#26
Posted: 7/23/15 at 1:45pm
Don't even get me started on Queen of the Mist...
Stanley and Samonsky lead Bridges tour — Page 2
#27
Posted: 7/23/15 at 1:47pm
He's super boring and unexciting. His voice is fine, and he's blandly cute. So it's no wonder he's had a decent career, but I was hoping for someone who was more vocally exciting. I don't find his voice booming like Pasquale. I was hoping for Jason Dainely, who maybe not "hunky" but he would kill those songs.
#28
Posted: 7/23/15 at 1:50pm
My point is that while you might might care for him, the people who voted for him to get that nomination clearly did and so will likely fans who will go to see Bridges on tour.
I.E reaction to art is subjective.
#29
Posted: 7/23/15 at 2:12pm
Aaron Lazar would have crushed it. Too bad he has a family and such.
#30
Posted: 7/23/15 at 2:14pm
^ I didn't know I needed that until this moment.
#31
Posted: 7/23/15 at 2:15pm
"I also saw Andrew in SP and thought he was better than MM - certainly he sang it better (IMHO). I didn't think he came off as well in the televised version as he did in person."
I very much agree, EPerkins. I liked his Cable much more on stage than I did on tv.
"Blandly cute?"
Really, Ripped Man? OK, I believe you. But that goes to show just how subjective it all is. To me he's one of the sexiest and most handsome younger actors and one of the most interesting looking. I don't find his physical appeal at all bland.
Updated On: 7/23/15 at 02:15 PM
#32
Posted: 7/23/15 at 2:27pm
""^ It's a SETA tour. The minimum salaries were on the audition notices. Common knowledge."
And the lead salaries can be negotiated. SETA only defines the minimums."
Absolutely true. And we have plenty of cases of higher-caliber names going out under the SETA contract (Alice Ripley in Next to Normal, Idina Menzel for the portion of If/Then she is doing, Dee Hoty in 9 to 5). I'd also be willing to bet that unless it's a case like Hair where the producers sent it out under a favored nations rider (i.e. everyone is getting paid the same base rate to foster the "ensemble" nature of the show) that very few leads out on SETA tours right now have not negotiated a salary above minimum.
#33
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:08pm
I would actually like to see Dainely and Mazzie in these roles, they are closer to the right ages. Kelli was fantastic when I saw her on Broadway, though.
#34
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:16pm
I would actually like to see Dainely and Mazzie in these roles, they are closer to the right ages.
Age really doesn't have anything to do with it -- actors can play older or younger and do, all the time -- but Mazzie is not "closer to the right age." She's in her mid-fifties. Francesca -- a war bride -- would be around 40.
#35
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:23pm
Francesca does have to age significantly for the final scene when she receives Robert's letter. Kelli did it quite well by altering her speech and mannerisms. Not a huge deal. Stanley should be fine throughout.
#36
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:44pm
I guess I'm just used to the movie. Eastwood was 65 in the film.
#37
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:56pm
I thought Samonsky's bland, disinterestedness in South Pacific was a deliberate character choice. I didn't like it, but I didn't think he was bored onstage. His Cable was much more arrogant and less earnest than Morrison's was.
Updated On: 7/23/15 at 03:56 PM
#38
Posted: 7/23/15 at 3:59pm
It's not that it's *just* at SETA tour, it's that it's SETA Category 4. That means that the weekly guarantee is less than $232K (give or take a little bit for trucking credit). They're sometimes playing small theaters (i.e. the 1,191 seat Knight theater in Charlotte rather than the 2,097 Belk that everyone else plays) - which is of course better for the audience, but it means that there isn't much money to play with.
I guarantee that the leads are making substantially more than the $698/weekly minimum, but it's also not like there was a gang of big Broadway names banging on Bernie's door to book this tour.
#39
Posted: 7/23/15 at 4:30pm
"I thought Samonsky's bland, disinterestedness in South Pacific was a deliberate character choice. I didn't like it, but I didn't he was bored onstage. His Cable was much more arrogant and less earnest than Morrison's was. "
Perhaps I would have thought that if I hadn't seen him give the same performance 3 more times in different shows afterwards.
#40
Posted: 7/23/15 at 4:36pm
bjh, you took the words out of my mouth.
#41
Posted: 7/23/15 at 4:40pm
I saw him in The Mystery of Edwin Drood and thought he was very good, but that was a very different kind of role.
#42
Posted: 7/23/15 at 10:40pm
I would say he was forgettable in Hunchback, but that would assume he made an impression.
And yeah, I'm sure they're both making above the minimum by quite a bit. People do road shows to make money because Equity pays per dieum, etc.
#43
Posted: 7/24/15 at 1:23am
Interesting. I never knew there was so much dislike for Samonsky on this board. I personally like him, but don't love him. I saw him in Drood, the South Pacific broadcast, as well as Tales of the City in San Francisco. I didn't have a particular problem with him in any of those roles (I didn't see Andy Karl or Matthew Morrison in their respective roles). I guess now that people mention it, though, he's not exactly the most passionate actor onstage, and Robert is a very passionate character. Still, I think he could do a good job.
The only things I've seen Elizabeth Stanley in were On the Town and the DVD of Company. Those roles alone are very different from each other, so I can see her being versatile enough to pull of Francesca. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.
#44
Posted: 7/24/15 at 1:34am
I like Elizabeth Stanley. She would not have been my first choice for the role (because of her blondness and usual perkiness) but she is very good. I've never heard of Andrew Samonsky until today. This could be a trainwreck or it could be a good show.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#45
Posted: 7/24/15 at 2:43am
I've seen Andrew in two shows, the South Pacific tour, and the San Francisco production of Tales of the City. He's a totally competent performer, but nothing about him really stands out, which is where I think all these comments about him being "bland" come from. He had arguably one of the juicer roles in Tales of the City as Beauchamp, but he didn't have that charming, smarmy, a-hole ness about him to make the character stand out against the rest of the ensemble, though he did sing well and was fairly pleasing to the eye.
In South Pacific, Lt. cable is already fighting against being one of the "blandest" characters in the show, so you really need that extra stage presence to make the role memorable. He did not have it in that role either. Though I do wish him the best, and he seems to be still doing fairly well for himself being cast regionally and in tours.
I was originally entertaining the thought of traveling down to LA to see this, but knowing his slightly underwhelming stage presence, I don't know about seeing him in the airline hanger of a space that the Amanson is.
Xanadu! Can't cry on cue!
#46
Posted: 7/24/15 at 2:18pm
I saw Samonsky in South Pacific both live and on the TV broadcast and was underwhelmed both times and didn't care for him in any of his projects.
Elizabeth Stanley is definitely an interesting choice and I'm curious to see how she will do.
#47
Posted: 7/24/15 at 2:20pm
Meanwhile, the first production in Asia has been announced! Mig Ayesa and Joanna Ampil will be the leads in Manila.
http://mig-music.com/diary#sthash.JE4hcZp4.dpbs
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#48
Posted: 7/24/15 at 4:50pm
Samansky has a great chest!
Updated On: 7/24/15 at 04:50 PM
#49
Posted: 7/24/15 at 4:59pm
Blimey, Jo Ampil? A fantastic performer but vocally not my first pick for a Kelli O'Hara role! With that said, I haven't heard performing Maria in Sound of Music. Great to see the show getting a life in other markets, regardless; I had worried it was stay in the US only.
#50
Posted: 7/24/15 at 6:47pm
Stanley is the Ann Veal of Broadway musicals.
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