Laura Benanti to replace Lauren Ambrose in MY FAIR LADY- Page 22

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 3/28/19 at 2:24am

I do not think it will run until the end of the year. My guess is that it will run until the end of summer. Ticket sales are primarily discount tickets.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/30/19 at 12:13pm

I just read that Shereen Ahmed went on as Eliza for the first time over the weekend.  She played all 3 shows.  Did anyone here see her?

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/1/19 at 2:22am

Word was she (Shereen( was quite good with an amazing voice. There has been some chatter about Alicia Witt replacing Benanti.

Updated On: 5/2/19 at 02:22 AM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 1:35am

I DON'T KNOW WHY THIS SHOW ISN'T SELLING BETTER. 

This show should have the Hello Dolly crowd. There's a dearth of classic revivals right now. With the new cast (particularly Alex and Laura) and at least on the Michael Halling as Higgins nights, this is the show Kiss Me, Kate wishes it was. With this cast, I feel like what felt like a lukewarm interpretation the first time is now crystal clear. And you still get the fabulous music, beautiful set, and gorgeous costumes. 

As much as I love Katrina Lenk, if Laura had been eligible for the Tony last year, I think she would have gotten it. 

[AudreyPark]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 2:09am

I still think Lenk would have won. It would have been odd for them to reward almost every aspect of The Band's Visit, including Stachel and Shalhoub, and not Lenk, who was by most accounts the clear highlight of the cast. Though I haven't seen her in the role myself, I haven't gotten the impression from those that have that Benanti gives enough of an undeniable performance for her to overcome the love for The Band's Visit and comparative lack of love for My Fair Lady, a show that failed to win best revival.

Updated On: 5/2/19 at 02:09 AM

[bear88]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 2:09am

My first reaction is: Shhhh. I'm coming to New York in a couple of weeks and I want discount tickets to this musical. If I'm going to get a better show with the mostly replacement cast, at a cheaper price than I would have had to pay last May, that's good news for me.

My second reaction: My Fair Lady has been a successful revival, it's been around a year, which is about the time when these revivals start to run out of steam. It's not the event Hello, Dolly! was with Bette Midler, but that was because of Midler. Hello, Dolly! without Midler was doing only a little better than My Fair Lady, even with Bernadette Peters. (On tour, there are plenty of empty seats for Dolly, and I enjoyed it a lot.)

My Fair Lady is still making money and hasn't posted a closing notice yet. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 3:13am

AudreyPark said: "I still think Lenk would have won. It would have been odd for them to reward almost every aspect of The Band's Visit, including Stachel and Shalhoub, and not Lenk, who was by most accounts the clear highlight of the cast. Though I haven't seen her in the role myself, I haven't gottenthe impression from those that have that Benanti gives enough of an undeniable performance for her to overcome the love for The Band's Visitand comparative lack of love for My Fair Lady, a show that failed to win best revival."

Fair point about The Band's Visit's sweep. And I think things worked out the way they were supposed to. But Laura's performance blew me away tonight. I don't think Katrina had nearly as much to do in TBV compared to all the heavy lifting Laura is doing in MFL right now. The decision between OOTI and MFL was easy last year. But if this had been the original cast for MFL, I think I would have rooted for it to win Best Revival. I love OOTI for personal reasons but without going out there like Oklahoma! apparently does, this production now feels like the revival (or even just the musical) that understands woke storytelling in 2019 (in a way so many other shows have tried and failed). I was close to tears multiple times in act 2... in a good way. 

@bear88 Unpopular opinion but I really preferred Michael Halling to Hadden-Paton and I'd suggest going on a Wednesday if you can. It might also make it easier to get a discount ticket. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it! 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 12:17pm

It pained me so much to see the ocean of side orchestra empty seats that I don't think that I could go back again. I suppose this is telling me something about my beloved golden era musicals. What else? Perhaps too much caution in casting? The King and I, Carousel, My Fair Lady.

Possibly too much caution in casting. I had never thought of this before, but South Pacific was the one not like the rest. Replacing Kelli O'Hara with Laura Osnes, 23 and with very little Broadway experience and no buzz around her, did not seem like the path to an extended run. Yet she should took over from O'Hara in January and the show kept going into August. Over a thousand performances including previews.

