Manuel Exits The Times They Are A-Changin'; Standby Lisa Brescia Assumes Role- Page 2

[ruprecht]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:16pm

Easy Almostfamous, I'm sure Lisa is going to be fine but I HAVE seen the show and Micheal Arden looks very young and Lisa does not, IMO!

[BreeDaniel]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:19pm

Either way, it will be a vast improvement. I sat through that whole show wondering how Manuel was ever even hired.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:35pm

BreeDaniel, I felt the same way. I kind of feel bad for Caryn, but at the same time, it was the casting directors who put her in that position. If she couldn't sing the songs, why was she hired?

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:36pm

maybe the casting agents were too busy looking at Caren's T & A to even pay attention to her talent :P
i still think she is incredibly talented, but she probably wasnt meant for this role...

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:49pm

I still maintain its the role, not the actress.

Obviously, there's a lot of love for Lisa, which I share, so I hope she has something better to work with the thankless position I saw Manuel in last week.

[Amneris]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:52pm

Why would they do this a week into previews and not 1 week before? It makes no sense.. they saw Caren in rehearsals...

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 8:54pm

Maybe Twyla wanted to see if she'd improve.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:24pm

I see this show closing my the end of the year.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:27pm

I'm so happy for Lisa! I really had little desire to see this (besides Michael Arden), but now I think I will go.

[AlmostFamous]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:36pm

"Easy Almostfamous, I'm sure Lisa is going to be fine but I HAVE seen the show and Micheal Arden looks very young and Lisa does not, IMO! "

Oh, I was just stating my opinion! :)
Not ranting on anyone or attacking anyone's opinion, just saying mine. I guess it's all a matter of opinion! No worries, sorry my post came off the wrong way!

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:38pm

I can't wait for Jason Wooten to go on!

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:41pm

"woot, woot!"



ok, did NO ONE else see that one coming!?

[Amneris]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:43pm

i'm just saying.. they should have made this decision before hand. If they didn't feel she was right in the first place, obviously she wasn't going to improve within a week or two.. or 6. It's hurtful to a performer/a performers rep. in a way. It probably also puts the performer taking over in a strange position both wonderful and feeling sorry because they have shoes to fill and expectations to live up to. Imagine how caren must be feeling this evening.

[little_sally]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 9:47pm

I'm a big Caren fan but after I saw Lisa in WIW, I became an even bigger fan of her's. I'm very happy about Lisa taking over.

[enjolrasissex]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 10:09pm

I'm a huge Caren fan, but she was horrible in this role. (Though, it may have been the role itself that was bad.)

Hopefully Lisa will do well!

[MollySim]

Posted: 10/3/06 at 11:28pm

Did anyone see this tonight?

[BoxFive]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 12:23am

Brescia is simply divine, bloody good for her!

[jennafan]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 2:48am

Jenn Colella said in a Time Out interview that Tharp approached her in June and told her that the producers wanted to 'look at other people'. So, yeah bascially she was let go.

What happens now to the cast recording? The show isn't getting the greatest reviews and now with a new leading lady, will they have to go back into the studio? Are recordings usually made before previews? I'd imagine it would be hard to make while doing the show 8 times a week.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 6:47am

Cast recordings are typically made on whatever day the theater is dark, I believe.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 7:42am

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10042006/entertainment/theater/lots_a_changin_entertainment_michael_riedel.htm

So here's the poop:

Nobody in the cast knows what's going on. Twyla is changing stuff like mad to clarify the show.

Collella was fired because she wasn't sexy enough, though she had a Dylan-esque voice. Manuel was fired because, though she oozed sex (which is true), she has a Wicked-voice, not a Dylan-voice.

And there are rumors that Manuel got into b*tch-fits whenever they rehearsed....

Updated On: 10/4/06 at 07:42 AM

[mint0621]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 7:42am

I remember how I thought Jen Colella looked much older than Michael Arden & I felt that didn't work....

Unfortunately, I don't think this casting change is enough to "save" the show.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 7:47am

OK, if Tharp is frantically making adjustments, what happened between California and Broadway? From people who have seen both, it seems like nothing has really been changed.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 10:32am

I would not be envious of Brescia's position right now but the bigger problem is and has been in the past, putting singers in to shows they're not a good fit for. Manuel and anyone else who's ever been in RENT is NOT necessarily a "rock" singer. I don't quite understand Arden doing Dylan either but he seems to be sneaking by in this fiasco thus far, unscathed. Again, not having seen this incarnation, seems there's little they can do cast changes or not, to make it better or even good for that matter. Perhaps they should cut there losses and move on.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 10:36am

i don't care who is on stage. i just better see this before it closes! haha

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/4/06 at 12:02pm