Posted: 12/6/15 at 12:01am
What are you talking about? Kara Lindsay, Jackie Burns, Lindsay Mendez, Rachel Tucker, and most of the witches all had great careers playing roles in shows before they did Wicked. They hardly cast "ascended chorus-types." Plus do we really want distinctive personalities? I think it really takes away from the craft of acting.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 12:31am
Aida Revival said: "Plus do we really want distinctive personalities? I think it really takes away from the craft of acting."
I see what you're saying but I think maybe you're thinking of just the old timey STARS who had shows written around them to suit their usual schtick. I think the posters here are more talking about people that can take a character and do something different and unique with it, rather than just give a serviceable but predictable performance. I in particular fear a time where distinctive voices on Broadway die out.
Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:05pm
After listening to a 15-minute conversation between Angela Lansbury and Fritz Holt on the subject of "How big was the birthday cake (in the Goldstone scene) in New York?", I turned to the set designer and whispered, "Why are they still discussing what worked in NY? Why not just decide what will work here on this set?"
The set designer wisely explained that nobody in the theater really knows why a moment, song, prop, etc., works, so once magic strikes, there is a strong tendency to simply replicate the circumstances from then on. It's a form of theatrical superstition and explains why, most of the time, the creators don't want a radical re-interpretation of Elphaba.
As I mentioned in another thread, they made Mimi Hines sing in Barbra Streisand's FUNNY GIRL keys for almost a year until a friend of Hines talked her into putting her foot down. (Part of the motivation may have been an unwillingness to pay for new arrangements, but I suspect there's an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" inclination with most replacements.)
Updated On: 12/6/15 at 10:05 PM
Posted: 12/6/15 at 10:28pm
I think's probably the truth of the matter. But also, when a show is the size of some of these shows, it's just easier to plug an actress/actor in and not worry about how that will effect a show.
