Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:10pm
I was really hoping Annaleigh Ashford would lead a revival as Charity, but Sutton will be spectacular, of course. She's 100% right for the role.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:14pm
From a dance standpoint, no I don't think she is as strong as the legends who have done the Fosse choreography, including Debbie Allen. It doesn't really matter though, this production won't be using the Fosse choreography.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:07pm
Foster is a wonderful dancer. She dances with personality, which is what made Fosse's and Michael Bennett's dancers so unique and inimitable. Her performance of "Show Off" at the Tonys is pure Gwen Verdon magic. She certainly doesn't have the technique that say Bebe Neuwirth has, which I think is where you are getting at, Ljay. But when I think of the great triple threats like Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and Rita Moreno, I mostly think about how much personality they were able to bring to the dancing, which is why they are so brilliant at musical theatre acting. Foster is great at that, and she will actually get the humor of the show, which is so important to making the weaker elements of Neil Simon's book work.
Really, Jane Krakowski is the only person I can think of working right now who is the most ideal person for the role. It's a real shame Neil Simon ruined her casting in the last revival, though come to think of it, she kind of dodged a bullet there. Remember when Marisa Tomei was cast? I wonder what that would have been like.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:22pm
Sutton makes complete sense as Charity. She is (in my opinion) a true triple-threat. The more I think about it, the more excited I am to see her in the this in such an intimate venue. I only hope the production values and rest of the cast are great. This could (and should) really be something special.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 1:03am
Oh, God, I really want to see this. But I don't have room in my budget right now to spring for a subscription when I have no interest in the other shows. Is it only running for two months?
Posted: 5/19/16 at 2:31am
Gosh this is weird. Is it at Signature? Obviously it will sell-out quickly. I'm just confused by all of this. Does she only have 2 months out of the year so she went with New Group? I mean their name alone doesn't make sense for this revival? I don't understand it all. She made VIOLET is a sold-out hit on Broadway and that was a show no one really knew.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 4:43am
Does anyone know the exact dates in November-December this is running?
Posted: 5/19/16 at 5:59am
Man, I wish they -would- use the Fosse choreo. It's a show like WSS and ACL where I can't see it ever topped--Cilento's for the last revival, while a fine Fosse dancer, proved this. But of course Fosse unlike Bennett and Robbbins didn't care at all about his choreo being preserved.
Bergasse is great and did well in the Robbins style for Town, but...
Updated On: 5/19/16 at 05:59 AM
Posted: 5/19/16 at 7:00am
I can't imagine a version of this show without the Fosse choreography.
But I couldn't imagine Pippin without it either, and the revival was smashing.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 7:13am
RippedMan said: "She made VIOLET is a sold-out hit on Broadway and that was a show no one really knew."
Violet was far from sold out on Broadway.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 7:54am
Why do people insist on putting cutesy-woolsey, freshly scrubbed blondes in the part of Charity? Applegate now Foster? Really? Charity has been around the block - a lot. She's tired. Does a director even care what about the script.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 8:02am
JayG 2 said: "Why do people insist on putting cutesy-woolsey, freshly scrubbed blondes in the part of Charity? Applegate now Foster? Really? Charity has been around the block - a lot. She's tired. Does a director even care what about the script."
1. Foster doesn't have blond hair.
2. Foster is over 40 and can hardly be described as "freshly scrubbed."
Posted: 5/19/16 at 8:15am
JayG 2 said: "Why do people insist on putting cutesy-woolsey, freshly scrubbed blondes in the part of Charity? Applegate now Foster? Really? Charity has been around the block - a lot. She's tired. Does a director even care what about the script.
"
She may be tired, but her naivete is essential to the character. Even in Nights of Cabiria the character is wide eyed.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 8:40am
AC126etc. Foster comes across as a nice little soccer mom with few traces of being used time and time again. The antithesis of Charity.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 9:06am
She may be a little too wholesome for the role, but I do feel that she has the right spirit and personality for it.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 9:10am
Having seen Foster broaden her range in Violet, The Wild Party, and Trust (in which she convincingly played a dominatrix), I don't think she will have any difficulty tamping down some of her more wholesome personality traits for the role.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 9:31am
JayG 2 said: "AC126etc. Foster comes across as a nice little soccer mom with few traces of being used time and time again. The antithesis of Charity. "
Sutton Foster is the exact age Gwen Verdon was when she originated the role. She'll even have a few months on Verdon by the time this opens. She's the right age, she has the talent, and she has the same director who led her to give one of the best performances I have ever seen. Plus, she has Bergasse choreographing who could really do some incredible stuff with this (his work in On the Town should be enough to give people at least SOME faith in him).
Well, I'm thrilled, at least.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 9:43am
It always baffles me when people expect actors to perform roles that only mirror their off-stage/off-screen personalities. She's an actor. If a role requires her to be gritty, she'll act gritty.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 10:01am
Well I thought she was hardly gritty in The Wild Party. It was not a great match for her. Charity should be a much better fit.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 10:21am
JayG 2 said: "Why do people insist on putting cutesy-woolsey, freshly scrubbed blondes in the part of Charity? Applegate now Foster? Really? Charity has been around the block - a lot. She's tired. Does a director even care what about the script.
While Foster is not a blonde, I agree with this, she's too perky and fresh faced for this role.
EDIT: On the other hand I initially thought she was all wrong for "Reno" in ANYTHING GOES and she proved me wrong and blew me away in the process.
Updated On: 5/19/16 at 10:21 AM
Posted: 5/19/16 at 12:08pm
She's appearing in concert with the Boston Pops next Thursday and Friday.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 12:43pm
Charity's essential quality, and one I've never seen in Foster (absolutely terrific though she is) is pathos.
Hers will, I can imagine, be a sweet performance, adept, professional, and vocally stronger than it needs to be. But I can't imagine her conveying that ephemeral mix of naturally common, coarse, faded, but always hopeful that both Giulietta Masina and Gwen Verdon possessed. It will be a difference between skill and magic.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 12:55pm
AC126748 said: "Having seen Foster broaden her range in Violet, The Wild Party, and Trust (in which she convincingly played a dominatrix), I don't think she will have any difficulty tamping down some of her more wholesome personality traits for the role.
This is exactly what I was thinking. She has proven she has moved past ingenue roles. I'm sure she'll have no problem with Charity.
"
Posted: 5/19/16 at 1:40pm
Foster comes across as a nice little soccer mom with few traces of being used time and time again.
I actually saw her convincing and heartbreaking performance as Violet and that alone convinces me that she would have no problem with playing a convincing Charity, especially as written, which is a very cutesy take on what is supposed to be a gritty character. The musical is much more focused on Charity's optimism and naivete than the darker aspects of her past or situation. The pathos of Charity is in fleeting small doses and mostly saved for the ending, but every tiny morsel of bitterness is engulfed in cotton candy. Even the original ending has her shrugging off disappointment and dancing "hopefully" ever after. One of the things I never liked about the show was that her character was not well-written and more pathetic than interesting. The constant comedy and yes, perkiness (written right into that score) is a required distraction to try and keep Charity from being completely unsympathetic.
So, if you believe any actress is too perky for the part, you would need to rewrite much of the book and score. And if you think Sutton can only play wholesome and perky, then I can only assume you didn't catch her in Violet, which is a shame.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 2:20pm
Does Ana Faris sing or dance? This seems like the role she was born to play.
