Megan Mullally To Return To Broadway In GUYS & DOLLS?- Page 2

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 8:40am

"There's definitely talk of that, actually, that particular thing. But nothing's been nailed down," Mullally said.

This is what Mullally says, she says "that particular thing," so yes, she is referring to GUYS & DOLLS.
Besty, I do remember there being some discussion about how the clips didn't really show the energy of the performances live. I didn't get to see it so can't speak to that, but I do have good friends whose opinion I trust very much who said she nailed the role.
Jane Krakowski wanted to do it very badly around the time she wasn't sure if 30 ROCK would be renewed for a second season. I believe she still wanted to do it even while filming the show, but ultimately they realized the schedule would be impossible to work out. I think it's a role she loved playing, but now she has another pilot for FOX (which sounds great so I hope it gets picked up), so I think that ship has sailed. It's a real shame she didn't get to do it on Broadway, I have a recording of her doing it in London and it's by far my favorite interpretation of the role bar none. She earned that Olivier.
Speaking about the last revival, say what you want about Mary Testa and Titus Burgess but they actually entertained the audience. They of course had to throw out all characterization out the window, but there was nothing they could do. It was an awful awful awful revival, and they clearly knew that, so they figured they'd stand out by actually trying to make the audience have fun. And they really did provide a breath of fresh air to one of the worst productions of a classic musical I've seen on Broadway.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 9:16am

Norm Lewis was actually pursued for the last revival, as was Patrick Wilson, who ended up doing the concert earlier this month. Both would be much better than Craig Bierko ended up being.

(That said, how old should Sky really be? Lewis is now past 50...)

Having scene the recent concert, I'd love for Mullally's terrific Adelaide to have a second life. Sierra Boggess was also a nearly perfect Sarah Brown.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 9:52am

I remember when the producers released their wish list for the revival: Patrick Wilson as Sky, Anne Hathaway as Sarah Brown, Debra Messing as Miss Adelaide, and John C. Reilly as Nathan. Then, the writer's strike happened and all of the sudden everyone was unavailable. Instead, we ended up with Craig Bierko, Kate Jennings Grant, Lauren Graham, and Oliver Platt *shudder*

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 10:09am

I seem to remember Lauren Ambrose's name in the mix for Sarah Brown. Is that right?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 1:27pm

You might be right, AC. I do remember around that time she was heavily mentioned for SOUTH PACIFIC (along with a couple other names), so I wouldn't be surprised if she was also one of the names in the mix for Sarah. I do wonder how many people turned them down for them to end up with the people they ended up with.

[TheaterMe]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 1:43pm

Quote "I wasn't impressed with any of the clips I saw of the concert version, including Mullally---even if she fared slightly better than the others. "

Wow ... I didn't feel this way at all. I saw both the concert at Carnegie Hall and the 1992 Revival on Broadway and I thought all the performances at Carnegie were just as good. There are some decent audios floating around of Mullally, Boggess, Wilson, and Lane.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 1:59pm

What was so terrible about the recent revival? (I did not see it)

[morosco]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 2:36pm

Am I remembering it right that Mary Testa not only slapped her ass a few times but also yelled something to the effect of, "Who's your daddy?!" when she played General Matilda B. Cartwright?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 2:43pm

Yes. Her schtick carried over onto the Tony performance.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 2:55pm

The revival was too...bleak. Everything was played with realism and a general lack of "fun."

I thought Lauren Graham was great, but completely different. She was not a broadly hilarious and funny Adelaide, but rather a slighty dim, but upbeat woman who has been crushed and crushed over the years by the man she loves. She got laughs, but never went for the big and broad comedic moments. She got more of a "silly dingbat" style laughs. It didn't help she had ZERO chemistry with Platt. She would have been great with a better Nathan and director who would let her have fun.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 3:10pm

The night I saw her she didn't get the laughs. I mean, she got the easy laughs written into the script (not even she could suck the fun out of GUYS & DOLLS), but her "Adelaide's Lament" wasn't funny or filled with pathos or anything. It just kinda sat there, as if it were just another song, rather than one of the best songs ever written in musical theatre. For me, the worst part about her performance is how nothing she was in the role. She wasn't funny, she wasn't smart, she wasn't sad, she wasn't anything. She just sat there, sang the songs, said the lines, and nothing happened. Her line readings were predictable, her singing had no personality, and if it weren't for her costumes, I wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from the chorus girls. She had no business being on stage.
The entire revival was poorly staged and had no real direction. The dancing was boring, the staging uninspired, and it just dragged and dragged and dragged. The worst part was that the leads were playing the roles as if it was a community theatre production (actually, community theatre actors might have brought passion to their parts). Bierko and Kate Jennings Grant were sweet at times, and at least you believed them as a couple--Platt and Graham looked as if they had just met a couple seconds before coming onto the stage. Platt was unfunny, terribly unfunny. Graham was the definition of bland.
Then you had Mary Testa and Titus Burgess having a banquet with the scenery, which turned off many (I thought it was a much needed jolt of energy).

Updated On: 4/22/14 at 03:10 PM

[darreyl102]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 4:39pm

^ Exactly- It was outlandish, bizarre and you were like WTF am I seeing, but in this sleepy revival it certainly woke people up.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 5:18pm

Brantley captured everything wrong with the production perfectly:

Nearly all the performers — from stars to chorus — approach their roles eagerly but diffidently, as if they would like to get to know the characters they play but are afraid of being rejected. Such tentativeness creates the impression of an entire cast of understudies, who have the technical qualifications for their parts but no natural affinity.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 10:21pm

Lauren Grahams performance was a perfect example of the difference between a tv celebrity and a stage actress. She was horrendous in a perfectly written part.

The only thing one could say about her performance was it wasn't the train wreck that Titus Burgess's performance was.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 1:46pm

I didn't hate the last revival as much as other people did, but in hindsight I can definitely see it was a mess. The worst thing about it was Oliver Platt though...he was horribly miscast and looked uncomfortable every time he was onstage, as though he would rather be anywhere else. He also, as others have said, had zero chemistry with Lauren Graham. I'm in the camp that thought Mary Testa was hilarious; if nothing else, she went balls to the wall with the character, which is something that couldn't really be said about most of the other people in the cast.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/30/14 at 9:53pm

I'm going to guess that this is not happening, at least not next season. Big League just put out an audition notice for a non-Equity tour of the show for next season and I can't imagine the Loesser estate approving that if there were indeed serious discussions to bring the show back to Broadway next season.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/30/14 at 10:29pm

You know what really evokes 1950's era Golden Age of Broadway? A production of Guys & Dolls whose set was 70% projections! It's easier to just strike it from the record. This way we can reuse the beautiful artwork wasted on that hideous production.

[AnythingGoes23]

Posted: 5/1/14 at 12:54pm

Keep an eye on the Chichester revival in the UK. The musical is expected to transfer to West End very quickly. If its successful I am sure producers will have Broadway in sight.