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 4:43pm

OlBlueEyes said: "I suppose this is telling me something about my beloved golden era musicals. What else?
"

I'm not ready to write off golden era revivals yet, or claim that audiences aren't interested in them. I think there are other factors that set South Pacific apart. It was the first of these Barlett Sher/Lincoln Center revivals and I think maybe there's a bit of burnout/complacency now. South Pacific isn't performed as often, while you can find regional and school productions of The King and I and My Fair Lady all over the place. I think exercising caution in casting is very important. I was terribly lukewarm on MFL with the original cast and I've already expressed my intense disappointment in Laura Osnes in South Pacific on multiple occasions. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 9:12pm

Hearing of empty sections makes me sad - I saw a matinee in February and it was sold out. Maybe a couple performances on TV could give it a boost?

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/2/19 at 10:38pm

I don't think the musicals will go away, but they will be treated with less reverence. Alan Alda, who hosted the Live From Lincoln Center South Pacific told everyone that his eyes teared up at the first famous three notes of the "Overture." Fans of the classics will not put their noses so high in the air anymore when they compare them  to the musicals that have come since.

I don't begrudge those who create and attend jukebox musicals based on comic strips, filmed animation and signature movies from the near past.  As long as it is understood they these are light entertainment not serious theater. Great societal and cultural issues such as racial and gender equality and immigration deserve to be memorialized in our theater as we wrestle with them here.

As an example of what our theater should be examining, a majority of Americans still believe that we were not at fault for dropping two, (not one) atomic bombs on the rickety wooden dwellings of women, children and the elderly in Japanese cities. This was appropriately called "terror bombing." Dramatization is central to sharing the good and the bad, the important and the trivial. 

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/3/19 at 2:47am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Hearing of empty sections makes me sad - I saw a matinee in February and it was sold out. Maybe a couple performances on TV could give it a boost?"

It doesn't seem likely but my greatest wish is that they record this cast for a Live from Lincoln Center broadcast.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/3/19 at 11:26am

I love your name VintageSnarker! 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/3/19 at 11:38am

I assume that you're aware of the South Pacific live broadcast of the whole show,during the last week of its run. for which they brought Kelli back for the last two weeks. I say 'assume' because it's already been an amazing ten years since that occurrence.

Word was that they planned to do the same with The King and I, but it just closed too suddenly.

If I were an optimist, and the show runs a couple of months more, I would be optimistic. Or at least hopeful.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/3/19 at 11:47am

OlBlueEyes said: "I had never thought of this before, but South Pacific was the one not like the rest."

South Pacific was an anomaly: a musical revival that ran almost 2.5 years, in a production that rivaled the original. It was the must-see musical of that season (and it won 7 Tonys, while In The Heights won 4). It struck a chord with America in that moment. It was the biggest, most lush musical revival Broadway had seen in a long time. New stars were anointed: Bartlett Sher, Kelli O'Hara, Paulo Szot, Danny Burstein, and Matt Morrison. LCT was not as aggressive with premium pricing as they are now (and much of its run was also in the economic slump).

We all walked into My Fair Lady and King and I expecting a big lush Sher production (complete with a trick to show off the orchestra). With South Pacific, it was surprising and new. The subsequent revivals were still astonishingly good productions, but the surprise factor of South Pacific can't be replicated.

Updated On: 5/3/19 at 11:47 AM

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 5/3/19 at 6:40pm

Has anybody seen Alexander Gemignani in the show yet? I’m seeing it next weekend and was curious what people thought about him.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 12:11am

SmoothLover said: "I love your name VintageSnarker!"

Thank you!

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 12:32am

BDrischBDemented said: "Has anybody seen Alexander Gemignani in the show yet? I’m seeing it next weekend and was curious what people thought about him."

