More Chorus Line casting news- Page 2

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 2:20pm

I think people need to forget OBCs when you see a revival. A revival should be allowed to be conceived as much like a new work as allowed by the script. As has been said quite clearly, the show does not have to be done with Richie as the only black dancer and that Sheila does not have to be white.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 2:23pm

If Margo says it will work....it will work!

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 3:56pm

Man, Rachelle Rak!!! I think SHE would be able to knock Sheila out of the ballpark!!!

I'm not a huge fan of Deidre (was very unimpressed with her singing in Nine), but I'm sure she'll be fine.

[knows_too_much]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 3:59pm

So far the cast is too Broadwayee. I think A Chorus Line needs some Hollywood names in the cast. Personaly I'm crossing my fingers for Pam Anderson as Val. She can't sing or dance, but she has both of the important requirments.

JK

[toomeytwopiece]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:05pm

I think it's about time this woman got to tackle a part that might actually show everyone her strong points.

Perhaps the book will be re-worked to match the fashion in which it was written. maybe the characters will be changed slightly to include the real-life aspects of some of the actors?? just a thought

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:18pm

I don't think that is a good idea.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:24pm

Not to compare the original but Kelly Bishop wasn't exactly Maria Callas either.

..no idea myself what Goodwin sounds like...

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:26pm

From what I understood, they were trying to recreat the OBC. ???

[Jon]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:32pm

They are recreating the original Broadway STAGING - not trying to clone the original cast. Saying Sheila can't be black is like saying Cassie has to be a brunette and Morales has to have a Dorothy Hamill hairdo.

The sets and costumes will be the same as the original. The lighting will be new - since there have been huge leaps in computerized lighting technology. What seemed dazzling in 1975 is pretty mundane these days.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:33pm

Deidre Goodwin can make anything work. She's an amazing dancer.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:56pm

Unless sometimes has changed this is the complete cast(with expection to the ensemble & swings).

CHARLOTTE d'AMBOISE Cassie
MICHAEL BERRESSE Zach
YUKA TAKARA Connie
TYLER HANES Larry
NATALIE CORTEZ Diana
BRAD ANDERSON Don
JAMES T. LANE Richie
JESSICA LEE GOLDYN Val
JASON TAM Paul
ALISAN PORTER Bebe
MICHAEL PATERNOSTRO Greg
JEFFREY SCHECTER Mike
MARA DAVI Maggie
KEN ALAN Bobby
HEATHER PARCELLS Judy
TONY YAZBECK Al
DEIDRE GOODWIN Sheila
PAUL MCGILL Mark
CHRYSSIE WHITEHEAD Kristine

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/24/06 at 8:02pm

Does anyone know who the cut dancers, u/s, swings are? Also when does ACL arrive in SFO?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/24/06 at 8:10pm

Also when does ACL arrive in SFO?

Why, did you want to greet them at the gate?

Here's the link on the Best of Broadway SF site.
http://www.shnsf.com/shows/show.asp?key=18&subkey=29

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/24/06 at 8:11pm

I don't have a problem with Shelia being black but Deidre Goodwin is too old for the part, IMO, as is Charlotte D'Amboise.

Michael Bennett actually fired Elizabeth Seal from the original London production citing that she was too old for the role of Cassie. The same age, incidentally as Charlotte.

Yeah, I know Donna McKechnie made a triumphant return to the role in the 80s, but she was too old then too.

The character is 32 and all the women who played the role originally were about that age. Shelia actually says she's 29. I wonder if they will change that for Deidre Goodwin.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 11:31am

Look, I really do indeed like Deidre but I do have issues with Sheila Bryant being black. The only black person on that line should be Richie Walters. I don't like it when they cast black Paul's either. It is written that way for a reason and by making another character black it really does change the script drastically. There is alternate dialogue written for Connie if there are no Asian women. She becomes Connie McGregor (or something) from Greensboro, NC. However, there is no alternate dialoged written for a non black Richie. I also agree with Michael that she is too old for the role as well is Charlotte. I say either do a complete re-creation of the original or give me a complete re-vamping of the show. This sounds awfully muddy at an early stage in the game. I still think it is too early for a revival.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 12:01pm

Threadjack (sort of):

Why did Kelly Bishop change her name to Carole Bishop after she won the Tony? Wouldn't that confuse people if she were going to try to advance her career post-Chorus Line? Anyone know?

