John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013 — Page 3

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#51

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 3:54pm

It seems like Kuhn is suggested as being ideal for roles all the time on here, but never seems to actually play any of them. I for one am excited to see her in this, though I will admit I have very little knowledge of this show/how Kuhn will actually be in the role. I'm happy that I'll get to see her in anything.

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

#52

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:00pm

Ljay, you could offer us your opinion of who you would have liked to have seen instead and/or why you don't think they are right for the roles. But when posters say that are 'bored' with casting like Donna Murphy in INTO THE WOODS or the casting here (just about perfect all the way around) I don't get it.

#53

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:05pm

I'm not overwhelmed with joy at the announcement, but I'm really excited about the prospect of seeing Passion live in such an intimate space. I hope I'll be able to go. I had been hoping to see Laura Benanti and Kate Baldwin as Fosca and Clara (and dreaming mentioned Nina Arianda as Fosca, which I LOVED), but what can you do?

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

#54

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:08pm

I'm really excited!

I think Kuhn has one of the most gorgeous voices I've ever heard, and I imagine she'll sing the #@%& out of this score. And we've seen so little of her in such a long time.

Updated On: 4/19/12 at 04:08 PM

#55

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:17pm

Can't you just HEAR her 'Look at me...No, Captain, look at me'?

Ugh...cannot wait.

#56

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:18pm

Saw her do Fosca in DC, she was great, musically much better than Murphy was.

#57

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:24pm

Fosca is not really a role you cast a non-singer in. I love the idea of someone like Nina Arianda having the secret vocal chops to pull off a role like this, but I think that's awfully romantic. I also mentioned this in the other thread, but by her own admission, Laura Benanti doesn't have the lower range necessary to sing Fosca.

Updated On: 4/19/12 at 04:24 PM

#58

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:28pm

I've never heard her sing, so I'm not sure how strong she is, but Arianda did say in her Show People interview that she'd done musicals and was open to doing a musical in the future.

#59

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:31pm

I know but its big difference in saying, I've done musicals and am open to being in one then starring in one of Sondheim's most complicated musicals when you've never done a major singing role.

#60

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 4:33pm

Oh, yes, I definitely think there's a big difference. Wishful thinking on my part, I know.

#61

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 6:56pm

If Arianda had a great singing voice I might have to stop being an agnostic.

#62

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 7:17pm

This is great casting. I can't wait to see what Doyle does with it in a small venue - it really is a chamber musical.

#63

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 7:45pm

I would be shocked if ljay offered a suggestion here. He usually just criticizes other people's suggestions and stops right there.

Very safe.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#64

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 8:30pm

I *love* Kuhn, vocally. I'm not sure if I've ever even seen video of her, but I have and am familiar with some of her big shows (Miz, Chess, Pocahontas

) and some of her studio recordings (like her perfect cover of Sondheim's What Can You Lose?) are also favorites of mine. I think she'd make a great Fosca, and agree that on stage, particularly playing a woman who I believe due to sickness should look older rather than younger, I think it's good casting.

So... I don't wanna ruffle too many feathers, but I've read from several people over the year that have said she doesn't have good stage presence (one critic in particular said that her eyes look "dead", surely an exageration...). Anyone have any comment on that?

#65

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 9:09pm

Eric I'm not sure what review that was but I've seen Kuhn in a number of things and have always found her completely vital and exciting to watch. She was transcendent when she played Fosca at rhe Kennedy Center with some reviewers thinking her vulnerability ultimately making her even more successful in the role than Murphy

#66

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 9:19pm

Thanks MB--goodto hear. SHe does have one of my favorite theatre voices. It wasn't just one review, it's been several comments and reviews I've read maybe over the past 5 years or so (and I've certainly read many more glowing ones,but that's always stuck in my mind)

#67

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 9:22pm

There are lots of clips of her on YouTube but the RAGS tony performance is one of my favorites.
Kuhn- Rags

#68

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/19/12 at 11:24pm

I love in that clip, when she repeats a lyric because of the shortened awards show version of the song, and carries it perfectly.

#69

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/20/12 at 2:46pm

"I'm so happy I could die.. right now... here in your arms... that is, if you'd put down that viola."

#70

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/22/12 at 11:30pm

Kuhn and Errico are fine casting, but having just watched Patti and Audra in the PBS version recently, along with the amazing Michael Cerveris, I cannot imagine a better production with a more incredible cast.

#71

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/22/12 at 11:39pm

I can. While I think Patti is good, I don't think it completely erases Donna Murphy's incredible acting in say "I Read" etc.., so I still think it is conceivable others can still do a good job.

I also really do not think Michael Cerveris is good looking enough for that role. I know it sounds shallow and I've probably got the tastes of a 17 year old teenage girl. But I'd like to see someone truly stunning play the part, which would make the dynamics between Fosca and Georgia very interesting (see a photo of the guy from Passion D'Amore, above)

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

Updated On: 4/22/12 at 11:39 PM

#72

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/23/12 at 8:43am

Patti sang the SH*T out of Fosca, but I don't think she got anywhere near the emotional range I saw in Donna Murphy's or Judy Kuhn's (at KC) performances. Of course, it's a role she's performed maybe five times in total, as opposed to a year-long run on Broadway or a month-long regional production, so that's not a slight.

Having seen Kuhn play Fosca already, I can testify that she really is that good in the role. I can't wait to see her again. Also, I really hope they don't stick a blonde wig on Errico.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#73

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/23/12 at 9:25am

I, too, hope this leads to Judy Kuhn playing major roles in New York on a regular basis again. I wouldn't call it a "comeback," since she's worked pretty consistently within the community the last few years (including doing Fantine in LES MIS on Broadway,) but parts that she's right for just don't come around much like they used to. She had such a hot streak so early in her career that it feels strange to not see her take her place with some of her great contemporaries who were able to establish more longevity in their careers.

I'm still hoping she'll get the opportunity to do NEXT TO NORMAL regionally in the coming years. That was a piece that seemed totally ideally suited to her many gifts.

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: 4/23/12 at 09:25 AM

#74

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/23/12 at 11:12am

I agree, Judy Kuhn as 'Diana' in NEXT TO NORMAL would be divine! I am so excited to see Judy as 'Fosca'. She is in my top 3 favorite Broadway actresses of all time!

I really hope we continue to see more of Kuhn as well. Preferably in new works. I so want her to get the Tony Award she deserves!

#75

John Doyle to Helm PASSION at Classic Stage Company in 2013

Posted: 4/23/12 at 3:15pm

Didn't Kuhn take a bit of time off when she started a family, which would account for her diminished presence in the late nineties/early 2000s? And for why she only seemed to appear in concerts and limited-run shows (like PASSION at KC or ELI'S COMIN') for a while.

I remember she was announced to replace Maria Friedman in THE WOMAN IN WHITE on Broadway, but the show closed before she went in.

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