Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
Rose Hemingway as Rosemary, Christopher J. Hanke as Bud, Mary Faber as Smitty, Rob Bartlett as Twimble/Wally Womper, Tammy Blanchard as Hedy LaRue, and Ellen Harvey as Bigley's Secretary.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/how-to-succeed-rounds-out-its-broadway-cast/?src=twt&twt=nytimesTheater
Updated On: 11/15/10 at 10:11 AM
Yay Tammy Blanchard! Very excited for this show!!
Stand-by Joined: 6/1/06
Hanke seems to be getting typecast, but he'll be good in the role. Hopefully this will break his track record with originating roles in flops!
I really like Tammy Blanchard. I just don't see her as a Hedi La Rue.
Tammy is more an ingenue. I hope I am wrong about this
as I love How to Succeed and really like Tammy.
It just seems odd casting.
Again hope I'm proved wrong.
Hanke was a cartoon in CRYBABY, and I don't mean that in a good way.
How he was chosen over Michael Urie I just don't get.
There is some strange casting going on here.
Was height a consideration?
I can already imagine what Hanke will be like in the role of Bud Frump.
That's about as middle-of-the-road of a cast as you can get.
I do think that Faber made a good choice by leaving American Idiot to come to this show. Considering that there are closing rumors for Idiot come January.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
AC1, I mean, they don't need names, considering that Radcliffe is name-enough for everyone. But you're right, it's certainly an uninteresting bunch.
It is a rather dull lot.
They've definitely cast this one much younger than the last revival, that's for sure.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
I would have figured Blanchard for Rosemary, actually.
Who is Rose Hemingway?
ETA: Also excited for Ellen Harvey as Miss Jones. I'm probably gonna have to make a trip up to see this now. I like 95% of the cast, and Harvey seals the deal. She was the only reason I saw Mary Poppins on tour and Annie regionally.
I thought the same thing, Husk. Blanchard is a total Rosemary. What is she doing as Hedy?
Rose Hemingway played Rosemary in the workshop. She played Mary Fagan in the LA production of PARADE last year.
I think Blanchard would read too old/tall for Radcliffe. I'm curious to see her as Hedy, though.
I would think Blanchard's superb second act Louise in GYPSY should serve as plenty of evidence that she could nail a role like Hedy in her sleep. To me, she's terrific casting.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
I completely agree, somethingwicked. If an actress can pull off Louise in Gypsy, both acts, then she can easily play an ingenue and a role like Hedy.
How to Pull Together a Bland Revival Cast Without Any Magic.
I love Hanke. :P I had the biggest crush on him while he was in Rent.
Meh. I'm a big Mary Faber fan, though. Damn smart move on her part.
personally i would have preferred faber and blanchard to swap roles but we shall see...
The reading cast was certainly a lot more exciting.
Can you remind me again of who was in the reading?
Rose Hemingway was lovely in Parade. Great voice. An advantage of the whole star driven show is that relative unknowns can get exposure. I am excited to see this.
I love how everyone says "damn, great move for Mary Faber." I'm sure she sat down and calculated that "yes, since my show is closing, I'll just get cast in another show." It just happens people. She's not an in-demand actress, ha. I'm sure she auditioned for the role.
How to Succeed has always been one of my favorite shows. I'm not excited about any of this casting. Now, Rob Bartlett is a right fit, but I know what to expect from him, and he'll be great. Just by looking at Rose, I can see she'll be a great Rosemary. I fell in love with her just looking at her picture. lol I also really don't mind much of the rest of the cast, but the one thing that drags this whole show down for me is Daniel Radcliff. I mean, no doubt, the boy is talented, but I just don't buy him as Finch. True, I haven't seen the performance yet, but based on what he's done in the past and his look, I just can't see it being anything but "Hey, look, Harry Potter can sing!". I barely bought Matthew Broderick in the role either. The problem is, is that he's too good looking. Finch is supposed to be charming, but not hot. Robert Morse could charm you even today, but I doubt you'd want to see him with his pants off ****ing a horse. I don't know, maybe he'll surprise me, but that casting alone really just doesn't do it for me...
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