I wish I'd been able to see her take on the role. I've seen some posts from folks taking issue with her casting - ALW was looking for a celebrity draw, she's a pop star, etc - and fair enough, I can certainly appreciate those critiques - but I loved her voice on Bleeding Love, and am sure an individual with that level of talent could nail a song like Memory and deliver it in a really interesting way.
And to be fair, while Darren Criss took over in How to Succeed, he definitely didn't have the most legit musical theater voice - heard a few clips, and you could tell it was a pop star doing Broadway - but it was an equally valid, equally interesting take on Finch! I always try giving big name stars the benefit of the doubt when it comes to stunt casting. Some shows like Chicago will (and I wont mention names) unfortunately cast people for box office reasons at the expense of talent. But there's been so many examples of stunt casting done right. Just to name one I think everyone will appreciate (one I wish I was old enough to see when it was running): the revival of Annie Get Your Gun. You have a star like Reba surrounded by Broadway stalwarts and it's the perfect blend of talented big-name stars and quality Broadway talent.
You have similar shows like Kiss Me Kate, with Broadway stalwarts like Michael Mulheren and Marin Mazzie rounding out the cast to compare it to. And both types of productions (one star driven, the other Broadway talent driven - and lets be real, Mazzie basically turned in a star performance in Bullets) can succeed and have an equally valid artistic footprint. Given the amount of stunt casting done right over the years, I make an effort to keep an open mind when it comes to understandable gripes Broadway fans like me might have with a star taking on a MT role.
