Light in the Piazza Question

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:22am

I was reading today about how Kelli played Franca in the first two productions then opened on Broadway. Who was playing the role? And why did O'Hara replace her. I love her to death and was just wondering

[logan0215]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:27am

Celia Keenan-Bolger played Clara.

Sarah Uriate Berry went on to take over the Franca role.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:48am

Did she leave to do Spelling Bee or did they replace her?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:10am

She got kicked in the head by a horse. Or to be more specific, a circus pony!

Updated On: 5/12/09 at 06:10 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:14am

I believe I heard Victoria Clark say in an interview that they (the proverbial they, I guess) loved Celia Keenan-Bolger, but she just played too young onstage, so she was replaced with Kelli O'Hara.

Steven Pasquale was also the original Fabrizio, but he was also replaced.

Updated On: 5/12/09 at 06:14 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:18am

I thought Celia was a beautiful Clara. I was surprised she was replaced.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 6:41am

Kelli originally played Franca, though?

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 10:16am

If I remember correctly, when they did the original reading at a festival, Kelli happened to be there for some other work and they asked her to read the role of Franca. She was kept in that role for the original workshops and approached her to take over Clara for the broadway transfer. She said she ENJOYED playing the saucy supporting role SO MUCH that she almost considered staying in the role of Franca.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:07pm

Can you imagine if Kelli had stayed as Franca for the Broadway run? Her career might have gone in a completely different direction.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:36pm

Thank God she didn't. She was brillant in that role.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 1:38pm

True Kelli was great, but I would have loved to see Celia. I wish they had gotten her to replace Kelli rather than Katie Clark.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 2:20pm

Steven Pasquale was also the original Fabrizio, but he was also replaced.

:sigh: I would've loved to see that.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 3:13pm

From what I understand, Celia played the role too... uh.. mentally challenged. They decided to go in a different direction with the character, so they got Kelli. Then later they decided to go back to more mentally challenged, so that's how Katie Clarke played it.

There are video clips of Celia in the role on YT.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 5:00pm

Spork, do you mean just the one clip from the Seattle news?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cHzV2j4rrs
Or are there others I've missed?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 10:43pm

Er... yeah, I suppose I shouldn't have used the plural, sorry.

[musikman]

Posted: 5/12/09 at 11:54pm

*Points to profile pic*

I miss this show.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:10am

Huh, I just remembered that my avatar is of Celia and Steven in LitP.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:26am

I was absolutely bored by O'Hara and Morrison when I saw the show in previews, to the point that I dozed off, several times. Clarke was a revelation, IMO, and I like what I've heard of Keenan-Bolger.

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:34am

Wasn't there something going on between O'Hara and Guettel?
Or did I make that up during a game of MASH...

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:40am

Kelli has been with Greg Naughton for year. In terms of acting, no one holds a candle to Katie Clarke as Clara.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:15am

Too bad her singing was an absolute mess (though she had improved by the time I saw her in the tour).

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:49am

Katie's singing was a disaster on the PBS Broadcast, but she sounded MUCH better when I saw her on tour a year later. When I saw her as Glinda in Wicked, she sounded like a different person (in a good way).

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:03am

Maybe my ear just isn't as trained, but I thought Katie sounded fine on the PBS broadcast. And I enjoyed her acting choices much more than Kelli's, though it's not quite as fair since I have the added advantage of seeing Katie's performance however many times I want to. Updated On: 5/13/09 at 02:03 AM

[caitlinette]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:31am

I believe I heard Victoria Clark say in an interview that they (the proverbial they, I guess) loved Celia Keenan-Bolger, but she just played too young onstage

That's odd. For one, it's not like Celia was that young, and two, Clara is a pretty fresh-faced character.

[musikman]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:14pm

CATSNY, I think that's just the problem. It shouldn't just be fine. She was chosen to perform a role that requires a strong, lyric soprano voice, which she just didn't have at all when I saw her live, and then a few weeks later on the PBS Broadcast. Just because her character is supposed to have the mental maturity of a young girl, she has the physical maturity of a 26 year old woman, and therefore it's ok that she can speak/sing and act as such. As she grows throughout the show, it's probably even more appropriate.

I did not have the opportunity to hear what she sounded like on tour where most have said she sounded much better. Therefore, I'm going based upon what I heard in the theater and on TV. Regardless of whether she was trying to portray a young woman or a young girl, she just could not handle the role vocally. It always seemed as if she were struggling, whereas when Kelli sang, it was effortless.

Everyone can also come back and say sure, Kelli has the training, experience, etc... and Katie doesn't. But last time I checked, this was Broadway, not a community theater in Podunksville. To me, Katie's acting extent was touching Victoria Clark's face with her pointer finger every time they came together.

This subject has probably been beaten to death, and I know we all have different opinions on it, so we probably won't convince each other to change our opinions. That being said, I still just don't get the whole Katie Clark acting rings around Kelli argument, or that her voice was just fine and even "suited" the part better.