Leona Lewis OFFICIALLY cast as Grizabella - Page 3

[BroadwayPeasent]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 4:16pm

I love her . And I love Delta Goodrem (Australia's Gir) but they have no place in musical theater period. Nikki M James would have been my choice.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 4:50pm

What a waste.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 5:49pm

Are you not aware that casting agents cast shows, especially ones that have been running for decades?

Thank you DeNada.  Amazingly I do know what I'm talking about so trpguyy you're being a little naive if you think ALW is not all over this production (if nothing else demonstrates this, look at the reports of his "fury" over Nicole S dropping out).

Another small detail- this production hasn't been running for years: it's a brand new revival with the creatives working on a new updated vision.  

And DeNada is spot-on about casting for the Phantom.

And finally- this casting is still rather ill-suited.

Updated On: 5/27/16 at 05:49 PM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 6:13pm

I'm really surprised at the majority of these reactions. Sure, it would be better casting for London but I'm familiar with Leona and she makes very solid pop albums. Well, except for Best Kept Secret. That was awful. Some songs were actually impossible to listen to. I haven't gotten to her newest one yet.

My immediate reaction was interest, though not as much as I would have been if it had been Nicole. I don't know if Leona is a particularly good actress. At least in her pop performances she isn't terribly... emotive. Also, I don't know how I'd feel about her singing Memory. But I am at least somewhat intrigued. In a... if it gets good word of mouth, I'll consider sitting through Cats... kind of way.

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 6:26pm

I'm a little puzzled at the reactions here as well. Yes, she hasn't had anything near a smash in quite some time, but "Bleeding Love", and "Better in Time" were pretty big and I personally loved "Happy". I still listen to them regularly. She has an expressive, rangy, lovely voice that I think will be really well-suited to theatrical music. I was pretty excited when I read this today. In any case, I wish her and the production luck. 

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 7:46pm

I guess we were all expecting a big Broadway performer, a little long in the tooth or somehow past her prime, who would be able to bring something of the lustre that Berry Buckley brought to the original Broadway cast.

Instead we get reality TV and Brit pop.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 7:48pm

Oh please. I can imagine what people on this board would've said in 1982. "We could've had Cher or Patti LuPone or Meryl Streep and instead we're stuck with this has been musical theatre performer Betty Buckley from sitcoms."

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 9:21pm

I think she's very talented and has a great voice. Having her in what is really an ensemble show is a nice bonus. 

That being said, Alice Ripley and Carolee Carmello both lost jobs this week and would have made stronger Grizabellas. Ah, well. It's a business.  

[JM226]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 9:53pm

gypsy101 said: "if you look at her Wikipedia page, she's technically not a one-hit wonder since she's had more then one single on the charts. but she hasn't had one in several years.

 

"

 

thats not how being a "one-hit wonder" works. it is is in reference to how many of your songs chart in the billboard top 40. that being said, she DID have at least two tracks chart in the top 40 so that characterization by the other poster was inaccurate to begin with 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 9:55pm

Betty Buckley and Leona Lewis are incomparable, so please don't pretend they are. The only performer in a similar situation to Buckley in the 80s is Kristin Chenoweth, and she's generally praised for her Broadway appearances.

I have no idea why ALW is going for these "faded" pop "stars" in their thirties and not casting some serious Broadway talent. Carmello, Ripley, and York would have all been much better choices - they would have been able to actually act the song.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 10:13pm

Tend to think ALW may know what he's doing...I'm going to give him and Lewis the benefit of the doubt. 

At the end of the day, the song is the star...As long as she can sing the hell out of it, she will be fine. 

[binau]

Posted: 5/26/16 at 10:17pm

It is funny how there are now literally three instances of faded pop star casting in this role (Leona Lewis, Nicole Scherzinger and Delta Goodrem).

Even though I personally would always prefer to see an aged diva in basically any role on Broadway, if I were to argue from the perspective of the producers I would say that Leona Lewis is more well known than most of the choices listed in this thread and has a powerful voice with pop sensibilities that would appeal to theatre goers today. 