I loved him. I don't think his performance would have worked with Lauren Ambrose and it was definitely different from Norbert but I thought it was perfectly balanced with Laura and part of the reason this cast works so well. He has a definite edge and it brings a serious feel to all the times that physical abuse are mentioned. Alfred is no longer a happy go lucky cockney. They brought out what's in the text. He's a bruiser from the streets. One of the undeserving poor. He beats the women in his life when they aren't compliant and he wastes their hard earned wages on alcohol. The suffragettes crossing the stage made more sense this time though it would have been even better if some of them had temperance/social reform signs. My only criticism is that I'm pretty sure they've simplified the choreography for him. But it fits this new portrayal. He's not a musical comedy character. He's a regular guy who, when in fun drunk mode, can do a couple of steps but not a whole tap routine. Pushing the character this far also gives a different context to Eliza/Higgins scenes. 

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 1:23am

Saw this tonight and the house was mostly full.  Orchestra looked full and maybe there were a few side mezzanine seats unoccupied.  LOVE this show.  I saw it with the OBC and LOVED it, and saw it with this equally stellar cast and it was great and different and also the same.  

Someone's cell phone went off in the 100 section, playing some saxophone sound. SO annoying.  It was during Laura's "Rain in Spain" when she is saying it for the first time and it is very quiet and she is working very hard to get the sounds out.  She broke character, tried to laugh it off with Harry (both of them joked about it and made comments), and then she had to start over.  

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 1:32am

SomethingPeculiar said: "OlBlueEyes said: "I had never thought of this before, but South Pacific was the one not like the rest."

South Pacificwas an anomaly: a musical revival that ran almost 2.5 years, in a production that rivaled the original. It was the must-see musical of that season (and it won 7 Tonys, while In The Heights won 4). It struck a chord with America in that moment.It was the biggest, most lush musical revival Broadway had seen in a long time. New stars were anointed:Bartlett Sher, Kelli O'Hara, Paulo Szot, Danny Burstein, and Matt Morrison.LCT was not as aggressive with premium pricing as they are now (and much of its run was also in the economic slump).

Thanks for that. What you say about the singularity of South Pacific makes a lot of sense.

It might surprise people to learn that the 1996 Donna Murphy (Tony winner) production of The King and I played for over 200 performances more that did that of the LCT. The older revival probably cost considerably less to operate. 

The 1984 Hal Prince Show Boat ran for almost 1000 performances, but that was the finest revival of that show to have come down in a long time.

 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 4:02am

Just curious since seating keeps coming up...

How are the 100 and 500 sections in the orchestra? Would you rather sit there for this show or in the loge is you have a chance to be closer to the center? Or, if it's possible, in the rear orchestra closer to the center?

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 8:08am

500's are better than the 100's. Sher seems to favor audience right.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 12:09pm

bear88 said: "Just curious since seating keeps coming up...

How are the 100 and 500 sections in the orchestra? Would you rather sit there for this show or in the loge is you have a chance to be closer to the center? Or, if it's possible, in the rear orchestra closer to the center?"

I saw King and I four times and My Fair Lady four times (I've stopped being so profligate). My favorite seats were in the 2nd and 3rd rows of orchestra left. Due to the unique thrust stage, and the lack of an orchestra pit, and the stage and seats being on about the same level, I felt like I was almost on stage when Kelli and Ruthie Ann stepped forward to deliver their numbers. You can see everyone's facial expressions without straining.

Those seats are not discounted though. Or not heavily discounted. The rear half of the orchestra sides are among the heavily discounted and if you stay closer to the aisle than the wall I think that they are decent and better than most side orchestras. 

The loge is only five rows and you get a good view from any of them, although some feel that they are too high and steeply banked and far from the stage. I didn't have that complaint, but if only seeing it once I would like to be right on top of the stage.

I'm sure that others have different opinions, but a lot of people have commented on how special it was to be near the stage.

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 1:17pm

bear88 said: "Just curious since seating keeps coming up...

How are the 100 and 500 sections in the orchestra? Would you rather sit there for this show or in the loge is you have a chance to be closer to the center? Or, if it's possible, in the rear orchestra closer to the center?"

Rear orchestra is excellent. I think the Loge is a bit too far away since the strength of this production is in quiet performances. You want to be close enough to see their expressions rather than absorb a big spectacle.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:09am

Honestly the theatre is not that big and there is not a bad seat in the house.