Kiss of the Spider Woman with Audra?- Page 4

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 6:40pm

Vanessa Williams could still do the part.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 6:49pm

^ Strongly disagree after having seen Vanessa Williams last year in a terribly lackluster performance in the otherwise-glorious AFTER MIDNIGHT. She seemed to have lost both her voice and her magical stage presence entirely. (And Lordy, was she saddled with some inexplicably hideous costumes too.)

Look, I thought she was a marvelous Aurora when I saw her back in '93 or '94. (I actually liked her performance more than Chita's, which is heresy around here, I know.) But there's no denying that 20 years means a lot when she's supposed to be the climax of your technicolor dreams. Just sayin'.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 7:04pm

I was actually rooting for Naya Rivera to play Aurora until she told me I bathe too much. She is dead to me!

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 7:50pm

Maybe you saw an off performance for Vanessa? I saw a performance for after midnight on gma or something and she sounded good to me. She also did that Show boat concert and I heard she was lovely.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 7:52pm

I'm fine with Audra. I strongly dislike the idea Alan Cumming as Molina and I usually love him.

"From all the amazing artists in the Hispanic community we get this? What an insult. All three are wrong in many levels."

Right? 30% of the US population and John Kander hasn't found any to put in the show since Chita.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 8:43pm

"Right? 30% of the US population and John Kander hasn't found any to put in the show since Chita."

Maria Conchita Alonso played the role on Broadway after Vanessa left.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 8:55pm

Vanessa Williams is one of the blandest "stars" I've ever seen on a stage. She exudes nothing but tepidness. I'd rather Audra than her (Audra, who I haven't ALWAYS loved) any day. At least Audra brings passion to what she does, whether the results are good or not.

Updated On: 1/14/15 at 08:55 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:08pm

Vanessa can totally still do it.

[LindaSmyth]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:31pm

I would totally love to see Karen Olivo in this. I think she'd be a terrific Aurora.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:38pm

Andrea Burns would be an amazing Aurora but they'd never hire her because she is not a name. I don't understand how you can cut the dancing, since the Aurora flashback/fantasy scenes are supposed to be electric. I'm cool with Audra playing it as long as she danced it too.
Aurora is a goddess-she has to have some larger than life sex appeal.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 10:54pm

It would be amazing to hear Andrea Burns sing this music- or really to have any lead in a show. She's really such a talent.

All of the actors in the reading are extremely talented, so I'm sure any production featuring them wouldn't necessarily be bad, but for a show set in South America, casting non-Latino actors is just a puzzling choice, especially for the men.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 11:00pm

I would KILL to see Andrea Burns as Aurora. God would she walk away with the entire show, maybe she can be the stand-by? (how sad that that's the best we can hope for someone as insanely talented as Andrea Burns?). Olivo would be a blast. Someone from McDonald's generation apart from Murphy whom I'd also like to see is Jane Krakowsi, and she could definitely handle the dancing.

[trevytoe]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 9:07am

I have to agree about it being problematic casting non-Latin@s in 2015, especially considering the obvious choices - Andrea Burns, Karen Olivo, etc. Even JLo stunt casting could potentially be terrific. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Raul Esparza, Christopher Jackson, etc.
Simply put, there are Latin@s who can shine in these roles, some of which have enough name value to help carry a show.

Would they do a production of "The Scottsboro Boys" with non-Black actors? Or "Pacific Overtures" with no Asian-American actors? Don't think so! So why is it ok to do this with the Latin@ community?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 1:24pm

It was only a reading with the creatives thinking outside the box in choosing said actors. I wholeheartedly agree that Catherine Zeta Jones as Aurora is the all around best casting idea. Also, like the idea of Raul Esparza as Valentin and uncertain on casting Molina latin as Christian Borle would be interesting in the role.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 1:30pm

I say Catherine Zeta Jones, Neil Patrick Harris or Jim Parsons as Molina and Raul as Valentin! A sure box office hit.

[binau]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 3:19pm

I don't know if it's really THAT problematic not to cast latino actors. Maybe it reflects a problem with the show but it works completely fine without. I personally wouldn't care what the ethnic heritage of the actors is. Why does it matter?

Updated On: 1/15/15 at 03:19 PM

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 7:08pm

Is Aurora supposed to be a Latin screen star or is she what Valentin has been seeing of American movies via the cinema in his native country?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 7:32pm

She's meant to be a Latin screen star who can play various ethnicities in her film roles (she has the extended sequence playing the Russian diva Tatiana in Act II).

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 8:13pm

As long as the actor can "pass" for an ethnicity onstafe, I think its fine...as long as it's not a white person playing a non-white person. Brian Stokes Mitchell is mixed race and I'm sure was perfectly credible as Valentin, for example. Steven Pasquale though? Talented guy, but not a good choice.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 11:27pm

I get your point, and I think Steven Pasquale is not the right choice. Yet, the story actually happened in a middle-class neighborhood in Buenos Aires, where the majority of the population are white. Also, no one said that William Hurt didn't look latin enough when he starred in the movie, and he actually won an Oscar for his performance. Why is race/background such a big issue now on this board? To be honest, Raul Julia is from the Caribbean and his look is not the typical look you see in Buenos Aires, and the same goes for Brazilian Sonia Braga. Especially when the story took place in the 1970's if I'm not mistaken, since the immigration at that point in time was mostly European.

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 11:34pm

I don't know if it's really THAT problematic not to cast latino actors. Maybe it reflects a problem with the show but it works completely fine without. I personally wouldn't care what the ethnic heritage of the actors is. Why does it matter?

I don't know if you're joking, but your if you're not I think your ignorance is embarrassing. Do you even know the material? It deals with and comments on Latin American politics, their people's struggles, the prison system and how they deal with the character's sexuality and political views. I could go on forever.

This piece should NOT be consdered on its universal themes, as you would love it to think. We are on 2015 and I refuse to take an all white cast because they can - it is OFFENSIVE to cast people who look like they just had tea with the Queen of England to portray characters from a specific background and especially those who must find a mental and emotional escape from real life torture and corruption.

Do you think Miss Saigon or In The Heights would work with an all white cast?

You can apologize now.

Updated On: 1/15/15 at 11:34 PM

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 1/16/15 at 12:06am

Someone mentioned singing the score.
I parts of the score but not the whole thing.
Is it a hard sing? Bebe did it in London - while I love her - she doesn't have a crazy range.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 1/16/15 at 12:59am

Would still love to see Caroline O'Connor do it, she was offered the role after Bebe left in London and turned it down

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/16/15 at 1:25am

"I personally wouldn't care what the ethnic heritage of the actors is. Why does it matter?"

You'd care a little more if you were an an under-represented minority and one of the very, very few shows representing your culture was handing away the leads to the blonde haired, blue eyed white men who already get the other 95% of roles.

I'm not sure why people keep tossing out Lin-Manuel Miranda as an idea. He doesn't have the range for Molina or the talent for Valentin.

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/16/15 at 2:06am

There's a double moral standard when it comes to the Hispanic community.

God forbid this was an African American piece. I would love to see Cumming play a black man who is physically and mentally tortured. But Hispanic? Please, be my guest. That is totally ok.