Riedel on Diana Rigg being annoyed Ambrose misses Sundays — Page 8

What’s the longest that Rigg has ever played a role?  On Broadway, it appears that she never did more than 10 weeks previous to MFL.  

poisonivy2 said: "There are a number of shows right now with principals who have/had excellent attendance.

Angels in America cast - 8 hour play, Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, etc. all have excellent attendance. In fact did they ever miss a day?

Carousel - I believe Josh Henry has only missed one show. He even sang the night his wife gave birth. And Billy Bigelow is a hard sing.

The Band's Visit - Katrina Lenk AFAIK has had excellent attendance. Idk if she's missed shows but haven't heard of her being out much if at all.

And you have many cases of stars who kept on with it despite personal injury. Jim Parsons broke his foot and didn't stop acting in Boys in the Band, Andy Karl tore his ACL and was back for opening night a few nights later, etc. etc."

I've heard of an actor who went on even though he was dead!

Trust is a very important element in acting and I am sure that Ambrose now trusts Rigg as far a s she can throw her.

Anyone know why Benanti wasn't cast in the role?

Um after all this brouhaha did anyone actually see Kerstin Anderson today?

"Entitlement and arrogance is a virus in musicals because.. the unity [between dancers, chorus, and principals] isn't created from the start. Plays are much different. Each actor learns his responsibility in the play through the table reads, the importance of which musicals seem to ignore. Unbelievable care must be demonstrated from the beginning of a rehearsal period and a director needs to help each member own his part and his responsibility to it. It's the  only explanation I have for the laziness and the amount of missed performances some Broadway companies have to contend with. Thanks to Arthur Laurents, I had a uniquely different experience with the Gypsy company concerning this phenomenon... As a result, the performers owned their roles, loved this play, and wanted to be onstage every night. They never missed a show."

- Patti LuPone on Lincoln Center's Anything Goes and the 2008 Gypsy

Updated On: 7/8/18 at 11:10 PM

Elegance101 said: "...didn't Benanti miss like a lot of Gypsy shows? Not saying her absences weren't valid or she was unprofessional, but what does Patti mean when she says "they never missed a show?""

Laura Benanti was out when I saw it. Not complaining, because Jessica Rush was fantastic. 

That comment meant that they were surprised when Ambrose told them she would be out of the Sunday matinees from now on. The team was surprised when she requested this, but after they granted her request, they did inform everyone, Rigg just didn't listen to that announcement and found out from the news.

Elfuhbuh said: "GeorgeAndDot, I don’t care if someone thinks Lauren Ambrose isn’t great in the role. That’s your personal opinion. But you and I both know that’s not what I was talking about, because never once did I say that people who gave Ms. Ambrose a chance but ultimately didn’t like her in the role are in the wrong. What I’m referring to is the fact that people on this board and in the theatre community have been out for Ambrose’s blood ever since she was cast over those more “deserving” like Laura Benanti. (Sorry, but just because Benanti WANTED the part doesn’t mean she was entitled to it.) There are people who’ve been looking for every excuse to pounce on her just for daring to be cast in a musical, even people who never saw her in the show and are just being nasty about their own faves not being cast.

When Ambrose was cast, people were making nasty comments and swearing off seeing the show because so-and-so didn’t get the part. On the Tonys live reactions thread, there were people trying to make up bizarre drama by insisting Ambrose was mouthing rude things about the Once On This Island performance. Here, it looks like someone was implying Ambrose only got the role for less than savory reasons on Bartlett Sher’s part. And of course, people are blowing gaskets over the fact that Ambrose decided to adjust her contract so she gets one day a week off, which, as has been mentioned on this thread already, has happened with other performers in other shows with little to no fuss. The point is that people are being mean and nasty about Ambrose for petty reasons, and have been doing so since before anyone even saw her in the part or gave her a chance. This whole situation is just another excuse for people to cling to to justify their toxicity."

Thank you for saying this. It's clear that this is exactly what is going on. People are ignoring all the many examples of Broadway staples (some considered legends) who also missed many performances to the point that it was widely reported or that Riedel published something regarding it (sound familiar?), had noted vocal issues, etc. People are bringing irrelevant things about Ambrose because they've been out for blood since her announcement and were all too happy to hear the negative reports on her performance while ignoring the positive ones, including the vast majority of the professional reviews including the NY Times. Nobody says you have to like her performance, be confused about it, or question it. But the fact that some keep bringing it up and some of them posted some petty as hell stuff passing it off as snark and one-liners just makes what Elfuhbuh said to be on the mark.

Let this be a lesson to all casting directors and directors, only cast from a small pool of BWW approved actresses and if you don't then make sure they pass the BWW posters' threshold of being famous enough despite the fact people complain about famous people taking roles that the approved theatre performers (NYC) feel entitled.