Perhaps Laura will be a replacement for waitress? Maybe they need Jessie to open the show. I'd love to see Laura also be a replacement for Kelli In K&I
We'll see if Jessie would only be taking over for Laura Benanti for the ART run like what Jeremy Jordan was doing for Matthew Morrison in Finding Neverland...
Well. Morrison is a TV star (ish), Jordan is not. Mueller and Benanti are both Tony winners, I doubt one would replace the other at least in that respect. Not really the same situation.
One episode on the Good Wife, a handful of Nurse Jackie episodes, and 8 episodes of Nashville doesn't really equal a tv star. She is getting more television roles, though.
According to this casting call, almost all of the principal roles have been offered and accepted. We can guess that a Jessie will be playing Jenna, but all of the others are big question marks. Any ideas, insight, or insider info? My dream cast for this (I really like the movie):
Jenna: Jessie Muller Earl: Jeremy Jordan Dawn: Annaleigh Ashford Becky: Sherie Rene Scott or Orfeh Dr. Polmatter: Raul Eaparza Cal: Anyone really, maybe an unknown? Joe: Joel Grey Lulu: Some unknown, up and coming child star
I think Joel Grey is pretty far fetched, but it is, after all my DREAM cast :)
In the recent workshop, am I correct that Bryce Pinkham played Dr. Polmatter, Barrett Weed played Dawn, Keala Settle played Becky, and Andy Karl played Earl? Would love to see some of them continue with the show, especially Bryce Pinkham.
From what I remember of the film, Jessie does seem like a better fit for the role. I have always found Benanti to be hard. (Would love to see her back on the boards, too!)
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Jessie is probably the better fit vocally for the score. I haven't heard it, but given her style of music, I think Jessie is a better fit. Remember Benanti in Wedding Singer? Pop music isn't for her.
And people love Pinkham, but i don't think he's that strong of an actor or singer. He was terrible in Ghost (but the music he was given was awful) and I didn't think he was anything special in Gentlemen's Guide. To each his own!
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
I've been excited about this show since I first heard a recording of Sara Bareilles singing "She Used to Be Mine" (a song from Waitress) during her tour this summer. I'm a huge fan of Bareilles - as both a vocalist and a writer. She writes beautiful, complicated music and lyrics and I'm always happy to hear more of her work.
I hope that having Jessie Mueller leading the show will be the icing on the cake. Should be interesting to see how it all comes together up in Boston and hopefully a transfer follows. Again, if the show is good, having Mueller's name attached will undoubtedly help toward that goal.
Found this when I was looking for more "Benanti workshopping Waitress" bit of news I found in the other thread. Was kind of fun to actually read all of this (Bryce Pinkham? Benanti?) This would have been such a different show.
One thing which I actually found quite fascinating was how hushed She Loves Me was. I mean, no one was talking about it for Benanti as late as Jan 2015.
Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.