with many original cast members appearing in terrific performances and awful performances (Captain Smith, ow!). Titanic seemed to fit the idea that people who loved the score 15 years ago can hear the score with a complete orchestra and most of the original voices. Ragtime fit the idea that contemporary and current Broadway stars could sing the gorgeous score with a complete orchestra. It seems Parade is doing the same thing. The previous two years were excellent concerts. I'm sure Parade will be, too.

I caught the Ford's Theatre production of Parade a few years ago, and Euan Morton (who is not American) pulled off the role flawlessly. Background doesn't seem to affect the role at all. I'm sure Jeremy Jordan will give myself and other concert attendee's our money's worth.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 12:45pm

"Lea Salonga, while beautiful and voice, would never play Mother in Ragtime for the obvious reasons."

What obvious reasons?

[tazber]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 12:51pm

She's too white to play Mother.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/18/14 at 12:57pm

Oh, right. Sorry. Thank you. Sorry.