Nancy Opel going into Les Miz?

I'd find it a little strange that they'd all of a sudden start pulling roles that people were saying are not satisfactory when they went through months receiving a slew of criticism for Daphne.

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I thought the rumor was that Rosie was replacing Harada at the end of her contract?

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Updated On: 5/28/07 at 02:51 PM

Yes, yes.

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I saw her and although I really didn't understand her performance (she was putting on this weird voice, which wasn't really a Q voice, it was just weird), I didn't think she was totally horrific. The revival overall is pretty lackluster, and her performance is only a small part of that.

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Just saw the show Friday night since the cast change and let me tell you Mandy Bruno was the horrible one in the show as Eponine. Thats the person that needs to be replaced not Anna Harada.
Anna was not bad as Madame Thenardier. She wasn't Jenny Galloway but Anna was creative in the role and added her own style which I could appreciate and I thought she was very good.
If anything I think they should have left Megan McGinnis in the role of Eponine when Celia left in April.

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The producers haven't made any decisions on future casting. All the rumors are possibilities -- although, I think Nancy is out of the running -- she's under contract for a show at Sac Music Circus, I believe.

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Wow so much time on your hands...

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Wow so much time on your hands...

And too many "a"s coming out of yours!

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I heard Anne Heche was now playing Jean Val Jean!
And who told you this, Best12? The aliens?

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Wow...moving along then, I've seen Ann Harada and while I didnt think she was horrible, she wasn't the greatest. I also saw here right at the very start of her run too so maybe she has improved. It was kind of like watching Madame Christmas Eve. It wasnt the exact Q voice but it was weird.

I spoke to my source at the Broadhurst this evening and was able to attain some interesting information.

The entire company , according to the person I spoke to, is currently contracted through October 21st. While certain people have already chosen to leave at that time (Lea Salonga being the one singled out in our conversation,) those that have shown interest in staying are currently "being evaluated for renewal."

The rumors about people like Ann Harada and Mandy Bruno being replaced have come about because they are amongst the group the producers have chosen not to renew. It's currently unclear if they will depart at the end of their contracts in October or if they're being let go prematurely (I wouldn't be suprised if the latter happened,) but I can confirm that both will indeed be replaced in the coming months.

In regards to the Rosie O'Donnell rumors-- my source says that while a deal for her to come in as Madame Thenardier through Christmas looked to be in the works last month, her recent firestorm of publicity and early exit from "The View" has caused her to end up deciding against joining the company, citing that she wants to take some time off before heading back to work (though she did end up signing on for an unspecified amount of appearances on the new season of "Nip/Tuck.")

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Wow, five seconds to fire off a spelling correction versus god knows how much time/effort/hissyfit went into that reply. Somehow I doubt Lizzie's the one with too much time on her hands.

As for Ann, I wouldn't be surprised if either she or Mandy got fi--er, left early. Ben Davis is fantastic and Max von Essen is okay; I think Ann and Mandy are the main reason the show's gone so downhill since the cast change, especially considering who they were replacing. (The same goes for Max, just not as strongly. He's not bad at all as Enjolras, but Aaron Lazar was phenomenal, and having someone competent-but-not-spectacular take over was a bit of a letdown.)

Any word on whether Alexander Gemignani and Gary Beach are leaving? *crosses fingers*