Updated On: 4/25/06 at 12:01 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 12:03pm

Same reason Audra Ann McDonald changed it to Audra McDonald - that's what she likes to be called. Kelly doesn't "go" by Carole - so she didn't want to be referred to that name forever.

[Brodybaby03]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 12:24pm

It should've been Rachelle....she would've been PERFECT.
But I'm not incharge.
But it should've been her. GOD! now im sad.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 12:41pm

Connie Mackenzie

[BS]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 2:40pm

I thought Carole became Kelly because of SAG.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 3:23pm

There aren't any "Carole" or "Carol" Bishops listed on IMDb.com... so I doubt it was for SAG.

Unless there was a "Carol Bishop" that never worked in SAG.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 4/25/06 at 4:05pm

Thanks DBillyP! I knew it was something like that. xoxo

[Pemily]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 4:30pm

Kelly's version of why she changed her name (WB Press tour 2005)

QUESTION: Just to follow up, when did Carol become Kelly?
KELLY BISHOP: Oh, God. I'm going to try to make this --I was just telling you last night. I'll try to make this as short as I can.
DANIEL PALLADINO: We still haven't figured it out in five years, so good luck.
KELLY BISHOP: When I was still a chorus girl with a guy who was in a show, just as a backstage joke, we used to pass each other during the course of the show, and we would make up different characters. I had three or four, and one of them was Kelly Westbrook. And she was a bitch. She was the one in "Heartbreak Kid" that Sybill Shepherd played, except it was before the movie. And her name is Kelly Westbrook, and she was a nasty, spoiled, rich girl. And so that was that.
Now this same group of people I'm hanging out with started calling me "Kelly." As people were introduced to me the through the next couple of years, they called me Kelly. Now we're doing "A Chorus Line," and Michael Bennett started calling me Kelly as a nickname, which means the world is going to call me Kelly because he was God. But I was still Carol Bishop because I had been in Equity and AFTRA for years. I mean, back from 1962 when I started in the business, I was Carol. And then I joined SAG while I was still in a chorus girl to do a deodorant commercial as one of Broadway's famous dancers wears this deodorant. And that's when I joined SAG, and I discovered there is a Carol Bishop, which I had no idea. I don't know who she is. And they gave me Carol Bishop Miller, which was my married name at the time, and I didn't like it. And I just let it go because I was a dancer and who cares.
When "Chorus Line" looked like it was going to be huge, which it was, that's when I discovered I didn't -- I couldn't be -- I didn't want to be Carol Bishop Miller in movies and Carol Bishop on stage, and so I finally decided to flip it and go with Kelly and did the whole thing and did it the night of the Tony Awards, which was funny because they asked me, "Do you want to be Carol or Kelly?" And I thought, "Gosh, what a good way to tell the world that you changed your name, on national television, to Kelly." Which then, of course, upset a lot of my friends who are watching the telecast because they said, "Oh, God. She won a Tony, and they got her name wrong." But they hadn't. So that's the shortest version of it.

In case anyone wants to see her as Sheila: I posted some clips at http://www.kellybishop.de.vu. While the quality of the shoot of the previews in the Papp theatre is rather bad (still great), the clip of "The Phil Donahue Show" is simply amazing, I cried my eyes out.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 5:41pm

RE: Chorus Line:

I just finished the transfer of my BWW interview with Donna McKechnie, OBC Cassie, that took place a few weeks ago. It was a loooong and lovely chat packed with tons of memories and block buster names.

She has such an affection for the original ACL. What an amazing career and life this lady has had. Thank you to those who submitted questions for Donna.

Hopefully it will be up early this week.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 5:55pm

"And please, Charlotte d'Amboise is not a Chicago leftover. She is considered one of the best Roxies of all time. And is without the doubt probally one of the greatest Triple Threats on Broadway today.

Goodwin also has played Velma full time, and was a VERY successful Velma. She is NOT a leftover. Both of these ladies were highly acclaimed in Chicago."--- ljay889.

THANK YOU!!!! Well said and I agree

I am a die hard ACL fan, have been all my life. When I saw Charlotte was cast as Cassie and Goodwin as Shiela, I actually got a tear. Perfect. Blind casting rules. It's who can do the role to me, and she will rock in the role.