Katie Finneran is Broadways new Hannigan- Page 4

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 8:49am

"An earlier post wrote that he thought Katie Finneran was too young for the part -- she is 42, Dorothy Loudon was 44 when the original production opened."

But Loudon looked matronly. Finneran looks like a retired flight attendant.

I have no doubt she has the comic chops to pull off the role, but unless they work magic with makeup and costumes, everyone is going to be thinking "She's pretty enough to get a husband, why is she singing the lyrics in Little Girls "I'll admit, no man has bit"?"

What the role needs is what in the old days was called an "old broad", a woman who is a bit coarse and loud, an Elaine Stritch circa 1970s.

My fear of Finneran is that she will come across as a comic parody of Mary-Louise Parker in Angels in America.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:29am

But Goth, Loudons Hannigan was also strangely sexy; almost as if one of the strippers from Gypsy had retired to run an orphanage- she wasn't just a frump - and I think Loudon was a better looking woman out of the wig and matronly costume than you are giving her credit for

Updated On: 5/26/12 at 09:29 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:46am

Interesting thought: both women have done Noises Off. Loudon was in the original as Dotty; Finneran was in the revival as Brooke.

And whoever stated their ages above is wrong. Finneran is just 40, where Loudon was in her 50s when she did the role.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:51am

Goth, one of the reasons so many of us love Finneran, among many, is that she has a wonderfully heartbreaking softness and vulnerability (which made her Amy extremely effective, and makes me think she would be an ideal Dolly). But that lovable core isn't all there is, and I don't share your view that it will take costume and makeup "magic" for Hannigan to convincingly emerge from this exceptionally talented actress. It may even be the case that the foundation of her radiant and very womanly - for lack of a better word - warmth - which Loudon also had in spades - will be just what it takes to make Hannigan, in the Broadway musical villain sense, likable.

Updated On: 5/26/12 at 09:51 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:54am

>And whoever stated their ages above is wrong. Finneran is just 40, where Loudon was in her 50s when she did the role.<

Dorothy Loudon was born in 1933 and was 43 when Annie opened in 1977. Finneran is 41.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 10:04am

I'm sure minimal make-up will be okay. It's not like Donna Murphy actually looks like a sick recluse. They didn't have a separate "older, uglier" actress to play the witch in the entire first act of Into the Woods while Bernadette sipped cocktails in her dressing room.

A bad wig, overdone blush and lipstick, and a mole will do wonders.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 10:27am

IBDB lists Loudon as being born in 1925.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 11:16am

To say that the only reason Hannigan would be believable as not able to get a man is because she's unattractive is really reductive and shallow, and the thought that the character has to be portrayed as some spinster hag is (I find) bordering on offensive. When she sings "no man has bit," who's to say she's not simply referring to her past relationships not achieving any kind of longevity? She's not exactly saying she's completely devoid of romantic affection by any means.

As others have pointed out, Dorothy Loudon didn't exactly fit the description many people here seem to associate with the role. That perception came much later after the series of productions that cast the part older and older.

Finneran is a completely inspired choice. She's reliable enough to ensure she'll score big in the part but also different enough to present a fresh, bold new interpretation of material many people think they know inside and out. Her comments in the Patrick Healy interview show that she already has some really interesting ideas about how to approach her take on it, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Updated On: 5/26/12 at 11:16 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 11:34am

NY Times says 1933.
Loudon obituary

[Kad]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 11:44am

"No man has bit" because Hannigan has very few, if any, redeeming personality traits. It doesn't matter if she's pretty or not.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 12:52pm

"NY Times says 1933."

Because an actress would never shave a few years off her age.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 3:23pm

What the role needs is what in the old days was called an "old broad", a woman who is a bit coarse and loud, an Elaine Stritch circa 1970s.

See I do not think the role needs that. Pretty much every recent production up until this point has had Miss Hannigan played as an old broad. Why not have a different take on the role. Andrea McArdle did not play the role as an old broad, and her approach was wonderful and worked great. This revival is a new production. Why not have a new take on the character? And I do not think Katie Finneran looks like a retired flight attendant... the line about "no man has bit" does not just apply to her appearance. As Kad said, Miss Hannigan has no redeeming personality traits.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 4:13pm

IMDB also says 1933.
Dorothy Loudon

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 4:33pm

Wikipedia says 1925
Dorothy Loudon

[BdwyFan]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 4:46pm

Absolutely perfect and can't wait to get tickets. I heard the group pre-sales are booking quickly! This is gonna be a hit revival!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 5:07pm

I'd take the NY Times and IMDB for accuracy over the error-laden Wikipedia (which uses equally error-prone IBDB as its source). She also made her nightclub debut at the age of 21 in 1954, after going to Syracuse and AADA, which bears her being born in 1933. Had she been born in the 1925, she would have been in her 20s in the 1940s - but nothing in her biography indicates any professional credits earlier than 1954.

Also - here is a NY Times feature on her in Annie, dated April 28, 1977, where she is referred to as "the 44-year-old actress".
Annie Hates Her; Audiences Love Her

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 11:30pm

As much as I love the idea of Katie playing Miss Hannigan we have to remember that this revival is being directed by James Lapine. The once brilliant visionary who is now so lazy he couldn't even direct a decent staged Encores production of "Merrily"-- a show he's directed at least once before! He privately derides most Broadway shows and admits he only takes on directing them for the paycheck--he disliked the very IDEA of a musical version of "Little Miss Sunshine" yet agreed to (sloppily) direct it. For a show that needs so much sincerity to work (we saw what happened last revival) the very idea that "Annie" is being headed by such a cynic gives me immediate pause.

Updated On: 5/26/12 at 11:30 PM

[theaternut]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 12:17am

And where do you get this information?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 1:15am

...Yeah I would like to know that as well. I have a hard time seeing a director saying in an interview that all he cares about is the money.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 2:34am

I was all set to defend the 1933 birth year, but her tombstone clearly says 1925, and that is set in stone. Updated On: 5/27/12 at 02:34 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 7:19am

I see that is the case! Sorry Gotham - I stand corrected.

Updated On: 5/27/12 at 07:19 AM

[raker]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 9:41pm

To me, Katie Finneran will always be the person who didn't show up at Promises, Promises the day I did.

[alovingfan]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 10:08pm

I had also hear about Chris Seiber. Not sure if he had said something a few weeks ago on his fb or if somewhere else.

[alovingfan]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 10:09pm

Heard.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 5/30/12 at 10:10am

Our friends over at All That Chat are saying Brynn O'Malley as Grace. I think she'd be a lovely choice. She's incredibly talented and so beautiful.

Updated On: 5/30/12 at 10:10 AM