Laura Benanti as Trina in the Marvin trilogy

[B3TA07]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:23pm

Y/N?

Updated On: 12/24/10 at 07:23 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:24pm

Not buying her as a Jewish matriarch.

[dramarama3]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:27pm

hell yes.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:33pm

And Allison Fraiser was so Jewish?

I could see Benanti doing it in a few years.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:38pm

i could definitely see it. Trina is the mother of a young boy who recognizes she has very little control in the world or in her family. She's the anti-matriarch.

Updated On: 12/22/10 at 07:38 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:50pm

This show really needs a revival.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 7:51pm

One of my top-five favorites. The Broadway production was perfection.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:31pm

Leslie Kritzer would be a stellar Trina.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 9:42pm

Just a heads up - it's actually called The MARVIN Trilogy.

I adore Laura and know this trilogy like the back of my hand. While Laura would be a hoot and a half as Cordelia, I agree with somethingwicked's suggestion of Kritzer. Stellar idea, indeed.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 10:30pm

Not buying her as a Jewish matriarch.

What a stupid comment.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 10:34pm

I'd also love to see a production of In Trousers, though I doubt that's likely any time soon. Even with Finn's revisions, it's still kind of a mess. Some damn good songs though. "Love Me For What I Am" is on par with any of the rest of his later stuff.

I like Leslie Kritzer a great deal, but for some reason I cannot see her as Trina. I don't know why.

[colorandlight2]

Posted: 12/22/10 at 11:23pm

KRITZER FOR TRINA. She needs a Broadway leading lady part deserving of her caliber of dual threatedness.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 9:24am

Pal Joey has spoken. I guess I have to go stand in a corner now until the first of the year.

Benanti is not a belter, hard as she's tried in the past. Trina is a role for a belter. I don't want to hear someone attacking "Holding to the Groud" in head voice. Kritzer is an inspired choice.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:21am

Your comment was NOT about belting--it was about "Jewishness"( or your misconception of it) and "matriarchy."

Nothing about belting.

Your exact words:

Not buying her as a Jewish matriarch.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:24am

I know no one will agree with this, but I think Menzel would be pretty terrific in the role.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:26am

RobbieJ, I'm not an Idina fan but I actually agree with you. She'd need to tone down the pop nature of her voice a bit, though...

[tazber]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 11:31am

I'd also love to see a production of In Trousers, though I doubt that's likely any time soon. Even with Finn's revisions, it's still kind of a mess. Some damn good songs though. "Love Me For What I Am" is on par with any of the rest of his later stuff.

I agree with you 100% on that, Kad.
I also love Set Those Sails, I Am Wearing A Hat, High School Ladies At 5 O'clock, and especially Breakfast Over Sugar

Updated On: 12/23/10 at 11:31 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 12:12pm

Bill Finn really, really loved working with both Sherie Rene Scott and Idina Menzel when they were involved with LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. On completely different sides of the spectrum, I think they could both be terrific as Trina. Scott's deadpan neurosis is particularly well suited to the role. I can only imagine what she'd do with a number like "I'm Breaking Down."

Come to think of it, the next Sheryl in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, Jennifer Laura Thompson, would also be well-cast in FALSETTOS.

Updated On: 12/23/10 at 12:12 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 2:51pm

"I agree with you 100% on that, Kad.
I also love Set Those Sails, I Am Wearing A Hat, High School Ladies At 5 O'clock, and especially Breakfast Over Sugar"

Yes! Set Those Sails is really the only song from In Trousers that gets done in the various Finn revues/cabarets (absolutely disappointed that Make Me A Song only contained Set Those Sails, and part of a duet that didn't quite work). It's a shame, because there are real gems in the score. I also love Your Lips and Me, although it has since been cut.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:00pm

RobbieJ - I agree with you completely. Menzel would actually be my first choice as Trina. I can see her performing the hell out of Trina's Song, Holding to the Ground and I'm Breaking Down. But the real key is casting the right male actors and the chemistry with the main quartet. When it's right, Making a Home and I Never Wanted to Love You can be some of the most emotionally moving material ever created in musical theatre.

Ugh...I'm getting all verklempt thinking about the show. It always turns me into a blubbering moron.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:04pm

I think it'd be much harder to find the right men than the right women, if we're culling from the well-known Broadway musical theatre actors.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:28pm

If I had my wish, Norm Lewis would be Whizzer.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:31pm

Oh please, if I had my wish, Norm Lewis would be whizzing on my face and chest.

I think Jonathan Groff would make a great Whizzer, as well.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:31pm

I agree. The male roles are much tougher to cast. That being said, there are certainly a wealth of great possibilities for them.

If it were up to me, I'd cast Raúl Esparza as Marvin (although the role may hit a little close to home for him,) Benjamin Walker as Whizzer, and Robert Petkoff as Mendel. David Bologna of BILLY ELLIOT fame could be a great Jason.

Here's hoping the show gets the revival it is so rightfully due.

Updated On: 12/23/10 at 03:31 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/23/10 at 3:52pm

Pal Joey, I know what I wrote, so no need to remind me. And I stand by my comment(s)--all of them. Thanks.