Mimi and Joanne- Page 2

[wickedkiwi]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 7:33pm

i saw a tall white girl play joanne about a year or so back on broaway...in the summer i think it was...

she was good, i didn't really expect her to have such a big voice, but she did a great job.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 8:26pm

misto, I'm curious who has covered both Angel and Collins. Someone on tour?

I believe Rodney Hicks has covered Angel, Collins, and Benny, but that may not be who misto was thinking of.

[Katt]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 8:34pm

I don't think Rodney covered Angel, but I could be wrong. I know for sure that he covered Benny though.

[anne3]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 8:47pm

"I think they are a little more flexible w/ understudies, though. Did he also understudy Mark and/or Roger?"

They are more flexible yes, it was just a point. And no he didn't understudy Mark or Roger.

"misto, I'm curious who has covered both Angel and Collins. Someone on tour?"

I think it was someone in the Original Cast actually... I could be wrong. But I have heard that before as well.


"i saw a tall white girl play joanne about a year or so back on broaway...in the summer i think it was..."

No one white has ever covered the role of Joanne.

[Katt]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 9:10pm

I just remembered, it was Darius de Haas, one of the original swings, who covered both Angel and Collins.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 9:17pm

Aha! I knew it was an OBC person. :)

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 10:11pm

You're right, Katt! I had forgotten about Darius. :)

wickedkiwi, you did not see a white girl play Joanne on Broadway. It has never happened. It may have been a light-skinned Joanne but I can assure you that she wasn't white. If you know what year it was, I can tell you who it was.

[misto625]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 11:36pm

Yes, Darius is who I am thinking of. I don't know of any on tour but I haven't seen the tour since 2000. I know that Owen Johnston II currently covers Angel and Mark/Roger.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 11:41pm

Actually, Owen currently only covers Roger and Angel. He VERY rarely goes on as Roger and hasn't been on as Angel in years.

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 4:40pm

I dont know if you dont know this but ALOT of Puerto Rican people look like African American people. You probally just assume, they are not Puerto Rican. So casting African Americans to play Mimi is not anything diffrent. As for Joanne, it is clear Jonathan Larson was trying to capture a certain generation and a black woman going to Harvard and becoming a yuppie was a huge "trend" in a sense. The same goes for Benny. It was the first generation that did not live alot of their lives in segregation. They were a generation of hope. Black professionals were actually getting rights. shows like the cosby show, a diffrent world and later fresh prince showed this to america.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 4/6/06 at 5:48pm

wickedkiwi- i'm pretty sure the closest match to your description would be merle dandrige who is in fact african american.

as for mimi's- ava gaudet(current maureen) went on for mimi several times when she played mark's mom and did quite well, so white girls can pull if off

my goal is to cover the 4 principal males (mark , roger, collins, and benny... angel is never gonna happen) on broadway but for some reason *points to avatar* i doubt 2 of those are likely

[Katt]

Posted: 4/7/06 at 12:24am

Here's some pictures of Darius as Benny and Angel: