Kelli O'Hara slams Frank Wildhorn...- Page 3

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:11pm

whew... ok... i was almost embarrassed to post that i couldn't find it... glad i wasn't the only one

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:11pm

Well, actually, Kelli said it was SUPPOSED to be a body suit at first, and then it wasn't. And believe me, I was sitting in the orchestra and she was definitely naked.

ColorOfFlame--to expand upon what Thenardier wrote, Kelli had said, to paraphrase, "Dracula was my second show for Frank, and neither of them have been good experiences at all," adding that when she did J&H, she thought to herself, "This is what I've been waiting my whole life for?" (re: her Broadway debut). She also commented on how she was "deceived" by the whole nudity thing in Dracula, because they didn't tell her about it until rehearsals started. She also complained about the whole Dracula cast recording debacle. That was pretty much it.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:11pm

Them taking it down means they don't want to be the medium in which they incite the wrath of Wildhorn or other ego-fragile Broadway folks. They would rather be uncontroversial and appease as many industry people as possible. No biggie. I already updated my previous post. I won't be twisting any tits to hear this one. CTRL-F is pretty much my limit.



ETA: Thanks, Distinctive Baritone. That's much tamer than other people here were hyping it to be! It's refreshing to see some candid honesty in interviews once in a while.

Updated On: 8/26/05 at 06:11 PM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:12pm

In the playbill article, it didn't seem her difficulties with Wildhorn were about the nudity (which he had nothing to do with anyway), but with the way the "cast" album was handled. In any case, there was no "slamming". She basically expressed her disappointment that the actual cast was not allowed to do the recording. Quite politely - no name-calling or personal attacks. There were no "juicy parts". I can't imagine why it would have been deleted.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:13pm

DB - that's what I did not say on purpose. It's obvious that was what was cut out.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:15pm

Yeah, I know you're in love with Kelli, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:17pm

I have more interest in Kelli now that I know she isn't just a PR-friendly sound-bite actress. This motivated me to actually look at your Kelli site and see what's shakin', Nard, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Be glad!

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:18pm

Ha!

Thanks Tiff.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:22pm

Yeah, don't worry Thenardier. This won't hurt Kelli's career at all, especially since they removed the comments. Even if they hadn't, the only person who would have been offended is Wildhorn himself, and obviously she doesn't want to work with him again anyway.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:24pm

Oh, I'm not worried.

Just torn.

I like Kelli.

I like Wildhorn.

I discovered Kelli through Wildhorn.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:25pm

Thanks Baritone...

I didn't think what she said wasn't bad or bitchy. Just honest. I don't see what the big deal is.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:26pm

heh, I don't either.

But Playbill has something to say about it.

[cfm3]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:49pm

As originally posted:

Q: Last season was an interesting one for you — going from Dracula to Piazza. What was the Dracula experience like for you? Was there any good portion of it?

O'Hara: There's not much to complain about if you know there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I knew going in [that] they gave me a six-month contract, which is unusual, because I knew there was no way I would even do [Dracula] if I couldn't leave to do Piazza. At the time I was still going to play Franca, but I didn't care — I was on board. I knew I was leaving in December, and then, of course, we closed.

As [Dracula] started going and we started rehearsing, I knew it was going to be a little more of a challenge. [Even though] it was one of the easiest things I've ever done — as far as going up there, singing a few frilly songs and then dying — I wasn't proud. I made wonderful friends though. The whole nudity thing was a mystery to me. I was actually kind of deceived about it. I wasn't told about it until rehearsals, and then after that I was supposed to have a body suit on. I'm not complaining, I'm not modest . . . . And then the recording with Frank Wildhorn [when he approached non cast members to record the show's score]. I don't hesitate to be honest about this. I like [director] Des McAnuff. I enjoyed working with him. But this is my second show for Frank, and neither of them has been good experiences at all. [The first was] Jekyll and Hyde, which was my first Broadway show and just about made me say, "This is what I dreamed of my whole life?" [Laughs.]

It was the last time that I'll do that. At the time I had been doing Light in the Piazza all over the country for two years and had made very little money. And I said, "Piazza's going to be at Lincoln Center. [Dracula is] going to be six months of some money." And that's basically what it came down to, and every once in a while in our careers we have to do that. But, of course, I loved people like Tom [Hewitt] and Melissa [Errico]. I enjoyed working with people. . . . I really didn't want it to affect my image — if I had an image at all or at least if I was trying to build one. I remember that article that came out in the [New York] Post with our pictures about our nudity. This is just not who I am. I'm not Paris Hilton — bad publicity is not good publicity for me. I didn't want to have anything to do with it. I couldn't wait to get to something like The Light in the Piazza and try to redeem myself.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:58pm

Thanks for posting that.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:26pm

just a thought...Has it occured to you that perhaps Kelli may have decided or been advised to have certain parts of that deleted?

This would not be the first time someone decided it would be in their best interest to take the high road in a less than favorable situation.

Updated On: 8/26/05 at 07:26 PM

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:28pm

Cha, I love when people are honest... plus, it's Kelli O'Hara... how can you possibly look at her and not love her? Someone made the Sara Ramirez comment, and I have to say that I would probably be calling Sara some nasty things if it was her, but what can I say, I love Kelli.

But, you know, it really doesn't make her look bad, because Kelli isn't known to be someone who goes around bad-mouthing people. Greg Eddlemen did Seth's show and said how Mickey from the Monkeys was a complete jackass, but no one held that against him. They were both just telling the truth, and there is nothing to be ashamed about in that.

Power to the people! lol

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:28pm

Which means PM that snippet, but don't post it.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:35pm

she's sounds cool to me. i love honest people.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:06pm

That really sucks. So what if you don't think you came off as so great in an article? You said it, you agreed to the interview, so you live up to it.

I'm a journalism student -- and we're taught to never, ever bow down to the interview subject. Don't let them or anyone else outside your newsroom control the final story. That's just sloppy journalism.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:08pm

Perhaps it wasn't Kelli who told them to take it down.

Or perhaps they read this thread.

[Born2cthelightsofbway]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:16pm

For some reason I didn't see the parts where she slammed Frank Wildhorn so could someone please copy and paste them here? Thanks so much!

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:16pm

I think it's honest... we don't know the feeling of putting so much into a show, and having it not do well in her type of situation. I don't think she was being rude, but just truthful about her past experiences on the Broadway stage.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:27pm

I don't think she really even slammed Frank Wildhorn, per se. Just the circumstances for both shows, which were Wildhorn productions. (And Born2cthelights, I take it you haven't read most of this thread, or even the post, like, 8 above yours? )

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:28pm

Born2cthelightsofbway, try scrolling up.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 10:01pm

Actually try going to page 2...they deleted it for censorship...silly silly silly.