Michael Musto on Patti LuPone and Faith Prince

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 9:29am

DO CRY FOR HER, ARGENTINA

Another ‘70s survivor, Tony winner Patti LuPone, must be wearing some very tough skin these days. She reportedly had to audition for the Dianne Wiest role in the Broadway musical of Woody Allen’s Bullets over Broadway. That’s shocking enough, but even more so is the fact that she didn’t get the part! A Broadway board regular says Patti is telling people that an hour after her tryout, she got a call saying Woody just doesn’t see her as the character. I totally disagree, but I guess I’ll listen to the Helen Sinclair in my head urging, “Don’t speak!”

Oh, and I hear Tony winner Faith Prince got a dis of her own when she received a message from the director of Broadway’s Annie revival, chastising her for playing Miss Hannigan for laughs. Horrors! That’s like playing Hamlet for pathos! Oh, I forgot. This production is an attempt at a more naturalistic Annie, right? I guess that rules out a job for Tweety Bird.

Full link http://www.out.com/entertainment/michael-musto/2013/09/09/fashion-week-phillipe-blond-village-people-randy-jones-wedding

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 09:29 AM

[Mark-o]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 9:44am

ouch!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 10:19am

I don't see LuPone as Helen Sinclair either. She would camp the role from one end of the stage to the other. It would just be Norma Desmond on comedy steroids.

Woody Allen has always been about subtlety and LuPone wouldn't know subtlety if it smacked her in the face.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 10:34am

I mean, it must be tough for Ms Prince to follow in the restrained, naturalistic footsteps of Sue Sylvester...

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 10:43am

Gothampc, have you seen Bullets Over Broadway? I just watched it this weekend and Dianne Wiest and Jennifer Tilly are anything but subtle. In fact there are no subtle performances in it - Tracey Ullmann and John Cusack also chew the scenery.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 10:43 AM

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 10:43am

Double post. How does that happen. I swear I only click the button once.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 10:43 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 10:57am

logan2, the whole "Don't speak" scene is subtle. If LuPone gets her hands on that scene, it will be full voice screaming "Dooooooooon't speeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaakkkk!!!!" All you have to do is look at her performance in Sunset Boulevard to know the direction she would play the role.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:03am

I think the real problem with casting Helen is finding an actress who understands two key things about the character:

1) She exists in her own world. She isn't really aware of the "real world" around her. And she doesn't care to be. She's not interested. It bores her.

2) "Helen" is a self-invention. A stage actress who has become the "vain Broadway legend" and knows it. She is not only content to be this, she's proud of her invention. She's not interested in "real people."

I think too many actresses likely approach Helen working from the outside in. They try to manufacture the shell, before they understand the "person" who created this shell.

I can see how someone like Patti LuPone and even Marin Mazzie would also add "aware" of her surroundings. Aware of the people around her. Astute, guarded, shrewd, calculating.

All of this played for laughs, but still someone who is "engaged in the game" and the lives of the people around her.

Helen doesn't care about any of that. Helen cares about Helen.

Patti can play many over-the-top Divas. Brilliantly. But her Divas are usually very aware. Very calculating. Very astute. Very engaged in their surroundings.

You need a Billie Burke with Tallulah's deep voice and career. Someone who floats into a rehearsal late (in her imaginary bubble), saying "I'm terribly sorry. My pedicurist had a stroke. She slipped and plunged her stick right into my toe. It required bandaging."

She needs to not only say it, she needs to believe it. She also shouldn't care for one second if anyone else believes it.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 11:03 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:03am

I've always found LuPone to be an actor who suits the style and size of her performance to the production.

Everyone thinks they remember her belting her way through "Evita," but if you watch the clips of both "Don't Cry for Me" and, certainly, things like "Final Broadcast," you see it's just not true. At least it wasn't always true; she may well have gotten lazy as the run went on.

Her work in Mamet, such as "The Water Engine" and "The Old Neighborhood" was incredibly subtle and persuasive.

Her Norma in the Sydmonton workshop was beautifully nuanced. If anything I think she struggled to "size up" her performance when the show reached the West End as the Gothic spectacle it became. But still, her Norma was subtlety itself compared to Glenn Close's.

All that being said, I trust Woody. I think Patti is the right idea for Helen, but I can also imagine it's just not working, particularly right away. From all accounts, it took Diane Wiest quite a while to get it right.

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:15am

Gothampc, I agree with you about LuPone not being best suited for the role. But, at the risk of being labeled a troll, I still don't think Wiest is subtle in the part.

I really think Christine Ebersole would be great as Helen. But no matter who takes the role, I am very excited about this production.

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:18am

Omigod, I completely agree with best12bars assessment on this. The apocalypse must be near.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 11:18 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:32am

I wonder if Tyne Daly could play the role.

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:43am

That would be interesting. Would Tyne be as funny in the role, though, as other actresses could be?

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:02pm

If I were in the throws of casting now, I would be looking at all the sweet, innocent ingenues from 15 to 20 years ago. The ones who could be funny and dramatic, but mostly played "lovely," not Divas or shrews or campy characters.

Then I would see if she could lower her voice and put "Helen" on. That's the added layer of the character, but not the core.

I would call in Rachel York and Mary D'Arcy and (if she weren't already working) Rebecca Luker.

But I think my top choice, sight unseen for this role, would be Christine Andreas. In addition to everything mentioned above, she always had an old-school "star" vibe about her. She looked a bit like Kathryn Grayson, which didn't hurt.

I would also try Victoria Clark, although she was always more "character," but more importantly, not with that sweet and innocent vibe.

[newintown]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:05pm

Tyne Daly is as glamorous and seductive as a water buffalo that's been dead for a week.

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:06pm

Christine Andreas deserves a hit. What a long career she's had without the proper accolades.

What about Ellen Greene? She could be a hoot in the role.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:12pm

Ellen Greene isn't right vocally for what they want, I don't think. I agree with besty that they should be calling in the ingenues from 15-20 years ago (and, in fact, Luker was one of the many people I'd like to see in the role).

I could also see Patti Cohenour working well in the role.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:27pm

Jane Krakowski, I tell you. Jane Krakowski.

[madbrian]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:28pm

I completely agree with B12B about Rachel York.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:39pm

Don't cry for Pattie Lupone! i hear the producers of the upcoming Austin Powers musical loved her Audition to play Dr. Evil.

[logan2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:41pm

What are they looking for vocally? Are you with the production or just assuming.

Then how about Ellen Greene in the Jennifer Tilly role? Oh wait, I bet someone will say she's too old.

[emphraimlevi]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:45pm

Of course they would then have to deal with Ellen Greene's madness which I wouldn't wish on them.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:45pm

Someone posted the casting breakdown on another Bullets thread, where it said they were looking for a soprano. I'll see if I can track it down.

[emphraimlevi]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:46pm

Isn't that the same with Rachel York? Whom I adore...that she is very difficult and works less because of it I mean?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:52pm

I'm a broken record on this, I know, but still I say Shirley Henderson.
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