Phylicia Rashad as the Witch in INTO THE WOODS??- Page 3

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 9:36am

Actually, Buckley's alleged drug problems were past her by this time...allegedly. She left the production because she couldnt handle the role. She is notorious for needing alot of rehearsal. The truth may never be known, but it was said that it was a mutual decision for her to leave...that left the producers in the lurch and Bernie bailed them out, but had prior commitments and couldnt stay in the production long and Rashad went into the role. She was quite good. Then Nancy Dussault took over, Betsy Joslyn, and finally Ellen Foley, the original Witch.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 10:29am

I know Marin Mazzie went on as the Witch, as an understudy. She never played the part regularly. She was also Cinerella's understudy. The only role she played "officially" was Rapunzel.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 10:41am

b12b-
She did, however, in her first week go on as BOTH the Witch AND Cinderella.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 11:21am

Strangely enough, I see Marin more as a Baker's Wife than any other character. But maybe her voice was different back then.

[Brick]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 12:50pm

And, yes, Patti was offered The Witch, but turned it down because she wanted to play Cinderella. Later, she went into negotiations for The Witch, but they fell through.

She also auditioned for Dot in the original SUNDAY run.

AND she was offered Fosca early in the PASSION process, but chose to go to London with you know what...

It's funny how many times Patti almost was in a Sondheim show. And it took until 2005 to happen!

[puppetman2]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 1:00pm

A friend worked the Buckley in SUNSET BLVD and has said she is extremely difficult and demanmding to work with. She is a b---- diva.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 1:09pm

Are you sure Patti auditioned for Dot? I thought the wrole was written with Bernadette in mind.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 1:21pm

awful?? how was she awful? first off she was only shown a short time in that clip. i thought she did really good from what i seen.

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 1:26pm

Patti Lupone as Cinderella?

"Something you never knEWW, on the steps of the pAAAALAce!"

Updated On: 5/2/08 at 01:26 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 1:56pm

Ljay, I do believe people still auditioned for Dot though, didn't Victoria Clark audition for the role as well? Or did she go in for a different role?

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 2:02pm

I know Victoria wound up in the cast, but was she an official understudy for any of the major roles?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 2:39pm

LadyRosecoe, Victoria was not in the Broadway company of SUNDAY. She auditioned but didn't get it.

[Robos89]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 2:44pm

I've always wondered how they did/do that chair rising thing.

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 2:59pm

See now I'm terribly confused. I had read in some varying places that she was a replacement in the original cast. Then I checked IBDB.COM and saw that she wasn't a replacement in it.

THEN, I googled it and came up with this:
http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Star_File.aspx?ci=504729

There seems to be conflicting information and I don't know which is true. Could anybody clear this up?

[markymatt]

Posted: 5/2/08 at 3:15pm

From Victoria Clark's website:

"Clark made her Broadway debut in 1985 in Sunday in the Park With George, and has been a Broadway regular ever since."




Click "Biography"

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 4:58am

That's really interesting. Since she wasn't listed on IBDB.com and I am aware that she did audition for a role in the show that she did not get, I just figured she was never in the show.

[wiggum2]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 8:32am

IIRC, Patti wanted to replace BP as Dot but they thought she would just belt the score and then they cast Maryann Plunkett(who I'm assuming is a big belter)

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 10:57am

I saw an early preview, and "Boom! Crunch" was the song then (I still have the playbill ... somewhere). But unless I'm wrong, it was really just a draft of "Last Midnight." I don't think "Midnight" was a brand new song, just a refurbished one freshly titled.

And sidebar: the number is one of the most problematic songs in all of Sondheim. It was especially perplexing in the Vanessa Williams revival, when the Witch suddenly grabbed the Bakers' baby and began singing to it, while they were all still talking about "him" and "he" being Jack. The song is about whether to sacrifice Jack to the lady giant, and yet there's the Witch suddenly wondering whether to kidnap this baby. In the middle she thrusts the baby back in the Baker's hands and basically goes back to singing about the Jack dilemma. Very confusing, and still not a good match of action with lyrics. And the song is built around the Witch referencing her own mother, even exiting the world to re-join her. An offstage character mentioned once before, quickly, in the opening scene, when the beans are explained. The Sondheim lyric is haunting, but underneath full of a kind of arch psycholobabble that doesn't help the story telling. And "I'm the witch, I'm the hitch..." line shows the strain. She's explaining her role in this story, and all stories with witches -- sort of providing Cliff Notes on herself as a stock character. That said, when sung well, if confusing dramatically it's still far from boring in context.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 11:06am

Dana Ivey was asked to play the Witch, at the some point during the workshops, but she turned it down. I heard it from one of my professors, who's friends with her.

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 12:55pm

Very interesting article, husk.

I had never heard that some thought the Baker and his wife were Hansel and Gretal's parents, of course pre-stepmother and with their son being Hansel, but it's quite a new take for me on these two. I've enjoyed this show since I was six, and that idea never even occurred to me. Having thought about it, though, it does make sense.

Thanks for posting.

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 2:50pm

I never saw the revival, but I don't think I like the change.