London's "Woman in White" now changed to what will be Broadway version — Page 2

"Sorry, were you referring to the time when Michael first played Fosco, or is this a new rehearsal ( for the planned changes)? "


I don't believe Michael Ball was involved in the rehearsals for the slightly changed show, Anthony Andrews plays Fosco now. The press reviewed Michael B during his "first" run as Fosco under the old version, hope he makes it to Broadway.

Thanks for clarifying that, Lee.

I agree with you - he will be an asset to the Broadway production! If he does join the show on Broadway, I hope they record a new OCR for the Broadway version. I'd certainly like to hear his voice speaking the lines and singing the songs of Count Fosco ( he did quite well with the Italian accent and the operatic flavour of the songs ).


Jo

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 04:40 AM

If this helps at all - I saw it a week after the first preview, and the finale had already changed by then to just Marion alone on stage. I always found it strangly inconclusive so am looking forwards to seeing this new ending sometime soon...

Yep - I think it says in the liner notes that although he actually preferred the chiseling ending (which is why it was included on the recording) in performance it got rather lost in the vastness of the Palace and was changed fairly quickly.

Hugh Jackman didn't do OKLAHOMA on Broadway because he had film commitments, it wasn't because Equity wouldn't allow him to come over.

Angela Christian, and Jill Paice are Americans, so no trouble there. Maria Friedman and Michael Ball qualify for "star" status. The only up in the air quotient is Martin Crews who is not American, or a star. Equity could easily say there are 30 leading men on Broadway right now who could play that role. They'd probably be right, but I do hope that Crews will be allowed to cross over.

No, but she's done concert work in NYC. She's also had a succesful recording career and has won three Olivier Awards.

Conversely, I'm sure that someone like Audra McDonald would qualify for "star status" to work in the West End.

Well it's definitely not as simple as having "worked" on Broadway before. For example, the OBC of CARRIE consisted of a half American/Half British cast because the show was presented with a joint agreement with the RSC. But that doesn't mean any Brit who was in that show would automatically be able to work on Broadway again anytime they wanted to.

The producer would have to lobby and petition on the actor's behalf to Equity. The individual usually has to qualify for "star status," which is usually subjective and evaluated on a case-by-case basis, or the individual has to qualify as being "uniquely qualified" for the role.

The producers of MISS SAIGON didn't have much trouble getting Lea Salonga through Equity on the "uniquely qualified" clause, but Elaine Paige was famously denied permission by Equity to do EVITA in NYC.

The rules have been relaxed a little bit over the years. Laura Michelle Kelly will probably repeat MARY POPPINS in NYC (provided it opens before 2007) and she doesn't really qualify as a star or uniquely qualified.

If Crews were allowed to come over, it would be part of an EQUITY exchange. Laura Michelle Kelly, for example, was allowed to do FIDDLER in NYC as a trade for Angela Christian doing WIW in London...

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 12:01 PM

Definitely. Most television/film personalities automatically qualify, though supposedly Equity denied Toni Collette permission to replace Natasha Richardson in CABARET even though she'd starred in "Muriel's Wedding."

Michael Crawford obviously qualified for star status as did Jonathan Pryce. (There was a fuss with Equity because he wasn't asian playing a Eurasian role - but he was a previous Tony Award Winner -- qualifying him for "star status.")

ALW threatened to cancel PHANTOM if Brightman wasn't allowed to come over, though by the time she did ASPECTS, she qualified for "star status."

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 12:23 PM

I don't think this show will be a success on Broadway. Times and tastes have changed and this show will not do well. Brantley did not like the show in London (and he really didn't like the projections). I saw it- liked it and thought it was pleasant enough but wasn't blown away by it.

The show is on one hand too operatic to appeal to most theatregoers and on the other hand it's too "commercial" to appeal to the wine and cheese/Sondheim loving crowd that's making Piazza into an unlikely hit.

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I agree with what Plum has said about the Hugh Jackman OKLAHOMA! transfer --

According to Maureen Lipman ( who played Aunt Eller in the West End production) in her book LIP READING, the original cast ( major members) were all meant to transfer to Broadway but were refused by American Actors Equity headed by Alan Eisenberg. Mr Eisenberg eventually came to see the show in London and visited the cast in their dressing rooms. "Too late to admit us, he stood, chastened, and confessed he'd been knocked out...By a real community of players in a landmark production", wrote Maureen.

A few years later, there was another effort to bring the production over...by that time, Hugh Jackman had been lost to Hollywood. It was that momentary loss which eventually paved the way for Hugh's debut in THE BOY FROM OZ, which ironically some people derided as stunt casting from Hollywood.

I was lucky myself - I was in London on a business trip in the spring of 1999. I had time to see a show and thought it might be good to see the RNT revival of OKLAHOMA! as I was a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, had only seen the movie version, and had heard good things about the RNT's CAROUSEL revival earlier. So, I did get to see this new leading man, with his commanding presence, swaggering onstage and charming everyone in the audience, and showing off his musical theatre voice

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 09:25 PM