Kennedy Center FOLLIES to Transfer to Broadway's Marquis Theater This Summer!- Page 7

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 8:33am

I hope they would get rid of Regine and perhaps hire Liliane Montevecchi...I saw her recently and the woman still has it! She can light up a stage!

I would like to see Rita Moreno as Carlotta.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:14am

Joyce DeWitt as Hattie!

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:21am

You lucky people. I'm in NYC next month and most likely not again until January. I can only hope it runs until at least the second or third weekend in January.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:43am

Reginald and Tresilian and I were talking before this New York move was announced and we think that the time has come for Carlotta to be played by Lorna Luft:



She's gotten through Reno and Beverley Hills and a whole lot of "Sorry, I thought you were whoozis" and she's still here.

Here she is, in top form, singing "The Music That Makes Me Dance":

http://youtu.be/LWjzKdB4woc

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:46am

Ok, for all you Stritch lovers. I understand that you want Stritch to have a showstopping number, but she in no way can be believed as Carlotta. The audience really needs to believe that at some point in her life, Carlotta was sexy enough to entice the guys who were waiting at the stage door. Yes she possibly could play Hattie, but there really are some actresses that are a bit more age appropriate.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:48am

PJ, I couldn't agree more. I think Lorna has actually earned the right to sing that song--and I think she'd sing the f*** out of it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 10:52am

Who better to play Carlotta then Tina Turner? It's like the song was written about her life. And that throaty tough voice that Tina has would really bring out a roughness that the song has always been missing.

I'm starting my "Tina Turner For Carlotta" Facebook page right now.

[Will42]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 11:05am

'Ok, for all you Stritch lovers. I understand that you want Stritch to have a showstopping number, but she in no way can be believed as Carlotta. The audience really needs to believe that at some point in her life, Carlotta was sexy enough to entice the guys who were waiting at the stage door. Yes she possibly could play Hattie, but there really are some actresses that are a bit more age appropriate.'

I very much agree. She's totally wrong for Carlotta for the very same reasons why Patti LuPone would be totally miscast (plus the age issue). Stritch could obviously still play Hattie if given a chance.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 11:38am

Stritch played Hattie 25 years ago in the concert version and all she did was bitch about how Carol Burnett hadn't lived enough to sing "I'm Still Here".

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 11:46am

I still want to see Leslie Ann Warren as Carlotta. And Shirley MacLaine as Hattie.

I'd also like a pony, a million dollars, and a trip to the international space station.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 11:51am

PJ--I love your casting ideas of Alice Playten and Lorna Luft.

[Will42]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 11:52am

'I still want to see Leslie Ann Warren as Carlotta.'

That would be awesome!... I meant fabulous!

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 12:28pm

Playten would really be ideal.

And as long as we're mentioning famous offspring, how about Lucy Arnaz as Carlotta. Or the too-old but incredibly well preserved Michelle Lee?

[Will42]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 1:52pm

I don't think Michele Lee is that old or too old for Carlotta. She's only 68 years old, when Bernadette Peters and Elaine Paige are both 63.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 1:54pm

Yeah, but Bernadette actually passes for 49 in this production as her character states in the finale.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 1:59pm

When is Angela doing THE BEST MAN?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:00pm

Who better to play Carlotta then Tina Turner? It's like the song was written about her life.

Who is this Tina Turner you speak of? Certainly you're not talking about the singer?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:04pm

Most people don't know that Buddy and Sally were originally written as vehicles for Ike & Tina.

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:07pm

Chita Rivera for Carlotta! Still sings up a storm every Atlantis cruise. She's electric onstage.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:09pm

Are people convinced Elaine Paige isn't transferring?

[Will42]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:11pm

Supposedly they start January, 2012. At least that what Lansbury said in the interview.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:23pm

Stritch has no bigger fan than me on this board, or anywhere else, but there is no place for her in this production, or any other. Given her struggles in Night Music and at the White House, she can longer be counted on.

That said, in the context of the show, Carlotta should not be played by an eightysomething actress. It's one thing for someone like Stritch to put her stamp on the song in a concert setting, but in the show Carlotta is a woman of a certain age, not an octagenarian. In context, it's not so much about survival as much as it's about not being forgotten because you're no longer a starlet.

Having said all that, PJ's suggestion of Lorna Luft is inspired.

Updated On: 6/16/11 at 02:23 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:39pm

Stritch has no bigger fan than I on this board, or anywhere else, but there is no place for her in this production, or any other.

Amen.

Per the script, Carlotta is essentially the same age as Phyllis and Sally. I guess there's a bit of wiggle room there, but she's in the mirror number (at least in most productions), so it's weird to consider a Carlotta older than even Stella Deems.

Part of the problem, though, is that almost no major production of this show ever casts people who are age appropriate to their roles (Encores came pretty close, although I still wake up shrieking when I think about Christine Baranski's Carlotta) If you've got a 64 year old woman playing a 49 year old woman, what's so weird about a 70 year old Carlotta?

Either I see people's ages a lot of differently than others or people on this thread do. Bernadette looks 49? Angela Lansbury looks like she's in her sixties? Really? I think both of the women look great, but I don't think either of them is looking 15-20 years younger than they really are.
Updated On: 6/16/11 at 02:39 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:41pm

I would love to see John Mcmartin in this production.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 2:43pm

As Young Ben!