Joanna Gleason as Anna in The King And I

[random person 112]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:28pm

Yeah or nah i think she would be far more approiate than some of the other women mentioned.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:32pm

Mentioned where?

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:32pm

She's in her sixties now...and even when she was younger, could she ever have sang it?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:33pm

Love her to pieces, but isn't she a bit long in the tooth to have a young son?

[random person 112]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:36pm

On this message board dramamamma and as for age i always liked my annas older she needs to have a certain sophistication and she should be on the older side so her sophistication is more belivable. Where as i think someone like benanti or o'hara who have been mentioned would read possibly too young and she's only six years older than jan maxwell who's been brought up as well.
So wasn't bernadette a little long in the tooth to have a seven year old brother in annie get your gun. Updated On: 9/1/11 at 09:36 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:40pm

I love her as well, but I don't think she could handle the vocals even if she was a suitable age.


A different age brought different sensibilities... ie. the sophistication you spoke of.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:53pm

So wasn't bernadette a little long in the tooth to have a seven year old brother in annie get your gun.

A review for the Ravinia concert with LuPone brought up the age issue but said that there's no reason Annie couldn't be pulling one over on everyone and those "siblings" are actually her children. I don't know how much I actually like that interpretation, but it could work.

That being said, Gleason is a bit old. (And I still want to see a revival starring Kate Baldwin, who I don't think reads too young. Neither does Benanti, for that matter.)

[random person 112]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:54pm

We can say benanti dosn't read that young NOW but in a few months when people start seeing her as a playboy bunny...

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:59pm

The music isn't really that difficult. The score was not written for a great singer. Lawrence was a great talent, but her vocals are very shaky on the cast recording.

Angela Lansbury also had no trouble singing the score.
Updated On: 9/1/11 at 09:59 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:00pm

Where exactly have Joanna Gleason and Jan Maxwell been mentioned in connection to The King and I? I don't recall any threads discussing their potential casting.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:43pm

I understand the age issue, but handle the vocals? The role was written for Gertrude Lawrence's 5 (generally flat) note range.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 11:25pm

Not that I wanna see Benanti as Anna, but she is playing the Mother Hen in the Playboy show. The oldest of the crop.
Joanna Gleason and Jan Maxwell are terrible casting ideas, as talented as they are.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 4:57am

Lawrence was in her mid 50's when she played the role. She was playing it at 54 and certainly didn't have a fantastically strong voice. The role was written for her. The role was written for a strong actress that can sing, and I believe Gleason would be great in the role.

[random person 112]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 6:52am

both have mentioned in previous threads in connection to a possible king and i revival at least maxwell has been mentioned.
I do as well and who's to say gleason couldn't be made to look younger with some makeup it's done wonders for peters, mcentire and lansbury...

[Overkill]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 8:35am

I don't think it has to do with her age so much as her singing. If I saw Miss Gleason in the role right now, I'd buy it completely. She doesn't look like a granny just yet, but the simple fact is, she does not have the voice for it. Acting, yes. Singing, no.

I'm ready to see her in a really good role again, though. LOVED her in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 9:21am

When will people like the OP learn that just because someone is "mentioned" on a Broadway message board doesn't mean there's any truth to it? Anyone can "mention" anyone for any role here and someone is bound to take it for gospel truth.

[madbrian]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 9:38am

Joanna Gleason is a terrific actress and a wonderful singer. And she is completely wrong for Anna. I see no reason to revive The King And I, however if Kate Baldwin were cast as Anna, I'd find my way to see it.

[figaroindy]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:03am

AP - I'd imagine they'll learn it at the same time they learn not to talk about a topic if they don't know anything about it....the role of Anna has a 1 octave range, tops, and could be sung by a chimp. I'm not opining on whether Gleason is right for the role, don't really care, but she's definitely got the voice for it...anyone has the voice for it. Gleason has too much voice for it, probably.

That said, the poster who pointed out that Gertrude Lawrence was in her 50s (and had a very marginal voice) was correct.

I admit I saw Shirley Jones play the role (also in her 60s) and it was good. It's the acting age, not real age, that probably matters.
Updated On: 9/2/11 at 11:03 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:14am

AP - I'd imagine they'll learn it at the same time they learn not to talk about a topic if they don't know anything about it....the role of Anna has a 1 octave range, tops, and could be sung by a chimp.


It's AC, and apologies, but I wasn't familiar with the role's range. Considering that most people who have played the role since Lawrence--Constance Towers, Mary Beth Piel, Donna Murphy, Faith Prince, Carolee Carmello--are singers with impressive ranges (and in the case of Piel, a trained opera singer), I assumed that the score was more difficult than it apparently is. I stand corrected. That said, I'm still not sure how Gleason's name got associated with this and am amused that pretty much anything said on these boards about casting is given weight.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 12:32pm

I saw Angela Lansbury play Anna during Yul Brynner's vacation from the 1970s Broadway revival, AC. Although I've said elsewhere that I very much like Lansbury's singing, she certainly belted the role easily and not at all like the lyric sopranos you mention.

If anything, Joanna Gleason has a "contemporary" feel that might work against her in the role. But, again, so did Gertrude Lawrence. Gleason is a fine actress. I wouldn't put anything past her.

[beagle]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 3:02pm

If I remember right, there was a thread a while back about The King and I and all the names mentioned were wishes, not real casting rumors, since the production itself is just in the "maybe" stage as far as that thread said.

As for Gleason, I'm sure she could sing the role, but I like the idea of casting this role younger. I love the idea of Kate Baldwin.

[Mamie]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 6:03pm

I loved Joanna and Greg J. in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels too. I'd much rather see the two of them together in a revival of "I Do, I Do".

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 9:54pm

I recall Angela using quite a bit of head voice when I saw her in the role.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 10:43pm

AC, no one said she was ever going to be cast or that she was even in discussions for the role. The OP simply remembered a conversation that was going on several months ago. This was around the time South Pacific closed. There was a topic about the wishful possibility of The Lincoln Center doing The King and I. The casting of Anna was talked about and people were suggesting names. It seems the OP had some sort of epiphany while watching or listening to MS. Gleason, and said "Hey, why did no one think of her when this was being discussed?" No one thinks this is real, no one thinks it is going to happen, it's just a hypothetical casting discussion like the other 10,000 hypothetical casting discussions that appear here all the time.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 6:46am

Dollypop, I trust your memory more than mine. Head voice it was!