Riedel: Chenoweth Picks PROMISES, PROMISES Over MINSKY'S- Page 2

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:19am

I'm not convinced with the pairing of Hayes and Chenoweth. I think they're both wrong for the roles.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:22am

This is some of the worst casting I have EVER heard. Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth as a ROMANTIC couple? Chenoweth in the role of an earthy 21 year old secretary? Fahgetaboutit.

Is this a Roundabout production or something?

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:27am

I'm disappointed as well. PROMISES, PROMISES is one of my all time favorite shows. I never saw the original I was only 7 months old when it premiered (!) But I am a big Bacharach fan and had the privilege of seeing the ENCORES! concert version with Martin Short.
I have been patiently waiting for a revival for years and now that it looks like it's finally going to come true the casting of the two leads is quite a disappointment.


Updated On: 10/14/09 at 11:27 AM

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:31am

I was hoping Raul Esparza was going to get the role of Chuck. I think he would have done wonders with the role and although she is only 3 years younger than Kristin I would have cast Kerry Butler as Fran who I think could have pulled that role off as well.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:32am

And Rob Ashford is no Michael Bennett...but, if TR Knight wants to come back to Broadway, this (not Leo Frank) is a role he would be great in.

And since I'm on fire with coffee this morning. Do you know who would have made a good Fran Kublick? Lindsay Lohan. Yes I said it. She's got that young, earthy, sexy, damaged quality that the role needs. Of course getting her to show up every night? Well, maybe next year.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:32am

They will both have to dial down their usual over-the-top "cute" factor. But I've seen them do that before, so I'm hopeful.

If they are both business as usual, it will look like a bad Will & Grace episode. REALLY bad.

I'm thinking Cheno accepted the role because this is a quirky, suicidal, victimized yet opportunistic character who is having an affair with a married man. She's a very complex woman (especially for a musical), and it's a chance for Kristin to exercise her acting chops while singing some terrific '60s pop hits along the way.

This is a smart career move, if she takes the "musical comedy" seriously and goes for it.

It's a tricky piece to pull off though. As was the original movie of "The Apartment." Billy Wilder had us laughing so much, he got right past the censors with the subject matter. He really nailed the "It's Complicated" relationship status used so much today.

I'm more concerned with the direction and (hopefully) some updating of the book to this musical. I still think they can pull it off, though.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:33am

Michael Bennett---I like your casting a whole lot better!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:35am

I think the truth of the matter is, its really difficult finding interesting projects for Chenoweth who is awfully specific. This was pitched to her as a sort of 'mad man' quirky sex farce (which if the piece were that, she would be good for).

Instead, in truth its a rather dated Neil Simon comedy about a young, naive girl.

And Chenoweth's voice is just so wrong for those songs. I adore Kristin, but this is a mistake.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:36am

I could definitely see Lindsay Lohan in the role. That is ingenious casting! She could definitely pull of that role. Now if only the producers had enough cojones to go with that kind of casting.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:39am

Well, truthfully, Jill O'Hara could barely sing. She sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, and barely on key. Sometimes not.

So if Cheno won't dial down, we'll STILL have nails on a chalkboard. But at least on key.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:41am

Jill O'Hara was special though. She had a voice for the time, a sort of folksy, raw, wounded bird sound that was perfect for the character. Betty Buckley sang the crap out of it in London, but that's not really what the character dictates.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:41am

Marquise---Lohan's too unreliable to show up regularly. She would make Donna Murphy's attendance report look like Carol Channing's.

If this were a TV movie version of Promises, it would be terrific casting, though.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:43am

Call me naive, but I always thought O'Hara's inflections on the cast recording were part of the quirkiness of her character and not her "actual" singing voice.

If in fact she was so off tune as a singer why in the world would she be cast as the lead in a major Broadway musical, one that required her to sing Bacharach's complex arrangements?

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:44am

Sadly, Michael, we live in the American Idol age. Nobody wants a "character singer" anymore, especially for a lead. They want big, belty, pitch-perfect, and showy.

Remember all the crap thrown at the Sally Bowles actresses (Richardson included) who "sang poorly." And that was appropriate for the character, too.

I agree with you about her voice, but on the recording alone, O'Hara is pretty awful. We can't see how right she was for the role. She just sounds like a squawky hen.

Updated On: 10/14/09 at 11:44 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:45am

Best12, in all fairness, we don't know that about Lohan. Her personal issues have kept her from being considered for a lot of projects, but there aren't many stories about her actually not showing up or being late for work etc.

I mean, yes, if I were a producer I would think twice too, but what you say isn't based on anything concrete.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:48am

I guess Michael answered my question. besty does have a point of not being able to "see" how right she was for the role. Call me quirky but I'm quite fond of O'Hara on the OBC I definitely prefer her over Buckley on the OLC.

I feel O'Hara's vulnerability does shine through on the OBC.



Updated On: 10/14/09 at 11:48 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:50am

MB---I thought Lohan was very publicly sued by a production company just in the past few years for not showing up on a film set. Am I wrong? I'd say we know this very well, unless I'm mistaken about the details.

But it would be a perfect chance for her to prove she has discipline now. If Lohan could pull of the role and show up to every performance, it would be a great example to use for future film work.

Updated On: 10/14/09 at 11:50 AM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:51am

I think Jill O'Hara's voice is really fitting to Fran. I just love her singing voice. It's not pretty or anything to that effect, but I actually love her in the cast recording (and in the Off-Broadway HAIR cast recording as well), and think she brings a rawness to the role that Buckley with her pretty voice and bad acting didn't do. I honestly can't imagine Chenoweth (whom I love, as I have said before) bringing the same kind of emotional rawness that O'Hara brought to the part (judging from the cast recording, of course). And if Chenoweth is so desperate to do a MAD MEN kind of show, why doesn't she keep pursuing a part in that show?
I think with good direction, Hayes could be good. Having seen him in DAMN YANKEES, I think he possesses the skills to be a good theater actor, but he needs a good director to keep him from turning to Jack-isms.
I wouldn't have minded Lindsay Lohan, but in more realistic casting, I still think Anne Hathaway would have been great (and she got positive feedback from the workshop), or if they wanted to go with a theater/pseudo-Hollywood name someone like Anika Noni Rose ("non-traditional casting" I know) would have worked quite well for me.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:52am

I've heard O'Hara live and its a different experience than hearing her on record.

Now. love or hate her voice, one thing that is kind of neat is that like only a few other woman her age, she sounds exactly the same now as she did when she was young.

Here is a clip of O'Hara and Tony Roberts singing "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" just a few years ago, and if you close your eyes, her voice sounds exactly as it did in 1968.
O'Hara and Roberts singing PROMISES

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:52am

Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth seem an unlikely romantic duo.

Excuse me. He likes basketball?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 11:56am

He likes the lockeroom

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 12:04pm

Thanks for that clip MB. Jill O'Hara sounds the same 40 years later! Time has not diminished her voice in the least. I mean wow! That was one terrific performance by both Jill and Tony!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 12:05pm

They should have revived Little Me for the two of them, not Promises Promises.

Updated On: 10/14/09 at 12:05 PM

[wickedfan]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 12:08pm

I actually REALLY like that idea, PJ. Cheno would make a fantastic Belle. Why couldn't that have happened?

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 12:08pm

Here's Jill performing Whoever You Are, I Love You from the same Bacharach benefit.
Whoever You Are, I Love You