Should Micaela Diamond stay with Sweeney Todd or Parade if it moves

Is she the begger woman? or Joanna?

If her contract allows, PARADE is the obvious choice. It's a starring role. But we don't know that PARADE is moving, do we? It's a big musical (even on an Encores scale), tricky material for mainstream audiences, and would need a decent run with Platt to break even.

Did I miss something? I thought the Sweeney cast announced was just Groban and Ashford.

My guess is we will know after the Sunday matinee of Parade what is going on. They would probably make a proud announcement at the end. I’m leaning towards a transfer. I’m also biased as I fell in love with Parade after seeing the original production at LCT many a moon ago. It’s definitely a hard sell, but with the strong reviews and Platt is attached, a limited run is very possible. I’m going to the Sunday matinee, so will be very curious if it comes up during curtain speeches, if there are any!

I think Sweeney. You’re almost guaranteed a year of steady good money work.


Parade could open - it’s a tough sell usually but in this current environment even harder - so who knows? Platt has sort of lost his footing as a star-to-be but would probably still appeal to a Broadway audience and she got the best reviews. But she could still slay in Todd.

There's pros and cons to both. Sweeny is a steady paycheck in a lead role, and depending on what else happens by Tony's can get a nom.

Parade is a hard sell even with raves. If it transfers, it won't be for long, and that short runtime makes nominations less likely (but does depend on every other show). But having such a great lead role on Broadway is great for her resume and may raise her star power more than sweeny.

What we have absolutely no insight on is career satisfaction. It's pretty common for feels about a role to influence an actor's decision. If she adores sweeny, she may want to stay with that. Or perhaps she's fallen in love with her character in parade and it's worth giving up sweeny. You can't measure or put a price on that stuff.

The factor everyone is missing in these pros and cons is Diamond’s working relationship with Groban, who took her out on tour and appears to be her mentor in the theatre/music crossover thing. Maybe they’re friends, but more importantly maybe they’re colleagues; it wouldn’t hurt for her to be the Carole King to his James Taylor and function as a package deal, since she is a fairly obscure indie folk artist and he is, well, Josh Groban.

Oops yeah. Mixed up the two rumors!

I think the question is hypothetical, and theres nothing wrong with that. We dont know if shes been offered Sweeney, and we dont know if Parade is transferring.

But if she is faced with that choice, I don't think its a hard one. Mrs. Frank is a leading role opposite Ben Platt; Johanna is a smaller, less showy role in Groban's and Ashford's shadows.

Joanna is really a thankless role. It wouldn’t even be a question. If she’s committed to Sweeney, then they’d hold the Parade transfer. There’s no reason to do it without the best reviewed part of the show.

Did the larger Sweeney thread get removed? I cannot find any trace of it.

In any case, I was just told from a reliable source that there is a Tony winner attached to the Beggar Woman (and I'm sort of surprised she is doing it, though she will be fantastic). She won her Tony within the last decade.

So if Diamond was attached to any role, it would have been Johanna. I don't know if they will actually transfer Parade this season or not (spring will be a crowded season for revivals) but I think Diamond would make a great Johanna, and if Parade doesn't transfer or waits to transfer, then why not!

Ruthie makes sense considering we know they had to have to some reason to move Encores Piazza.