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#26

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/14/11 at 11:27pm

The show has many similarities to 110. There's a song called "I Can Read You" which basically looks like a first draft of "You're Not Fooling Me".

How was casting Brooke a slap in the face to Raul? Say what you will about her, she has worked in musical theatre for almost twenty years and many people thought it was about time she originated a role. And no matter how you slice it, she IS much more well-known than Raul Esparza.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#27

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 12:18am

Raul has been attached since almost day-one. I am a fan of Brookes and she is talented but when she was announced I thought WTF? This part was written for a power belter. She was cast for her name (an Ashford specialty) and was totally wrong. Perhaps if they cast a lesser known singer/actress it may have worked better. If this is such a star-making role for Raul why do they need a name? (Iknow, it's a biz, show biz, not show art).

#28

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 1:03am

Hugh Jackman and Gwyneth Paltrow should be doing this.

#29

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 1:16am

Brooke Shields said herself in the infamous interview where she opened up about her experience with the show that the producers were looking for a name to put on the marquee, not someone who really fit the role well. She felt that she didn't. I don't think that's unfair.

Elizabeth Stanley was absolutely fantastic when she played Marva in the workshop a few years ago, and that palpable chemistry she and Raul had in COMPANY held over beautifully. While there is now both a new director and a new choreographer attached in the wake of Rob Ashford's dismissal, the smartest thing they could do in terms of casting is to bring back Stanley. With her, Marva's material really soars, although I think there was a concern that she and Kendra Kassebaum looked too much alike (which could be remedied if they wigged Stanley as a brunette.)

Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 9/15/11 at 01:16 AM

#30

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 1:33am

I saw Stanley play Lucy in JEKYLL AND HYDE recently, and was thinking the whole time I was watching her that she really needs a star role in a great show. She and Raul together again in a full production would be incredible.

Interesting, though, the three people I'm aware of who have played this part in various incarnations (Shields, Stanley and Sutton) couldn't be more different. Did the role change at all when they cast Shields?

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

#31

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 2:24am

Sutton played the role?!
I'd like to see that- I imagine it would be a completely different show with her energetic stage presence.

As for the Music Man/Rainmaker/110 comparison. i agree, it's a similar story, in fact I remember reading an O. Henry short story with a similar plot. It's a classic plot that I don't mind being rehashed.
However, while watching it, I wished they put more of a unique twist on the Marva/Jonas scenes - that's the heart of the story & even tho it's a well known plot, it shouldn't seem "cliche"!

Raul was electric.
how 'bout this casting idea? Lea Salonga for Marva.

#32

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 3:28am

Obviously, there is room for more than one story about a con man/religious huckster. If we were older, I suppose we'd be talking about ELMER GANTRY (but I haven't seen it).

But that doesn't mean they are all the same story.

RAINMAKER/110 has a romantic triangle at its center and Lizzie discovers the emptiness behind Starbuck's razzle-dazzle and turns instead to the substance of the hometown boy.

As I said above, Harold Hill is really a romantic pretending to be a cynic. When he meets a romantic pretending to be a cynic in Marion, we have two people who each need the other so they can take a leap of faith together.

What's the take in LEAP OF FAITH? I couldn't figure out from the film.

#33

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 12:06pm

I can't resist commenting on earlier suggested casting. Based on the LA production (which has changed significantly by report), Hugh Jackman could NOT sing the role, and Gwyneth Paltrow couldn't ACT it. So, no and no.

Eventually the only similarity of this musical to the Steve Martin movie may be the title. Given my dislike of the movie, this seems like good news to me.

#34

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 1:03pm

So Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, who gave a performance in PROOF in the West End so brilliant that I still think about it, couldn't act a role that was originated on film by Lolita Davidovitch (anyone remember her)? Seriously?

I'm not saying I want GP in this part, but sometimes the bashing of her talents around here is absurd.

#35

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 2:19pm

If I'm remembering correctly, Sutton played the part in a workshop, as she did with the Kelli O'Hara role in the upcoming NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim

#36

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 2:37pm

AC - I am not questioning GP's talent. But the role of Marva is (was?) an exhausted emotionally repressed and slightly worn around the edges mom of a nearly teenaged crippled boy. I simply don't see the role being something she would be believable in. I think the consensus with Sutton was the same - enormous talent but simply plays too young or does not have enough of an edge. The one thing Paltrow does not convey to me is tough.

#37

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 7:28pm

I saw Sutton play Marva, and although I like her quite a bit, I found her to be miscast in ways very different from Brooke Shields. And she's adorable, but she and Raúl had no chemistry, and they fell flat again for me in Anyone Can Whistle. It's just not a pair that works for me.

Elizabeth Stanley is honestly the only person I can think of who I want to see play Marva opposite Raul. They are just wonderful together, and I think she has what it takes to do good things with the role.

I think the issue with casting Brooke being a "slap" to Raúl is that there's an element of it that says, sorry, you can't carry the show on your own in the way that matters ($$$$), so we have to do this. And that may not be untrue, but it still sucks.

A work of art is an invitation to love.

#38

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/15/11 at 10:10pm

The actresses who have played Marva literally couldn't be more different. Jennifer Hope Wills sang the role on the earliest demo recordings with Brian d'Arcy James as Jonas, Kelli O'Hara played her in a workshop opposite Hugh Jackman, Elizabeth Stanley played her in a workshop and a subsequent reading opposite Raul, Sutton Foster played her in the last reading before the Ahmanson incarnation with Raul, and Brooke Shields did the full production.

Keep in mind that they're also now on their third director. Taylor Hackford was working on it when Jackman was involved, and Rob Ashford replaced him.

Updated On: 9/15/11 at 10:10 PM

#39

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/16/11 at 12:00pm

Hackford also did the Esparza/Stanley workshop that I saw. I'm no "insider" but I think there was serious concern about Hackford's ability to take on a new musical as his first Broadway outing.

#40

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/16/11 at 3:21pm

All conjecture aside, I must say that I always admire when creatives stick to something that they believe in. I auditioned for the LA production and thought the show could be a great commercial success (with some tinkering, of course) that would have people leaving the theater with a bounce in their step.

In times like these I've recently learned the value of out-and-out entertainment to a theatre-going public...this show could really bring joy to a lot of people, I hope they figure out a way to make it work.

of course, it'd be nice to be IN the show as well :)

#41

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/17/11 at 9:39pm

i live in LA and saw the show. Brook was good.

The problem was the, pointless, not plot serving random dance filler sequences.

If Brook thinks the part isn't for her, great, but give her the benefit of the doubt.

That said, unless a new production had universally fantastic reviews. (on the Book of Mormon or Producers level) I don't ever need to see it again no matter how much they've tweaked it, or who's staring. It wasn't a bad show, just not a great one. (and much better at CTG's Hot Tix pricing than Broadway pricing)

#42

Leap of Faith

Posted: 9/18/11 at 6:53pm

I really enjoyed the show last year when I caught it - save of course for the exborinant amount of dance sequences with the cast swaying too and fro like praire wheat...

Thought there were some electric amazing moments and great songs - maybe with some tightening, again with the dancers...it should totally work

Raul was AMAZING - Tony Worthy performance.

Break a leg to all involved

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