WOMEN ON THE VERGE coming to the West End... — Page 2

The score for this show is one of my favorite scores ever. It is lush, flavorful, fun, and jam packed with killer orchestrations and some of the most beautiful and poetic lyrics. I REALLY REALLY love this show and the score. What other people thought was an ADHD mishmash and mess of ballads and bad book scenes, I found to be a terrific screwball comedy that was over the top in a beautiful and, at times, even whimsical, way. I am really hoping the new production isn't too toned down.

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Can anybody else imagine Sheridan Smith as Candela?

As soon as I heard this was being produce in London, I thought of Sheridan Smith as Candela. Greig is certainly a highlight in EPISODES, her scenes with Kathleen Rose Perkins are my favorites. It seems that by casting Greig the creative team are going in a completely different direction than Sherie Rene Scott, who was so miscast as Pepa. There's something about Greig that could match the no-nonsense strength Carmen Maura so nicely brought to Pepa. Curious about Greig's singing, it's hard to picture her singing something like "Lovesick," but we'll see.

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I think you're giving the negative buzz that was generated here on BWW too much credit ljay.

I remember liking the score and the performances very much, but the overall package was less than the sum of its parts.

The thread here was more of a reflection of that frustration, not a catalyst for damaging word of mouth.

To be fair though, some of the comments here were pretty harsh. But isn't that to be expected on a public message board?

There was a great musical in there, it just needed some significant rewrites.

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I'm with Taz on this one. I think we're overestimating the power of BWW. If the creative team had built a solid show around the score and those actors--and had cast the show differently, mainly in terms of their leading lady--then no message board chatter could have kept the show from being more successful. I do feel that the buzz leading up to the previews was so strong (that cast! that director! that composer!) that it had to struggle to develop under such a large spotlight. Let's hope this time around, the team can do something else. I will say "Model Behavior" is one of the great musical comedy numbers this side of the 2000s.

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ljay, I remember that time as well. It was like Women on the Verge was the runt of the litter and BWW posters were schoolyard bullies (sorry for the mixed metaphor but it's Sunday and I'm lazy). The utter hatred from some toward this show still strikes me as odd. There was a bad buzz generated that the show never recovered from. I disagree with those who say this type of Internet drubbing had no effect on the show. Remember: perception is everything.

I agree, I really hope that there will be some Hispanic cast members in this.

I remember being annoyed during Patti's scheduled absences, they kept putting Rachel Bay Jones on for her, instead of the Hispanic Alma Cuervo. Cuervo would have been fantastic. I saw Jones, and she was OK.

I assume it was easier to put Jones on because she was a swing. Cuervo was a regular cast member.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 01:53 PM

As far as I know, Greig has absolutely no musical background. She's certainly never sung publicly. All the press about her doing the show suggests she's taking vocal lessons specifically to prepare for the material.

I'd agree that Salma Hayek not moving forward with the show to Broadway was a huge missed opportunity. She has the absolutely perfect sensibility for Pepa- someone who can convey an immense amount of warmth and passion despite being depressed (which proved to be the fatal flaw in Sherie Rene Scott's performance as she just came off completely disinterested). From what I've heard of her singing, I'm sure her not doing it had much more to do with her film commitments than it did her musical sensibility. Linking her singing "The Star Spangled Banner" below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi8NunzFCz0

As everyone remembers, Catherine Zeta-Jones was offered Pepa and chose A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC instead. While I don't think she's as ideally suited as Hayek would have been, I'd certainly consider her more appropriate casting than Scott ended up being.

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Updated On: 6/22/14 at 02:19 PM

Catherine Z-J wasn't going to do two high profile musicals back to back.

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interesting, thanks for elaborating. Jessica Biel instead of Laura Benanti? Thank god that didn't happen!!

Didn't Riedel say at the time that czj was insulted LCT asked her to audition for Verge? Then Sondheim and Nunn each personally offeyed her Night Music.

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 04:42 PM

I do recall the story about Catherine Zeta-Jones being asked to audition. I remember Jessica Biel played Candela in the reading involving Hayek and Maestro, and I've always wondered if "Model Behavior" was written when she was involved or if it was developed when Benanti came in. The song is so perfect for Benanti and it's such an ideal pairing of song/actor that I can't imagine Beil singing it, especially since she might have struggled with the song's tempo, not to mention the fact her comedic timing can't be compared to genius Benanti.
AlbertPeterson3, no one is talking color here really. If you wanna go in that direction, there's plenty of Caucasian Argentinians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, etc. Latin American is not a race (regardless of what the census tells you), the same way that Spanish isn't a race. What we're talking about are the cultural similarities between Latin American and Spain, and the fact that Hispanic actors (aka U.S. Latino/as, Latin Americans, and Spaniards) share more culturally than Americans and Brits. To say that Sherie Rene Scott has as much or more in common with Carmen Maura (again, in terms of the sensibility that she can bring to a character like Pepa) than Salma Hayek is quite misguided IMO.

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Updated On: 6/22/14 at 05:01 PM

BTW, here is that old Riedel article regarding CZJ & Verge.

Catherine Zeta-Jones had been offered the role of Pepa Marcos, a depressed, pill-popping TV actress. But then Lincoln Center decided she should probably audition, which, I’m told, she took as an insult. She passed on the show and will instead do “A Little Night Music.”
http://nypost.com/2009/09/04/verge-of-a-shakeup/

Clearly she made the right choice, lol.