Paolo Szot in South Pacific

[Glinda2]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 8:20pm

I know that Paolo is leaving South Pacific in November. Does anyone know if someone has been chosen yet to do the role? Any speculations? I haven't seen the required casting notice yet, but then again, I did skip checking the Equity auditions for a couple of weeks this summer (bad me).

[dayao]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 12:07am

I know for a fact from a casting agent friend who was present that Richard White auditioned as a replacement for Szot a couple on months ago along with about five other actor/singers.

Also called in was opera hunk James Anest, who played de Becque at age 23 in a lavish 1997 production of "South Pacific" opposite Stephanie J Block as Nellie at the Cabrillo Music Theatre in Southern California. Videos of Anest and Stephaine J Block in this production have been on Youtube recently. Even though clearly too young for the role at the time, Anest is great as de Becque but Stephanie J Block is a revelation as Nellie. I think she is even better than Kelli O’Hara.

Richard White, in his 50's, is probably a little too old to replace Szot, who is about 40 and James Anest, still in his early 30’s, is probably too young although with makeup he could probably do it; he certainly has the voice for it. But I hear that the Telsey casting people were very impressed with James Anest’s good looks and fantastic voice and that they are definitely looking to cast him in a major Broadway role in the near future, possibly as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, a role, in my opinion, he was born to play.

So far no definite replacement for Szot has been announced.
Perhaps some others out there can tell us who the other three men were who also auditioned as Paolo Szot’s replacement as my friend was not there for the remaining auditions.

Updated On: 8/9/08 at 12:07 AM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 12:16am

When does he leave? I mean, the exact date.

[dayao]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 12:23am

I read on another thread on this board that Szot is scheduled to leave on November 30, due to previous opera commitments. He was originally to leave in mid summer but extended his contract after winning the Tony.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 12:49am

Well, now I KNOW I have to get tickets to see it again REAL soon! Thank you.

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 9:01am

There's only one person who could replace Paolo Szot, and that would be NATHAN GUNN.

[Steffie2]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 5:08pm

Nathan Gunn has not even been considered as a replacement for Szot. I doubt he would do it since in the operatic world he is a bigger star than Paolo Szot and much in demand besides being a tenured professor of voice at University of Illinois, although he is the right age and a fine actor and would probably be wonderful in the role.

After seeing the Youtube videos of James Anest and Stephanie Block I think Anest would be fantastic as Szot's replacement since he is now 10 years older and is a superb actor and singer.
Updated On: 8/9/08 at 05:08 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 5:21pm

Speaking of Nathan Gunn, has everyone seen this video he did with Kristin Chenoweth when his CD came out as few months ago?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbsHa4J9B1E

[keen on kean]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:01pm

James Anest - please! What a beautiful voice.

[philly03]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:13pm

I'm guessing William Michals isn't even in the running??

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:14pm

Saw SP in April and Paolo was amazing. He stopped the show when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine."

James would be a wonderful replacement. I saw him and Stephanie in SP at Cabrillo Music Theatre. Was just in "Singing In The Rain" there, we closed this past Sunday.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 8:31pm

I would love for William Michals to get a shot, but I doubt he's in the running.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:38pm

Damn! I have been completely out of touch with the opera scene. This Nathan Gunn fellow is SMOKING! And married

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:42pm

I have only heard Paolo Szot on the cast recording - what a voice! It must be even better live!

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:28pm

The South Pacific CD is terrific but it doesn't do justice to Paulo Szot's singing. He's about 100 times better heard live at the Vivian Beaumont. Such a resonant voice. It really fills that space, especially the ending of Act I.

[justafan2]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:02pm

I agree---his voice is wonderful on the CD---but when you see him performing live, the sound fills the air and you can also see his facial expressions. As I've posted on another thread, I just saw this performance last week and already bought tix to see it again the end of January. I'm so disappointed that I won't get to see Paolo again and may not even get to see any of the principals because their contracts end January 4th.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 6:51pm

I agree -- Paulo sounds incredible live. However, the audience seemed to be half asleep when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine". I saw people glancing at each other and smiling little smiles...It was hard to tell if that meant, "Wow, listen to this guy" or "Wow, this song is going on foreeeeever".

