Kelli O'Hara Piazza Part Swap

[bwayalltheway]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:53pm

I am very curious as to why Kelli O'Hara had played Franca in the out of town productions of The Light in the Piazza, then played Clara when the show opened on Broadway. I tried doing a search but nothing came up when I looked. I know Celia Keenan Bolger was attached to Spelling Bee, thus not being open for Piazza on Broadway, but how did Kelli in the role come about? I love her Clara and could only imagine how beautiful she must have sounded as Franca, but I haven't heard of many part swaps like this, especially when it comes to two critical roles within the show. If anyone has any answers they could be greatly appreciated.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:57pm

In an interview Kelli said that Ceelia was reading to young to portray a sexually aware 26 year old girl, so she was fired and Kelli was promoted up because she could read young and older at the same time.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:58pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Kelli was set to replace Celia before the SPELLING BEE move was confirmed. Something about her being a better fit for the part in the eyes of the creative team. I'm sure she sounded wonderful as Franca, but her age and physical type made her a stronger choice for Clara (and she had amazing chemistry with Victoria Clark).

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:59pm

I've heard and read that the creatives felt Keenan-Bolger just read too young for Clara, regardless of how they styled her. So I think she was let go from Piazza and THEN went into Spelling Bee, as opposed to leaving Piazza for Spelling Bee.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 10:36pm

And then Celia went onto play a jaded alcoholic in the first act of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. And she wasn't half bad.

So much for being too young. Kelli was terrific as Clara, though.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:13pm

Adam had a Lot to do with this casting.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:14pm

LOL. Yeah, I've heard that, too.

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:18pm

According to interviews of both Celia and Kelli, it was a combination of Celia looking too young, and Guettel wanting a more operatic sound. I thought that part sounded a bit odd since so much of Clara's material seemed (to me) to be sung with a straight tone.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:39pm

Yeah, it was her voice he liked.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 1:25am

And then Celia went onto play a jaded alcoholic in the first act of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. And she wasn't half bad.

So much for being too young.

Yeah, but that was ten years later. What she ended up doing immediately after Piazza was playing a child.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 1:46am

great point lte, an Adult child, which is why I would have loved to have seen her Clara.

Kelli was wonderful in the role but I thought the Adam/Kelli thing was common knowledge.

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 7:48am

Celia has mentioned in a few interviews that she often does get stuck playing very 'young' parts. She was 13 in Peter & the Starcatcher, but I think the role of Molly is still a nice, juicy, challenging role. She seems happy with playing those roles now, but I think she does want to play 'older', hence Merrily.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 8:44am

Luvtheemcee beat me to it by explaining that Merrily was ten years after PIazza.

Moreover, some of you are talking as if Mary Flynn in Merrily is a boozy embittered middle aged woman.

She is, but in one scene. Then, for the rest of the show, she ages. BACKWARDS!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 11:18am

She does, but only to the age of a college student, which is different from playing a child. And the thing about Merrily is that no matter who you cast, at some point in the show, they're going to be age inappropriate for the part and it's going to be a stretch of the imagination for the audience. That's just part of Merrily, and there's nothing wrong with it.

The other thing worth mentioning about the young parts Celia is playing, like Olive and Molly, is that these are parts in shows where the choice was explicitly made to have adults playing children. It's not like she's being swapped in for real children in parts that are meant to be played by kids who are actually ten or thirteen or whatever. If they'd wanted to use real kids in these shows, surely they could have, but they've chosen to tell the stories differently.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 11:58am

Celia reads young on stage- not anywhere near her 35 years. She will be playing young roles for a long time. I'm sure the same will happen with her brother, too. They are just extremely youthful looking actors, it's the cards they've been dealt.

[Billypr]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 4:14am

http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/kelli_ohara

[Billypr]

Posted: 7/2/13 at 4:14am

http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/kelli_ohara