Curiously, I actually think her Mrs. Anna was the master class, (so wonderful opposite the sexy and winning Lou Diamond Phillips) though I had friends who loathed that work, and found her chilly. I thought she found the core of that woman. Just as I now feel Audra is giving a master class as Lizzie.
Clearly, Murphy is one of the great gifts of her generation to the musical theater, and I hope she gets to create a new role that showcases her uniqueness. That's the unfortunate part of this debate -- which I admit I too readily jump into -- that Murphy's being evaluated in the shoes of roles created memorably by others. Perhaps her Lotte Lenya -- which some people are already describing as a classic performance -- will put the TOWN debate well behind her.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling