KISMET dream cast

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 2:25pm

What's your dream cast of KISMET?

Lalume: Audra
Poet: Norm Lewis
Marsinah: Sierra Boggess
Caliph: Aaron Lazar
Wazir: Norbert Leo Butz

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 3:40pm

Love this show! Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie were pretty much perfect in the Encores concert back in 2006, but if I have to choose new people:

Poet--Marc Kudisch
Lalume--Emily Skinner
Marsinah--Anne Hathaway
Caliph--Steven Pasquale
Wazir--Nathan Lane

[Steffie2]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 4:05pm

Poet - James Barbour or Richard White
Lalume - Catherine Zeta-Jones or Kelli O'Hara
Marsinah - Josefina Scaglione
Caliph - James Anest or Aaron Tveit
Wazir - Brian Stokes Mitchell


Updated On: 7/18/09 at 04:05 PM

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 8:24pm

Both great casts!
I've had "Not Since Nineveh" stuck in my head for days- Julia Migenes' rendition on the studio recording is incredible!

[kec]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 8:34pm

Poet: Michael Ball (played the role in London -- fantastic!!!)
Lalume: Faith Prince (played the role in London -- she and Michael worked extremely well together)
Marsinah: Anne Hathaway
Caliph: Alfie Boe was in the London Cast as well, and I really liked him in the role, but I'm thinking Adam Jacobs would be good as well
Wazir: Nathan Lane.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 9:38pm

Hadj: Brian Stokes Mitchell -- he still has the best pipes in the business and can be wicked as hell in the right part.
Caliph: Cheyenne Jackson
Marsinah: Kristen Chenowith -- She's operatically trained and could do wonders with the music as long as she keeps the cutseyness out of it.
Lalume: Audra McDonald -- God knows she's got the voice for it AND she's a fine comedienne, although that aspect of her talents is on view too rarely.
Wazir: Marc Kudisch -- his smarminess would be perfect, IMO.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 10:05pm

Bwaylvsong, I'd see that without hesitation! (And I don't even particularly like Kismet.)

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 11:21pm

Thanks, Schmerg! Kismet takes some getting used to, but once you're used to it you're hooked. I highly recommend the studio recording. It even has a (very odd) cameo by Mandy Patinkin!
Ed, I actually thought of Cheno for Lalume. She's a bit too old for Marsinah, though I'd see her play anyone!

[jewishboy]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 11:48pm

I love Kismet and would love to see a revival. I think that the best recorded version of "Not Since Nineveh" is Joan Diener's original by far. Second is Judy Kaye's, then Migenes's verson.

Hadj: Brian Stokes Mitchell- I think he should be given a second chance. With a longer rehearsal time I think his comic timing would be sharper (and he had GREAT chemistry with Marin Mazzie). If not Stokes, then Marc Kudisch. Norm Lewis does not have the musical comedy chops/presence to do this role.
Lalume- Marin Mazzie, she was too perfect in the Encores! concert, has to be seen again!!
Caliph: Stephen Pasquale or Brian D'Arcy James (I think he has the voice to pull this off)
Marsinah: Sierra Boggess (nice choice!) or Jennifer Hope Wills
Wazir: Norbert Leo Butz, Gregg Edelman, or Danny Burstein

[jo]

Posted: 7/18/09 at 11:53pm

I agree with KEC - Michael Ball did an excellent job in the role of the Poet in the English National Opera production in London. He did have very good chemistry with Faith Prince.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 12:54am

I love Diener's version, I just think Migenes uses more interesting placement. I enjoyed listening to her navigate her different registers within seconds. I'll need to look for Kaye's version, though!
I'd love to see Stokes and Mazzie (KMK is my favorite show of all time), but I thought the rule for dream casts is that you can't use people you know have played the roles before.

[monestere]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 2:36am

The most fantastic performance of "Not Since Nineveh" I have ever heard is by Dolores Gray in the otherwise lackluster 1955 film version of "Kismet". Gray's flawless phrasing with appropriate innuendo will send chills up your spine and Conrad Salinger's orchestration is a great improvement over the Broadway version although I agree that Diener's is by far the best vocal of the song from a stage or studio recording of "Kismet".

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 10:53am

Joan Diener was a one-of-a-kind performer. She could sing the s__t out of anything, was sexy as all getout and a great comedienne. She also blew the role of Aldonza/Dulcinea off the planet and has never been equaled in that role. I've heard rumors that she could be temperamental and the fact that she was married to Albert Marre didn't help matters. However, I think the basic reason that her career didn't go further than it did was that there's just not that many roles out there that require her unique combination of talents. There's no dearth of sexy women out there; there's a healthy number of fine comediennes; and there are a few with operatic-like voices. But all in one package? It doesn't happen all that often.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/19/09 at 9:55pm

I agree, though I must say Mastrantonio was phenomenal and I would have loved to see Mazzie.
And wasn't Diener married to Mitch Leigh?

[jewishboy]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 11:00pm

I saw Mazzie as Aldonza/Dulcinea and she was phenomenal! I don't think Mastantonio can hold a candle to her and especially Diener. I was listening to the OBCR of Kismet today and just have to say that Rahadlakum aslo shows off Diener's sensuality so well, not to mention Drake's comedic skills. There pairing in that song might be the highlight for me on that whole recording!

But back to the casting, I think Jose Llana would make a great Caliph...