Riedel: Brooke Shields or Kelli O'Hara? (Leap of Faith)

My, my, my.

Ehhh I can't see Kelli being right for the part, either. What she'll make up for in vocal capabilities, my inclination is that she'd be lacking in other ways. (And I'm a fan, I like Kelli!)

Ugh. I would love to hope he's wrong, but I also heard this last week, tentatively. I'd hoped for so much better. And I think they could have had so much better, too.

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Updated On: 10/6/10 at 12:53 AM

It really sounds like Shields is out of her league here and the show also looks and sounds so incredibly conventional and dull, Esparza's seemingly scene-stealing star turn deserves something a lot better built around it with a leading lady who can create some good chemistry with him.

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^ I was going to say....Turkey Lurkey Time is supposed to be a show stopper. The mess that Ashford threw onstage certainly didn't stop the show, at least not for the right reasons.

Based on the score, I can't see Kelli O'Hara being a suitable replacement for Shields. It would just continue the trend of miscasting in that role that started with Sutton.

in that role that started with Sutton.

Are you saying the role started with Sutton or that the miscasting OF the role started with Sutton? Because if you're saying the former, no it didn't. Kelli has played it before (in one of the earlier workshops, with Hugh Jackman as Jonas). Elizabeth Stanley did it opposite Raul, and then Sutton did the 2010 workshop.

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I'm not saying that Stanley can't act at all. Why would I ever imply that after saying she was probably the most successful of all the women that have done the role so far?

What I am saying is that she reads as extremely young and naive. Everything about Marva hinges on her being believable as someone who has had a lot of life experience and been hurt in a way that's made her extremely guarded. Those are things I don't get from Stanley, who tends to come off as a bit more of a ball of sunshine whenever she's on stage. That's no reflection on her ability and everything to do with her type.

Shields, on the other hand, is completely believable as someone who's "been there, done that," mostly because of her age but also because of her maturity. I stand by what I said in that I find her to be grounded in a way I don't see Stanley, O'Hara, or Sutton Foster. To me, that's something unique that she brings to the table, and something I find to be a huge asset for the role. She may not be nearly as capable as anyone else vocally, but I think she's most appropriate for Marva in almost every other aspect.

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Updated On: 10/6/10 at 01:41 AM

I'm not saying that Stanley can't act at all. What I am saying is that she reads as extremely young and naive.

Read my post: I didn't say "can't act." I said "can't act that," "that" being the series of adjectives you've attributed to Brooke's performance. I never accused you of saying she can't act period. And, then, why couldn't you have said, she reads extremely young and naive? I agree with you on that. But you were implying that she can't act the kind of "empathy" and "weariness" that Brooke is bringing to the part. Using an actress Elizabeth's age pins something completely different on the character than someone older, like Brooke Shields. That was my initial reservation in the idea of Brooke doing the show at all. I don't think that's a matter of better and best, it's a matter of where the creative team wants to go with her. You could make a case for it either way, I think.

Everything about Marva hinges on her being believable as someone who has had a lot of life experience and been hurt in a way that's made her extremely guarded.

You can be young and have had a lot of painful life experiences that lead you to shut people out. I don't think that's exclusive to being, you know, Brooke Shields Ancient. Again, it's just a different way of portraying it. And it would probably have to be a little stronger in the text. But I don't think it holds water to say that because she looks young, the audience won't buy her as having been through a lot of pain. You don't know someone's story by looking at them. (And that in and of itself could create an interesting dynamic, especially since Jonas' catchphrase is that he's so good at "reading" people.)

I stand by what I said in that I find her to be grounded in a way I don't see Stanley, O'Hara, or Sutton Foster. To me, that's something unique that she brings to the table, and something I find to be a huge asset for the role.

That's fine, and completely fair to posit, based on previous experiences of them as actors. It would be stupid to say you can't do that, and undeniably they ARE extremely different. We all remember my, "How on earth did they get from Kelli O'Hara, Sutton Foster and Elizabeth Stanley to Brooke Shields?" reaction. My point was that you had phrased it like you'd seen them all play this part and had experienced firsthand their inability to do it. You can tell me that clearly if they were replaced, it didn't work, but we've already been over why it's not that simple.

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Updated On: 10/6/10 at 01:56 AM

Well, and I think the trajectory shows that there have been conflicting sets of ideas about who this character should be. It's Jonas' show, but she's the anchor for his story. So getting her right is pretty damned important.

Honestly, Kelli's last involvement with it was so long ago, that I wouldn't even assume she was still on the table for the production, schedule conflicts or not, God knows she's busy. If I remember correctly there was a pretty decent gap in workshops for a while (pre-Raul), maybe she couldn't keep going with it. But that's really just a pointless guessing game.

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Chris Ashley, lest we forget, is the guy who killed Rocky Horror.

And while I sometimes enjoy Reidel's bitchy remarks, his attack and jokes about Ashford's "gayness" are a bit over the line. There is more that enough fuel to pick on his directing and choreographing without all the homophbia.

What I find sad about this is that Shields can be a strong stage performer. I thought she was well served in WONDERFUL TOWN.

It sounds as if she's miscast in this, with music that isn't suited to her limited-though-not-impossible range.