Sunday in the Park with Cris Groenendaal

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 3:58am

I just found myself a soundboard recording of the original production of Sunday in the Park with George from 1985, featuring Cris Groenendaal and Betsy Joslyn as George and Dot/Marie. I've been trying to pinpoint an approximate date for the production, and am getting very confused. As far as I can tell, both of them were the understudies for the leading roles (Groenendaal played the Soldier/Alex and Joslyn was Celeste 2/Elaine). who each had a two-week period where they took over the role: Groenendaal in January and Joslyn in Late February/Early March. Great. But what confuses me is that the Soldier is very audibly being sung by Howard McGillin, who replaced Groenendaal in that role but as far as I can tell was not an understudy.

Can anyone clear up the timeline for me? Was there ever a point where Cris Groenendaal and Howard McGillin were in the show at the same time? Any help from long-memoried members would be greatly appreciated!





Updated On: 6/22/12 at 03:58 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 9:28am

Saw that production several times, and what you write sounds very strange. Groenendaal played Louis the Baker, not a soldier. I saw Robert Westenberg go on as George once (he was the Soldier, and George understudy), and I saw Betsy go on as Dot/Marie (perhaps it was the same performance, but I don't recall). Westenberg was far from able to act the role, it was almost embarrassing. Joslyn was also out of her depth (but Maryann Plunkett, who later took over, was pretty good, especially as Marie).

I think Groenendaal did take over the role of George briefly, but I never saw him do it. Never heard about McGillin being in the show at all.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 9:31am

Betsy Joslyn, as in Johanna in the Hearn/Lansbury Sweeney Todd DVD? Betsy Joslyn, as in that "dear Jebus, calm that vibrato, woman!" lady?

[Tsao5]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 10:52am

She was a bit nutty, to say the least, in Sweeney, but she was quite good as the Witch in Into the Woods. She no longer performs, hasn't for a while, but she had a good career. I think her last big gig was as Madame T. in Les Miserables back in early 2000.

I believe Mandy then Robert Westenberg, then briefly Cris Groenendaal, then Harry Groener were the Broadway George's.

Cris mostly does The 3 Phantoms concerts now and I think teaches English. He also had a nice long career.

Not sure though the dates you are asking about. I do think it is possible though they performed opposite each other.

[ravnquest1]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 11:03am

Updated On: 6/17/17 at 11:03 AM

[bryan2]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 11:14am

Harry Groener and Maryann Plunkett were the replacements when
Bernadette and Mandy left ..the others were just fillins
Harry and Maryann were wonderful especially Maryann her quivery voice and sweetness were perfect and she is an amazing actress .. I remember when I saw her that I liked her better than Bernadette because she seemed like the character more than an actress playing the part..also I dont like Mandy because he is the worst overactor in theater -but when he sang in that show it was beautiful...love his singing voice..but always way over the top acting wise

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 1:12pm

Ibdb's credits for the original Sunday are pretty shoddy, actually and they don't have all the replacements. According to Ovrtur.com (which is an AWESOME reasource for this kind of thing and far more extensive than IBDB), Howard McGillin joined the company as the Soldier in April 1985. It's very, very clearly his voice on the recording.

Robert Westenberg took over for Mandy Patankin in September 1984, at which time Groenendaal took over the role of the Soldier (I have another recording with Westenberg and Peters, and it's very clearly Groenendaal in that role.) Westenberg played the role for seven months, after which Harry Groener took over on April 23, 185.

Also, I'd like to take a second to defend Betsy Joslyn. The Surviving video of her Johanna is pretty unfortunate, yeah, but listening to her in other roles has been a very pleasant surprise. I really like her Into the Woods Witch, and her Dot is very solid. Vibrato's still a little heavy but it doesn't really bother me.

Also, there's this youtube clip of her singing Johanna on Broadway, about a year before the tour. It's EONS better than the performance she gave on Tour. No idea what happened...maybe she was sick when they filmed it, or, over time, her performance got increasingly erratic. It happens, but clearly this is what they where thinking when they cast her as Johanna.

It starts about four minutes into this clip.

Clip

[bobs3]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 3:55pm

I remember Betsy Joslyn from INTO THE WOODS. Talented yes, but her performance as the Witch was very show bizzy -- glitzy but not much depth. I also saw her Mrs. Potts in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST she was good but she really played to the audience, of course the role of Mrs. Potts doesn't have as much depth as the Witch.

Mary Gordon Murray replaced Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife and while she couldn't come near Gleason's amazing performance, I actually liked her "Moments in the Woods" better than Gleasons -- especially the way she swooned when recalling the kiss from Cinderella's Prince.

Updated On: 6/23/12 at 03:55 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 5:52pm

I've heard people say that Betsy did, as sometimes happens, let her performance get more and more broad as she continued in Sweeney--the tour video seems to show this.

Ugh, I can't imagine Groener as Georges/George whatsoever. Weird.