I know this may not matter and this may due to completely crazy, but wouldn't they need an older billy and hope to play opposite mullally? Probably an older Billy anyway, random. Though I've seen productions where Reno was substantially older than Billy and it didn't matter much. I don't know that we ever take that romance very seriously.
As for whether Mullally could dance the current choreography, I've never seen a production where Reno does the heavy-duty dancing. She usually steps aside when that stuff starts. I think the "dancing Reno" is a Sutton Foster thing.
I'm wasn't singling you out personally when I mentioned my puzzlement at the Mullally-as-Sally discussion. I'm sure you explained yourself very well. But most posters I asked simply talked about Mullally's very high skill level (no argument from me), not about specific qualities that said "Sally" to them.
I assume we've all seen Mullally play brassy and funny, which is why I'm surprised at the resistance to her as Reno. Maybe it's a Merman-type v. Sutton Foster-type confusion.
(ETA come to think of it, maybe that Merman v. Foster issue speaks to your question about Billy's age. I've never taken the Billy/Reno romance seriously because Reno is played by a Merman type who bulldozes her way through the production. Maybe Sutton Foster changed the romantic equation.)
Updated On: 2/14/12 at 09:04 PM