LOVE STORY stars announced to lead LOVE LETTERS National Tour!

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:16pm

Article

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:22pm

Had this been the original cast on Broadway, the show might still be running.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:29pm

Uh...doubtful.

[bfreak]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:33pm

No, I actually think the two of them together may have sold some tickets on Broadway.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 6:57pm

Had this been the original cast on Broadway, the show might still be running.

Considering that the production featured rotating casts, this line of reasoning makes no sense. Why would it "still be running" in February, with a different cast, if Macgraw and O'Neal opened the show in September?

No, I actually think the two of them together may have sold some tickets on Broadway.

They would have done the kind of business Bergen and Alda did: respectable, but by no means earth-shattering. There just isn't a huge audience that's willing to pay Broadway prices to see this show, no matter who's starring.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:21pm

There's also the slight problem that he can barely act and she...well, she's Ali McGraw.

[mc1227]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:24pm

I can't even imagine how bad this will be.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:27pm

This will be perfect. Neither one can act ... though Ms McGraw brings acting down to the Pia Zadora level.

[bfreak]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:42pm

LarryD2, I 100% agree with you as to how it's box office prospects would've been with them. OK, but not amazing.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 7:52pm

Truthfully? I think they'll pull it off. I re-read the play recently, and beauty that is, lends itself to a certain stylization of performance that reading provides. Their ages are poignant, the audience unavoidably will bring the film history in with them, and it could be charming, if not exactly the return of Dewhurst and Robards. It doesn't have to be at that level to work, which is why the play itself is such a gem. MacGraw might be surprisingly right. Oddly enough, with her background, it's a good fit. She's a very bright, highly educated woman, acting skills aside (she entered modeling with a degree from Wellesley, after all.)

[NoName3]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 8:09pm

Back in the '70s, Maggie Smith was magnificent in a superlative production of Private Lives, first in London and then on Broadway (see my avatar). A few years later Liz and Dick, then at the height of both their tabloid notoriety and substance problems, gave the show a try to great box office and tepid reviews. The critics complained that Taylor couldn't handle Coward's exquisite dialogue, which probably explained the sad abridgement of the text and the addition of much lame slapstick.

After Broadway, they did a short tour ending in LA, where Dame Maggie was shooting a film. Asked if she would go see Liz as Amanda, Smith replied "I don't have the strength."

Updated On: 2/21/15 at 08:09 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 8:56pm

How did this not recoup on Broadway?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 9:54pm

As stunt casting goes, it has a certain tang.

True, she is the world's worst actress. Still, I agree with Auggie, this just might surprisingly work.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 10:17pm

A bloated abusive alcoholic known more for his family troubles than his acting ability and a horrendous actress. Sounds like box office gold. They were both more popular in the 70s for their beauty and charisma than anything they ever did on screen.

This would be like staging Love Letters in 40 years with Juliana Hough and Shia LaBoeuf

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 10:17pm

so ****ing lame, SO SO SO lame.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 10:33pm

I personally think it's inspired casting. I'm shocked that people are putting down a show before it even starts. (verbal irony: It's a sort of sport in this board to do such a thing.) I was a mere child when "Love Story" was in the movie theatres. There are plenty of people of a certain age who remember both actors, in their prime and beyond. I'm not sure if I'd see this play, but best of luck to them.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 10:40pm

I'm of the same age. It is inspired casting ... but Ali Mcgraw CANT ACT. Her performance in Love Story is laughable.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 10:53pm

I think a lot of people who would enjoy this pairing are dead. No offense. Much like the audience for the revival of Love Letters.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:11pm

Who in the world would go to this? Alda and Bergen had a solid following into recent times, with their TV series, but who the hell cares about Ali and Ryan at this point? Yes, I remember them. No, I'm not dead, but hopefully discerning enough to know garbage.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:13pm

"One man's garbage is another person's treasure." Time will tell whether this casting decision will be a successful one.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:20pm

it bombed on Broadway with some pretty big names, I doubt these two will sell it any better on tour.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/20/15 at 11:59pm

[Stagejoy101]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 8:28am

I wonder if any of their original chemistry from "Love Story" remains....

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/21/15 at 8:43am

I can't believe I'm posting a 2nd time about something I could not care less about, but folks: we're talking a limited road tour. In places like Dallas, they could well attract mid-boomers (the film opened when I was a freshman in college; my demo still spends money. I think saying most people who might be interested are dead is rather insulting to boomers, who are hardly geriatric, but never mine.) This is smart road casting. It's not Broadway. It's the kind of thing stock does well, and in the venues selected, might work. I mean, "Legends" went out with the Dynasty stars. We're not talking a month at the Beaumont.