Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY- Page 2
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #25
Posted: 10/13/11 at 10:17pm
PJ, I was describing what he LOOKS like, not what he is.
Can you even read? Your comprehension is pitiful. Here's what I said. Read slowly this time, so you can actually follow it ...
"Joey should look like a million bucks, from the right side of the tracks, even if he's anything but."
The reason productions of Pal Joey often fall flat is because they cast WITH type instead of AGAINST it. If Joey is obviously at first sight a "fiver un-repaid" as you say, the gig is up. It's "game over."
You wasted all that typing arguing a point I didn't make. My point is: don't cast a villain who looks like a villain. It makes everyone around him look stupid and gullible. Cast AGAINST it, and the audience can at least understand why people fall for his "charms" before they see him for what he really is.
There .. clear enough for you?
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #26
Posted: 10/14/11 at 8:39am
My typing is never wasted. And Tony Yazbeck would be a perfect Pal Joey.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #27
Posted: 10/14/11 at 9:21amWhile I am usually inclined to agree with your casting ideas PJ, I really really really dislike the idea of Tony Yazbeck. I thought he had no distinct personality in either A Chorus Line or Gypsy and definitely no charisma.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #28
Posted: 10/14/11 at 9:52am
I liked him in both.
Oddly, the guy he's in bed with is Matthew Risch, from last year's production of The Sycamore Trees at the Signature Theater in DC.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #29
Posted: 10/14/11 at 10:44am
Matthew Risch was not bad in the Roundabout production, he just had no charisma. You've got to like Joey despite what he is and there are not too many actors who can give you that.
There was once talk of Hugh Jackman taking on the role - he could have made it work. Other than him, Colin Donnell is the best suggestion I've heard.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #30
Posted: 10/14/11 at 10:50amblocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #31
Posted: 10/15/11 at 4:22pmI heard from Kennedy Center folks that they're chasing Audra for Vera, which I don't get. That was when Follies opened so maybe they've moved on. Saw a reading of the Greenburg several years ago with Harry Connick and Glenn Close. He was terrific, she was just wrong.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #32
Posted: 10/15/11 at 5:42pm
Is Terrence McNally still involved with this production? He's not listed on the breakdown, and yet this is supposed to be the premiere of his new book for the show.
The initially scheduled run for this fits right into the GLEE hiatus, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they're going after Matthew Morrison (who could be terrific with the right direction) for Joey. I doubt he'd do it, since he's probably going to tour again during the break between filming, but he's a natural candidate.
Tony Yazbeck has the goods in terms of skill set and type, but I fear he lacks a lot of the "star quality" that similarly crippled Matthew Risch in the Roundabout production. And while I love Colin Donnell, I'm not sold on the idea of him in this role either. He always has a very bright and sunny quality about him, which would be at odds with the darkness of a character like Joey. Watching that clip above, though, I do think Laura Osnes could be quite lovely as Linda.
I'm surprised to hear speculation that they may be thinking of Audra for Vera. I love her, and she can certainly do anything, but I think she still reads too young for someone so worldly. Donna Murphy would indeed be wonderful if she did it again, but she won't go out of town for something that isn't coming to New York. Doesn't Christine Lahti sing? I seem to recall her doing a musical or two earlier in her career. I may be in the minority, but I loved the route Roundabout took of using a real actress first and singer second, and Lahti fits the traits required of the character to the letter.
If they're defining the role of Gladys the way the Roundabout version did, Leslie Kritzer would be a knockout choice.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #33
Posted: 10/15/11 at 6:49pm
I'd rather see Christine Ebersole as Vera.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #34
Posted: 10/15/11 at 7:42pmI'd rather see Marin Mazzie as vera and i doudt she would be 'above' the kennedy center. On another subject possibly emily skinner, no offense but audra just dosn't seem right for vera.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #35
Posted: 10/15/11 at 8:36pm
I liked Christian Hoff and Stockard Channing very much. They had surprisingly sweet chemistry in the bedroom scene.
I'm glad I attended early on and saw the show before Hoff left.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #36
Posted: 10/15/11 at 8:55pm
Given Chris Ashley's history directing Cheyenne Jackson, I would think he's on the table for Joey as well.
I remember hearing from inside that Christine Baranski was an idea for Vera when this production was first announced. She'd certainly be interesting.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #37
Posted: 10/15/11 at 9:01pm
Baranski would be great. She'd act the hell out of the role, and she's certainly more than a passable singer (definitely better than Channing). But if they want a "GREAT singer" (their words), I can't imagine she'd be their first choice.