Anyway, I heard the usher say that both Kelli and Paulo were going to be with the show all the way till the end of its run, but then again, he didn't even know why Kelli was out of the show the night I saw it (when she was on vacation in July), so, hmmmm.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 6:54pm

Who was that baritone who played Kowalski in Andre Previn's STREETCAR opera. He also did NEW MOON for Engores.

He'd be a terrific De Beque!

Edit: It finally came to me! The singer's name is Rodney Gilfrey. Really nice to look at, too!

Updated On: 8/10/08 at 06:54 PM

Posted: 8/10/08 at 7:14pm

I would like to see James Anest evolving voice. I love Stephanie J. Block, so I kind of think she outshone him in the recordings of South Pacific. But its been a while now, so who knows? It would be interesting and I have heard he's in the talks. I'm disappointed too, that I most likely won't be able to head back before he leaves SP

caitlinette - it was originally not an open ended run, but since it is now open ended, there is no way to know when SP is actually done. Paolo is leaving November 30th, and the rest of the principals should be signed on til January 4th... and of course, they could extend. Updated On: 8/10/08 at 07:14 PM

[scrappy]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 7:34pm

dayao- while respecting your opinion, Mr. Anest is nowhere near ready. He is close to having a bleat. I understand that YouTube performance was at a younger age, but using that as my only information, he would be a severe step down.

Updated On: 8/10/08 at 07:34 PM

[dayao]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:20pm

Scrappy, I did not mean to imply that James Anest is ideal for South Pacific based on the Youtube clips. You have to keep in mind that these were 11 years ago when he was in his early 20's and had only been singing opera a short time. Also it was his first musical theater role and anyone is at a disadvantage next to Stephanie J Block, who I think is the closest anyone has come to duplicating the magic of Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush.

Also, by comparison I am sure that 11 years ago Paolo Szot and Nathan Gunn were not singing anywhere near the quality they are now.

I saw Anest 3 times as Gaston in two different productions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 2006 & 2007 and based on what I saw and heard, not only is he vocally ready for South Pacific, Sky Masterson, Billy Bigelow or any Broadway role, his baritone voice now has a gorgeous seamless sound with tenor like sustained high notes that literally shook the theatre. He is now singing difficult baritone roles such as the operas of Rossini, Massenet and Wagner. The fact is that Anest's voice may now be too good for musical theater if such a thing is possible. The role of Emile deBecque was written for Ezio Pinza, a bass-baritone. Paolo Szot is a lyric baritone and sings the role higher as do most singers performing the role today. 11 years ago Anest had to sing the role in the original bass-baritone style which must have been a disadvantage to such a young singer with a naturally higher voice. I hope this explains better why myself and others would like to see and hear what Anest could do with deBecque today and why he would be a wonderful replacement for Szot in the role, although I admit that he may still be physically too young for the part.

Updated On: 8/11/08 at 09:20 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:27pm

dayao - beautifully expressed!

I am accustomed to hearing a bass-baritone timbre in the de Becque role. I actually found Szot's voice a little light, while fully appreciating and enjoying his performance. Anest's voice was beautifully placed even at a young age and I can imagine he is progressing nicely. I for one would love to hear him in this role now.

[sparrman]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:35pm

I'm not too impressed with Anest's voice, from what I've heard. He's no Szot, that's for sure. But I wouldn't write off Richard White. De Becque is often cast much older, and if White still has his heartthrob looks, he could probably pull it off.

[stella985]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:55pm

Not to take the focus off Paolo and his possible replacement, but the youtube videos that everyone is judging this guy by... well has anyone taken into consideration that it just didn't appear to be a very good production? I mean besides the bizarre casting of Stephanie Block (and I really like Stephanie, but this casting was just off) they also did some weird things to the book, and some of the staging was just really awkward. I just don't think it's a good thing to judge anyone by.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 10:05pm

I thought Paolo did a terrific job in South Pacific!