Riedel: The Public already wants to bring WOODS to Broadway...- Page 3

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:19am

I've heard some rumblings about Donna Murphy being offered the Witch; she's more of a Broadway star than the kind of movie star names the original press release indicated they would be perusing, but if the end goal is to move the production to Broadway, perhaps they will end up going with more stalwart theatre actors who would be more likely interested in transferring for an extended run.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:27am

Hmmm, I'm sure she'd be quite good. But I was really hoping for a glamorous movie star.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:31am

Murphy is a terrific idea, especially since - and I say this with sincerity and admiration - in her edgier roles (e.g. Fosca, Cora Hoover Hooper) she's genuinely scary.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:31am

Also: if Vanessa Willaims wasn't a big draw in 2002. I don't see the show having a long run without some kind of name.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:36am

I'd love to see a glamorous movie star as well, but truth is there aren't that many who could actually sing it/act it/do theatre/who might be available.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 10:55am

Yeah, the score for ITW is a B*TCH!!! The range for The Witch is pretty brutal and it takes a very skilled musician to pull it off.

I know I'll get slayed for saying this, but Idina would probably draw them in. I think she would bring a fresh take on the music. Just don't know if she could vocally sustain a long run.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:00pm

I think Murphy would be so brilliant and perfect for the Witch; it reminds me of when people were expecting some type of star-casting for Phyllis in the recent Kennedy Center production, we got Jan Maxwell instead (I was one of those who complained about not getting someone more a-list, like the rumored Kim Cattrall) and she ended up blowing everyone's minds away. It'd be interesting if Murphy did the show since she has made a point to stay away from Broadway revivals, if you look at her career in recent years, she has only done revivals in short runs (FOLLIES, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE) and declined to do both FOLLIES and ANYTHING GOES on Broadway. I hope if she is indeed being pursued to do this that there's some sort of agreement about her coming to Broadway with it.
As much as I think it'd be wonderful to have a production with someone like Catherine Zeta-Jones (who I think must play the role at some point in her life, she'd be so good!) or Toni Collette, casting Murphy would open up the potential to create a really strong ensemble production (and yes, get Ambrose on the phone to play the Baker's Wife ASAP), instead of one that revolves around a star.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:07pm

Murphy did do Wonderful Town but only after much persuasion.

I do think the Baker's Wife is the best female role in the show, but I guess the Witch is a bit more "flashy"

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:36pm

The range for The Witch is pretty brutal and it takes a very skilled musician to pull it off.

Murphy has had noticeable pitch issues in recent years. The range issue was solved for Vanessa Williams by effectively using lowered keys. The lowered keys added an eeriness to the Witch's songs.

[HBP]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 12:43pm

For the Witch, I think Sara Ramirez, Donna Murphy and Idina Menzel have all been very interesting choices thus far. Sara and Idina especially, if they want bigger Broadway names. I vota Sara.

[LALALand]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:17pm

I don't remember where I read this, but at one time, wasn't Billy Porter supposed to play the witch? Maybe they could think in those terms again. At the very least...it would be interesting.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:29pm

Porter wasn't exactly 'supposed' to play the Witch; when they were casting the last revival, he was called in for the Baker and sang one of the Witch's songs so convincingly, that he was given a callback; not sure how seriously they actually entertained the idea of cross-gendering the role. Other people who auditioned for the Witch in the last revival include Daphne Rubin Vega, Sherie Scott, and Emily Skinner, though I think they new pretty early on they wanted a 'star' of some kind of they could get one.

[LALALand]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:38pm

Thanks for clarifying MB...wasn't sure about that story. Kind of like the idea myself, not Billy Porter as his singing style is just too much.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:42pm

He's commented on his audition in some interviews and it sounds like he did something really special with the material, but of course the whole experience is filtered through his eyes. Certainly, I don't believe Sondheim or Lapine have publicly commented on the audition or if they really wanted to cast him in the role.

The Witch was played by a man in a major production in the UK in the early 90s, in which Jack was played (in panto style) by a young woman. There was apparently also a production not long after in Philadelphia that did something similar.

Updated On: 2/23/12 at 01:42 PM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 1:53pm

Michael Bennett, Porter was indeed actually supposed to play The Witch. Sondheim was adamant about wanting him, and was in the midst of a battle with the producers over it when September 11th happened. At that point, they felt they needed a "safer" choice with the state of the economy, which is when Vanessa Williams was cast.

And though Emily Skinner may have also read for The Witch for that revival, it was actually down to her and Kerry O'Malley for The Baker's Wife.

Updated On: 2/23/12 at 01:53 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 2:02pm

If that were the case I honestly feel like Sondheim probably would have mentioned something about Porter in FINISHING THE HAT or in one of the many interviews in which he's spoken about casting his productions. He's never been shy to gush about performers who have given what he considers to be remarkable auditions. I still surmise that story about Porter and INTO THE WOODS has probably been a little inflated over the years.

And I actually seem to remember the role of the Baker's Wife coming down to Kerry O'Malley and Kaitlin Hopkins, though perhaps Skinner was somewhere in that final mix as well.



Updated On: 2/23/12 at 02:02 PM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 2:10pm

I'm not surprised Sondheim hasn't spoken about it extensively. That would seem a little disrespectful to Vanessa Williams, since she was the one they ended up casting. Porter has not been shy about publicly telling the story in great detail. In fact, you can hear him talk all about it on one of his albums, where he also sings "Last Midnight."

In order to "make it up" to Porter, Sondheim authorized him to change the character of Marta to Marty when he directed COMPANY at Carnegie Mellon, and also gave him extensive license to do whatever he wanted when he developed his Sondheim revue, BEING ALIVE.

Updated On: 2/23/12 at 02:10 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 2:14pm

Oh I know he has spoken about extensively; my point being, without any kind of comment from Lapine or Sondheim, all we have is Porter's account of what happened. Porter has a huge talent and a huge ego, so you have to take his story with a little bit of a grain of salt.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:08pm

Not for nothing, but given that she was considered for the last revival, Sherie Rene Scott would make a terrific Witch. I'd love to see her interpretation of the role, and her voice would sound gorgeous on the songs.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:24pm

Sherie is my first choice of the Broadway names. Her transformation would be a heck a lot more striking/stunning than Donna Murphy's, Not that Murphy isn't an attractive woman.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:26pm

While Sherie could certainly play The Witch, she'd be a hell of a lot more interesting (and appropriately cast) as The Baker's Wife.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:32pm

Based on a lot of industry opinions of her, she might be better cast as the Wicked Stepmother.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:42pm

^ LOL

[Kad]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 4:42pm

I'd like to see Benjamin Walker as Cinderella's Prince.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 2/23/12 at 5:00pm

"I've heard some rumblings about Donna Murphy being offered the Witch; she's more of a Broadway star than the kind of movie star names the original press release indicated they would be perusing"

In November 2010, she gain some new fans, especially children and families, after voicing Mother Gothel in Disney's hugely successful animated film, 'Tangled'. When a musical theater actor does a voice in a popular Disney animated film, kids love the work they had done: look at Angela Lansbury, Lea Salonga, Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Anika Noni Rose, Jonathon Freeman, Matthew Broderick, and Nathan Lane.

Updated On: 2/23/12 at 05:00 PM