As a charter Reprise subscriber I can assure you there will be no screaming girls at "Sunday". The average age of the Reprise theatregoer is 70...a vast majority of patrons are senior citizens and the rest are middle-aged jewish couples. There is a sizeable minority of middle-aged gay men but it's definitely not a young crowd.
As for this being a trial for O'Hara and Felciano....The Sunday production that is going to NYC is a London production which I happenned to catch in London. I'm not sure how much say the producers (which i believe will be the Roundabout in conjunction with Menier) will have in pushing Sam Buntrock, the director, to hire THEIR choice.
As much as I love Kelli O'Hara, her interpretation of Dot would be much different than that of Jenna Russell- their vocal qualities are different and Jenna is very earthy in a way that Kelli just isn't. As for Manoel, he would probably get closer to Daniel Evans' interpretation of George because he has that intellectual but immature quality that George had in the London revival.
I think that Kelli will do an amazing job in the role in LA- and I'm sure she could get a Tony if she did the role on Broadway. I just don't see her fitting Sam Buntrock's idea of Dot. I absolutely loved the London revival but I am sure Jason Alexander will bring his own vision to the work which will be enjoyable and thought provoking as well.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"