Latest Raul E rumor

Long time reader but never posted before. For awhile I've heard that Raul is being considered for a role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Has anyone else heard this? My friend is involved in the UK production which is where I first heard about it.

Updated On: 9/28/04 at 05:38 PM

I thought the rumor was for him in "Mambo Kings" which is also opening later this season...

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Margo, the Mambo Kings was just a speculation - no idea...

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That's great (if it's true)!! I really hope he is in it, because I can't wait until he's on stage again!

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http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=42214&CT=38

He'd be Potts according to this story.

Pretty funny that Broadway.com posted that story today. I wonder if they are reading this message board to get their scoops. I'm flattered that I could have been a source!

I have never seen this movie. What are the characters like?

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Hmm...I honestly don't know what to say to this...Personally, I was keeping my fingers crossed for Michael Ball. I was quite bitter when my best friend got to see this, summer of 2003 (with Michael). I know he could do a great job, but I would have NEVER thought for a MILLION billion trillion years that Raul would be up for this part. Ah, well-go get em' tiger! <-It's a JOKE! Let's not anyone have a hissy fit! (That's really all that comes to mind.)
Wow, if this happens, my friends gonna flip.

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I don't care who's vehicle it is...if Raul's in it, I'm going walk on hot coals to try and see it.

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Well, yes. The critics do love him, but Raul is full of surprises. I really do believe he can handle - and be great at - almost anything thrown his way; if this works out, I have no doubts that he'll be purely brilliant.

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At the Broadway Unplugged concert, they mentioned that Mark Kudish would be in Chitty....

Caractacus Potts is a slightly eccentric inventor who invents the flying car called CHITTY ( resurrected from its glorious past as a winning racing car) . He is British to the core ( although DickvanDyke did not exactly have a Brit accent in the movie) and lives as a widower with his even more eccentric father and his twin children. The story, culled from the short stories for children,written by James Bond author Ian Fleming, is all about the adventures of the family ( including lady love called Truly Scrumptious) with CHITTY and their encounters with the evil Baron Bomburst (the role for Marc Kudisch) and his Baroness from the land of Bulgaria.

The music is by the Sherman Brothers ( who also wrote the songs for Mary Poppins). The stage musical is fairly faithful to the movie.

It is of the family entertainment genre - and a lot of fun. Especially when you first see CHITTY attempting to fly

Come to think of it - I wonder how Raul will carry off the eccentric British style imbued in the character of Caractacus Potts?

Updated On: 9/29/04 at 10:33 AM

Okay, so last night at 3 in the morning my best friend and I had a go with this...
Problem is, I have never seen Michael in a show, and SHE has never seen Raul in a show. Naturally she votes Michael, me being hard headed, I say Raul. We get into this massive discussion. She says she can't imagine Raul doing a better job than Michael in this part (but she's one sided, as am I), but in his defense-there are a million parts Raul could do that cheesy ol'e Michael Ball could not. I agree to this, but still can't get over the fact that this whole thing intrigues me. I mean, out of all the shows out there-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang??? It's just, so not original, and it IS such a perfect show for Michael Ball. But, besides that, I have to give ANYONE credit who has the balls to play a character that THE Dick Van Dyke has portrayed. Hmm...you know, I do say one thing. It's not so much the fact that I would go see this show just becasue Raul was in it (don't get me wrong, I would anyways) but it's more of a curiosity thing. What do they see that I don't? I mean, what made them say..."Raul can do it!" Like I said before-with a relitively cool season coming up, I wouldn't have thought about associating him with THIS show. Surprise, surprise. Well, if all this were to actually pan out, I just hope it ends up showing off his irresistable charm and talent. Say it with me, THE MAN NEEDS A TONY!

Edit-I do agree with Emcee! That damn british accent never failed to shock me though-I was always surprised for some reason.

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Updated On: 9/29/04 at 12:10 PM