Could imagine Carolee Carmello but Alice Ripley, really? I enjoy her and would see anything she is in, but I feel the state of her voice would be far less appealing to most audience members than Leona Lewis'. Reminds me of when people were complaining that Mazzie was cast in Carrie and how perfect Alice Ripley would have been in the role. Well Ripley finally got her chance but unfortunately she didn't really have the voice for it anymore. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 3:18am

Nicole is the bigger star, hands down. I don't feel the new to sit through this show to see Lewis. She's a great singer, but an actress? eh. Ill pass.

[Buffalo Bill]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 11:54am

Well, Jessie Tyler Ferguson is with us on this one, how fun! (From "Broadway Briefing":

RIEDEL: Jesse Tyler Ferguson has seen ‘Cats’ over 100 times - “I worked in the rear orchestra bar at the Winter Garden when ‘Cats’ was there,” he says. “I saw the first act of ‘Cats’ for a year and a half, and I have to say I loved it. That’s my dirty little secret.”

I say there's nothing dirty about loving a Broadway Show. It strikes me that we all love shows that other folks don't like, or don't think have merit, but just like the men and women in our lives, we love who (or what show) we love. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 12:04pm

It seems pretty cool that folks are able to speak to her acting abilities. 

[BroadwayPeasent]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 5:38pm

I love Delta and The Voice, but can we keep her far far far far away from musicals.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 6:40pm

Oh whatever, the idea that people would have complained about Betty Buckley, who was a stage veteran and a known TV actress when CATS opened, the same way we are complaining about this ridiculous bit of casting is just preposterous.

If they were gonna go for someone who is virtually an unknown in the United States, why not cast one of the great Broadway actresses who would have nailed the role? Andrea Burns, Tonya Pinkins, Marin Mazzie, Alice Ripley, Stephanie J. Block, Emily Skinner, Judy Kaye, Adrienne Lenox, LaChanze, Lea Salonga, Mandy Gonzalez, Cady Huffman...I mean, pretty much everyone except for this woman. Ugh, what a major disappointment.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 6:57pm

Foreign tourists (who make up a large percentage of the money spent on Broadway tickets) would be more familiar with Lewis than any of those Broadway performers mentioned above.

 

I wasn't paying attention to this board back when it happened, but did everyone pitch a fit about a pop singer with no previous acting career being cast in the Dreamgirls film?

[BroadwayPeasent]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 7:02pm

Lachanze would be inspired

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/27/16 at 9:03pm

It's very disappointing. A veteran NYC actress would do more for box office than Lewis. Was Taylor Dayne not available?

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/28/16 at 2:51am

I agree about comparing Buckley to Chenoweth. When "Cats" opened, Betty had already original the role of Martha Jefferson in the huge hit "1776" and toured extensively in "I'm Getting My Act Together," she had appeared in hit films like "Carrie," and starred in the hit series "Eight Is Enough" on TV. People knew who she was along the lines of someone like Kristin Chenoweth or Idina Menzel. She wasn't a British import with a hit song that most of the public hadn't heard of.

"Cats" doesn't rely on major star casting, but Grizabella is the one role in it where a bit of "collective history" on the actress is appreciated. It helps us root for her to be chosen as the one to be reborn. I don't think American audiences will be invested in Leona Lewis. She'll have to work twice as hard to pull us in and pull it off. And a reminder that Buckley was an actress who sang, not a singer who acts. That's also a big difference for this role. While you gotta nail the song, the reason it resonates has to do with the acting (see Betty's Tony Award on her mantle for proof).

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/28/16 at 2:57am

Anyone know specific names who auditioned for this and then they went with Leona?

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/28/16 at 3:06am

Im not totally sure why ALW seems to be casting glamorous and beautiful woman in this role these days. The only time I think he got it right with this incarnation of Cats was when Jane MacDonald  was cast to play the role regionally in between when CATS closed and re-opened in London. 

She was incredible and represented what Grizabella meant. She was a far better choice than Leona, Beverly, Nicole, Kerry and Delta. 

 

Back to topic though: I'm British and even I can admit casting Leona in London would be a weird choice let alone Broadway. Is ALW desperately trying to find his new muse? Is he getting creepy in his old age and focusing on glamorous woman. Who knows. 

Good luck, America. You can keep Leona.  

[BroadwayPeasent]

Posted: 5/28/16 at 3:34am

You Know I never understood his fascination with Sierra

[BroadwayPeasent]

Posted: 5/28/16 at 3:36am

If only there are good actresses in the USA then he could of hired one of those. Oh wait !!!