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

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:48am

Loved it. I'm glad that hopefully put the nail in the coffin on the subject and not on her career! The Passion recording is one of the greatest pieces of evidence documented to show what real theatre is all about.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:49am

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

[daspazoo]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:50am

This article struck a chord in me.
Anyone know how to write a letter to Miss Murphy?

[B3TA07]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:51am

Do you have enough stamps to send it to Germany?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:53am

I don't think that's actually a fair statement, B3TA. One can read a play to know it's a good play. One can read the book of a musical and listen to its score to know it's a good musical.

A production is but one live rendition of it. You could see a crappy production of a great musical or a fascinating production of an awful one.

But in the end, it's what's on the page that lasts forever. It's what's on the page that a creative team starts with.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:59am

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

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 3:24am

All I know is I've seen her live in Follies and watched her on the Passion recording and that was proof enough to me that this woman can act.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 3:32am

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.

[scooter38432]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 8:02am

You gotta love Donna Murphy.

My favorite DM experience was that outstanding revival of THE KING & I. I kind of went in kicking and screaming because I had no love for Lou Diamond Phillips and I had trouble picturing him in the role of the King. I also, at that specific time, wasn't in the mood to sit through a three hour R&H show that didn't interest me.

Boy was I surprised. I absolutely LOVED that production. Gorgeous from top to bottom. I could go on and on. The main reason I loved it so much was Donna Murphy. FINALLY, the show was back to being what it was meant to be: Anna's story. For decades, due to Yul Brynner's definitive performance, it became all about the King. In reality (and even from the title of the show), it's HER story. Donna Murphy and her director nailed it. It was once again all about Anna and her experiences, not about the sexy bald king and a woman in a fabulous hoop skirt.

Brava, Donna. Welcome back to Broadway. It's so nice to have you back where you belong.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:23pm

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.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:36pm

I think a lesson to be learned from all of the Donna Murphy/Laura Benanti misinformed past gossip about their absenses is that actors just need to be up front and honest from day one and not listen to producers and publicists who say that they're better off hiding things. Because that's when gossip queens get suspicious and people start forming opinions and actors get bad reputations. If Murphy would have been up front about this from the beginning, the whole nightmare that Riedel put her through wouldn't have happened -- not that he had a right to do what he did -- I'm just saying that if people are honest from the beginning, people trust the truth and don't gossip.

[justafan2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 3:49pm

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.

[goofy108]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 5:49pm

interesting read.
i would love to see her in something.
thanks for posting!

[wickedfan]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 5:54pm

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.

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 6:12pm

Agree with you, WannaBeAFoster, 1000%.

The truth will set you free. :)

[Blonde]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 6:22pm

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

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 7:54pm

I 100% agree with you as well Foster. Many people criticize Laura Benanti of missing performances but the they don't even know half of what happened to her.

[queenbee2]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 10:16pm

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

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 4:18am

Im not usually a big fan of hers but she does a wonderful job in Lovemusik

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:03pm

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?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:37pm

If the public heard that the star of a show was having major vocal problems, would they buy a ticket? I'm not sure that this is the motivation, but it's my first impression.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:41pm

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.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 2:14pm

"One Hundred Easy Ways... it's a master class in how to deliver a comedic number at its best."

Really? I know this is personal opinion, but when I saw Donna Murohy do it seemed so forced and that she was trying way too hard to get the laughs that it was incredibly embarrassing to watch. It felt that she was either trying to copy the way Rosalind Russell did it or try to create something entirely different (that was ultimately wrong for the character) that it seemed like she ended up doing a poor Rosalind Russell shtick. I didn't hate her performance, but just wished she was herself and did not have that annoying walk or voice. Auggie27- I completely agree with your assessment of her performance. Though I have heard that she was better at Encores! And I wish Laura Benanti was in the revival; I heard she was gorgeous.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 2:27pm

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.

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

[Ruth Sherwood]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 2:39pm

I saw Murphy in Wonderful Town 5 times, and I never felt her performance was forced at all. Every time I saw the show, I could not hold back my laughter at 100 Easy Ways, Conversation Piece, or Conga. The role, I think, belongs to Russell (as it was written with her in mind), but I really enjoyed Murphy's interpretation as well.

As for the Weisslers, I think they really mismanaged the situation. Aside from telling Murphy not to say anything, they didn't even allow her to perform the last few performances, which she had wanted to do. I think to not allow her to perform was really unfair to the audience members who did want to see her.