NY Times: Donna Murphy Opens Up About WONDERFUL TOWN Experience — Page 2

How would you know if you haven't seen it live you haven't seen it.

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Do you have enough stamps to send it to Germany?

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I was jokingly harkening back to previous arguments about Legally Blonde and The Pirate Queen with songanddanceman2...

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She can more than act, she's one of those actresses that get so immersed in the role that you barely realize this is Donna Murphy you're seeing on stage and not Fosca, Phyllis, et al.

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scooter - I totally agree with everything you said about the King and I revival. I think the importance of Donna's exquisite performance of Anna in that revival has all but fallen into obscurity. Like the revival of Carousel, suddenly the work was revitalized and modern audiences were given a chance to see the reason why they were defined as classics rather than old-fashioned shows doomed to a life of high schools and amateur theatre productions targeted for elderly audiences.

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I didn't see her performance in "The King and I", but I was fortunate to see her three times in "Wonderful Town"---just a perfect fit! Now I realize that she becomes a perfect fit in any role she's given. A true talent.

Great article and will hopefully bring some positive light on the Wonderful Town disaster. However, it only proves that Weissler can't do anything but lie.

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Interesting article! Clearly I need to see Donna Murhpy perform live.

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FOSTER- I still never got any clarification from you about how this related to any discussion about PQ? I'm interested to hear your explanation if you have the time to post.

-QB

I'll incite riots, but I was not a fan of her take on Ruth in WONDERFUL TOWN, accomplished as it was. I don't think she's inherently comic, and whereas the material that was a natural fit for a comic sophisticate like Roz Russell it seemed like an acting exercise for Murphy. Her vocals were so musically superior, however, it made her performance memorable, albeit for the wrong reasons (as when I saw Patrice Munsel in APPLAUSE, and she went into high soprano on "Hurry Back.") Listen to the CD with Murphy, then with Russell, and ask yourself which characterization better served. I'm not the only detractor -- Ken Mandlebaum famously provoked hate mail by raising the same issues. And a friend of mine who adores the show and flew in to see the show -- and lucked out, seeing La Murphy -- said "what the hell is all the hoopla about?"

So -- a question no one asks: I wonder if Murphy herself truly enjoyed WT. It's one thing to do an Encores, another to hang onto a run I'm not doubting her vocal problems, just wondering if it wasn't exascerbated by a built-in indifference to a role that wasn't the fit many assumed it to be. She is very much at home with KING and PASSION, and the Phyllis of FOLLIES.

The bottom line is Foster's, above, who rightly questions what all the secrecy was about. A damaged vocal chord is not a STD, but it was treated as if she had the most hush-hush condition imaginable. If the issue was vocal rest -- not an unknown problem on Broadway (go back to ZORBA, Heshel Bernardi had problems) -- why didn't they just take away the say so, and give her, say the Christine/PHANTOM schedule, or the one adopted by Victoria Clark in her 2nd year of PIAZZA. All the mystery and handwringing because she couldn't sing 8 shows a week?

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I think it's quite interesting that people think of Murphy as a dramatic performer when she started doing musical comedy. If you've listened to BIRDS OF PARADISE, an Off-Broadway show she did in the 80s, she is actually a fantastic comedienne. Russell WAS Ruth Sherwood, judging from the recording she embodied the character to a T. However, I can't even get through Murphy's "One Hundred Easy Ways" (on CD or video) without laughing to the point of tears, IMO, it's a master class in how to deliver a comedic number at its best.
Having said that, you're not the first one to say that the comedy didn't come natural to her and there's no reason to incite any riots
I feel the Weisslers really mismanaged the whole issue for the sake of not having cancellations which very much backfired.

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Foster, Murphy and Benanti's circumstances aren't really fair to compare in regards to their handling in the press.

Murphy wanted to go to the papers and set the record straight about why she was legitimately missing shows and was (understandably) forbidden from doing so by producers hoping to protect their investment. It wouldn't have made her look good to potential future employers for her to shoot her mouth off against the wishes of her producers even if it meant hurting her reputation, so her keeping quiet was an understandable decision (even if it wasn't what she wanted to do.)

Benanti, on the other hand, supported Margo Lion's initial decision not to publicly acknowledge her absences, saying behind the scenes that her matter was a "personal" one.

Later on, when things continued to get worse and she continued to be out, Lion and company wanted to go public with an explanation and were again requested not to do so by Benanti (which is ironic considering Laura wanted her injury public when it was actually sustained during "Into The Woods.") They honored her request and only recognized the incident with the announcement of her multi-month leave.

Regardless, I am happy to hear the truth coming to light on what happened with Donna. Hopefully her honestly will help diminish the unwarranted reputation she's earned over the last few years.

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Updated On: 5/1/07 at 02:27 PM