McDonald and Skinner are both interesting ideas, but they'd probably read too young. Ebersole may be ideal. How about Vicky Clark?
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #38
Posted: 10/16/11 at 1:09am
Vicki Clark is a great choice. Her voice is actually more like Vivienne Segal's than anyone else being mentioned. She's also very good at the kind of wry, sophisticated humor the character's written with.
Stockard Channing is one of my all-time favorite actresses. She was embarrassingly bad as Vera, one of the few true humiliations in her entire career, possibly the only as a matter of fact.
Christian Hoff was charmless and seemed to have wandered in from a musical version of some other 1930s musical based on "The Dead End Kids."
Bottom line: If Joey can't dance and Vera can't sing "Bewitched," the show falls flat.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #39
Posted: 10/16/11 at 1:43am
While Vicki Clark is an inspired idea, she's also a single mother, so there's no way she's going out of town for three months the summer before her son heads off to college.
Christine Baranski has done two shows at the Kennedy Center (MAME and SWEENEY TODD,) multiple shows with Chris Ashley (the aforementioned SWEENEY TODD, REGRETS ONLY at Manhattan Theater Club, and JEFFREY on film,) and had LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART written for her by Terrence McNally. With this team involved, I can't see any reason she wouldn't end up involved. The dates would appear to be right in the hiatus for THE GOOD WIFE, and, for my money, she'd be pretty damn great.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #40
Posted: 10/16/11 at 1:47amI can surelu see Audra singing the score, but I don't know if I would want to see her act it. Out of the names mentioned, I definitely think Ebersole is the closest to Vivienne Segal. Donna Murphy would give a very interesting take on the role, but I don't know if she can be that restrained. Emily Skinner would be very exciting. Vanessa Williams would also be a strong choice, if they weren't going for a soprano.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #41
Posted: 10/16/11 at 3:50pmDoesn't Vera have to be a woman who exudes sexuality to make her numbers work? I would give Victoria Clark or Christine Ebersole a hell-yeah on that front, but Christine Baranski? Fail. (We saw her Mrs. Lovett in a concert staging of Sweeney Todd here in LA a few years ago-- hugely disappointing in either acting or singing departments.)
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #42
Posted: 10/16/11 at 4:46pm...would something be wrong with Audra acting the role?
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #43
Posted: 10/16/11 at 4:52pm
I don't believe anyone's said anything about Audra, except that she might read too young for the part.
What no one is mentioned, though, is that if P&B completes its scheduled run, there's no way Audra would be able to do it. The first performance is June 2, and rehearsals begin May 1. Her contract isn't up until June 24.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #44
Posted: 10/16/11 at 4:58pm
"I can surelu see Audra singing the score, but I don't know if I would want to see her act it."
^that's what I was referring to.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #45
Posted: 10/16/11 at 5:00pmI must have missed that post. Either way, it's a moot point, as she won't be in this production.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #46
Posted: 10/16/11 at 5:17pm
Baranski is a perfect Vera.
Also, as someone fairly unfamiliar with Pal Joey until the Roundabout Revival, I thought Stockard was brilliant. I don't think it was as humiliating as PJ puts it. I think people want to hear "Bewitched" sung gorgeously because it is a well loved standard. However, I thought her broke down, raw, emotional version was heartbreaking and effective. I know the audience complained that she didn't deliver the song, but I appreciated her interpretation for completely different reasons. Purists won't like it, but I was very moved.
She also got a Tony nod, so others besides me thought she was delivering the goods emotionally.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #47
Posted: 10/16/11 at 5:27pm
Marin Mazzie tends to be very hit and miss for me (to the degree that she either REALLY hits or REALLY misses,) but her version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is pretty sublime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbDyADEXMMk
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #48
Posted: 10/16/11 at 5:30pm^ That's probably the best suggestion I've heard yet. She can read upper crust and haughty, but can drip sex appeal as well. And with her statuesque frame, they could have a lot of fun costuming her!
Kennedy Center 2012 PAL JOEY #49
Posted: 10/16/11 at 5:34pmPlus unlike with baranski and clark it wouldn't seem like joey was romancing his grandma. No offense to either woman this is merely from an audience perspective. And i agree about mazzie i think she would be divine.
Videos
.jpg?format=auto&width=365)
