West Side Story revival casting?- Page 6

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 5:54pm

I'm thinking of forming a non-profit called the CCKOAWSSR.
Coalition to Cast Karen Olivo as Anita in the West Side Story Revival.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 6:12pm

Karen Olivio is too tall and looks too old to play Maria. Love her, but under thse circumstances, no.

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 6:14pm

Anita, dumbtard.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 6:39pm

Is she Latina?

According to IMDB (so take that as you will), she's Italian, French, and Native American.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0208527/bio

[dutch46mill2]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 7:37pm

DeGarmo is French origin but she and her family originate from Alabama.Her father looks Latino.She does look Latina to me.
She did WSS at the AMT San Jose. She was 17 in her first role and the lead at that. Guts or what.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 7:39pm

Karen Olivo could be Maria. Supposedly she's trained as a soprano. I don't think that she looks that old.

They're trying to cast a Maria who is actually Latina, so DeGarmo's out.

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 07:39 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 9:39pm

I think Karen Olivo is black and Chinese -- so technically she'd be out, too.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 10:35pm

Really?? I thought that she was Latina :o In that case, yeah, she's out as well.

That explains a lot though because I always thought that she looked a little Asian.

Updated On: 9/4/08 at 10:35 PM

[jennyish]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 9:16am

I thought the whole thing with IN THE HEIGHTS is that they cast real Latinos . . .

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 9:30am

Yeah, that's why I thought she was Latina.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 9:41am

I hear everyone is cast but Maria and Laurents went to Puerto Rico last week to hold auiditions. (and check out the bars).

[TINA211]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 10:38pm

How do i found out information about this? Like auditions and everything. I haven't heard ANYTHING about open calls or anything! Do any of you know where to find information about this?

I'm a classically trained soprano...
and Latina.
and i played Maria this summer in my regional theatre.

I'd really like to audition for this show.

Can anyone help me out?
I know of some people who are already cast but i can't find any information about auditions!

[Deycallmemimi2]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 10:50pm

I belived she is mixed dominican, puerto rican, black, and either filipino or japanese!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/5/08 at 11:44pm

The musical has a Latino tint, and Olivo - whose ancestry is Puerto Rican, Dominican and Chinese - said it's implied Vanessa is Hispanic, though she speaks without an accent.

Informative first part, insensitive second part.

There ya go.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20080309/NEWS/803090338/1326

[duckerdog22]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 10:19pm

I think Daniel Reichard from Jersey Boys would be a good Tony and Jeffrey Schecter from A Chorus Line as Riff

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 11:18pm

Lea Michelle as Maria

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:33pm

We have a Maria!

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1050222

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:02pm

Here is the myspace music page for Josifina Scaglione - who is Argentinian but actually looks about as Puerto Rican as Laura Benanti.

Beautiful girl though.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=406632098 Updated On: 9/16/08 at 01:02 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:27pm

Hey, at least we got an actual Latina in the role. The story from the paper sounds really fantastic and sweet. Congratulations to her. Now let's get an official announcement about the whole cast.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:46pm

Congratulations to her! The article was really cute. Is my Spanish too rusty, or does it say that she is singing selections from Phantom soon?

I hope that she doesn't make Matt Cavenaugh (sp?) seem ridiculously old next to her, though.

Edit: You can hear her sing on the forbidden site, and she sounds good!

Updated On: 9/16/08 at 01:46 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 2:43pm

Wow, she's beautiful! And you know, not all Puerto Ricans are dark. She will be great I'm sure.


EDIT: Just listened to her Music MySpace page. Great voice too. Although I'm still surprised Laurents felt he had to go all the way to Argentina to find a pretty young Latina with a good soprano. Updated On: 9/16/08 at 02:43 PM

[BrianS]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 4:02pm

I disagree. The songs on her myspace are relatively professionally recorded meaning that's her at her best and her voice sounds thin with an inconsistent vibrato to me. Listen to 'Memory' and tell me you hear a star.

I also think it's funny that in the search for a "true latina," they ended up with someone who looks like she could be from Milwaukee. The casting should have been based on the look and the talent and IMHO there were more than a few girls in NY who had both over this girl.

Do you really think anyone is going to walk into the theater, see this girl and think "Thank god they cast a REAL latina."?

edited because apparently I don't know how to post a pic even when I thought I knew how to post a pic.

Updated On: 9/16/08 at 04:02 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:03pm

Maybe "real Latina" means "able to speak and sing in Spanish and have it sound like it's her natural first language, and when she speaks and sings in English, her accent will be authentic - not like a white girl doing a phony Puerto Rican accent"

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:09pm

Argentina is chock fulla Welsh and Italians. She won't look that different from a WASPy American. And already, it does challenge some people's definition of what's Latina and what isn't.

(Where's my FARK "obvious" tag?)

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 6:25pm

Does she have an amazing soprano? No. Maria shouldn't. It should be a simple, pure, youthful sound, which is what Scaglione has. Vocally, she's perfect for the role.