O'Hara to Play Babe in Pajama Game Revival — Page 3

Not to mention her role in the Jealousy Ballet (if they include it), and the score's most crucial number, "Her Is". (I'm not making fun of it...I love it! And miss it so much in the movie. It's SO 50s musical comedy, especially the reprise.)

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For anyone interested, if you haven't seen the film version which is already out on DVD, it's a great chance to see MOST of the original show with MOST of the original Broadway cast. Aside from Doris Day replacing Janis Paige, the rest of the leads, supporting leads and even some fringe characters are straight from the Broadway run. Plus you've got Abbott's direction and Fosse's choreography.

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Updated On: 10/29/05 at 01:38 PM

I'm with you on that one, hannahshule. While I loved Kelli O'Hara in "Light in the Piazza" and think she will probably do just fine as Babe, I can't help but think it's a real stretch for her. I think it will also be a real stretch for the audience to see her as the "tough on the outside tender on the inside" broad that Babe is written to be, simply because she looks so youthful and sweet. Also, since HCJ isn't the strongest actor on the planet, he could use someone opposite him who has real fire - someone who could spark his energy and (forgive me) make him look good.

So my question is, why not cast someone who's closer to Babe as a type in the first place? I agree that Rachel York or Carolee Carmello, or even Marin Maizzie or Cady Huffman, would be much better choices. Heck, even Donna Murphy would be interesting in the role.

Again, I'm not saying that Kelli O'Hara isn't talented, and I wish her all the best. I just wonder what factors go into casting sometimes. It should be very interesting to see how the rest of the cast shapes up.

lc