Why hasn't Susan Lucci returned to Broadway?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 8:05pm

She drew such large crowds during her brief stint in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN that I thought she's be back on Bwy every season.

Sad, isn't it?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 8:20pm

With all due respect, I thought her Annie was pretty dreary; if never really painful, it was never anyting close to exciting. Summer stock slick, with at best mediocre vocals. A hillbilly tomboy she ain't. She got away with it, to a point, because it was for three weeks only and that production was already Vegas-styled to begin with. I thought it an odd choice on her part, because of the Merman/Peters vocal demands.

I can think of roles she'd actually score with -- the Bacall part in WOMAN OF THE YEAR comes to mind. She'd be a believable media-age Tess Harding, no? She'd do best in roles that allow sophistication and a milder urban edge. She's a smart woman, with a great command of her own persona. When she tries to bury it in a "character" role, her work shows. And she resists playing women d'un age certain (Her Annie was even harder to land, considering Lucci was in her early to mid 50s at the time) keep her away from material that requires vocal heft and a warmer emotional center. How about LADY IN THE DARK?

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 08:20 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:25pm

Auggie, you didn't get the joke...

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:28pm

I think Auggie's idea of a Lucci version of LADY IN THE DARK is terrific. Perhaps someone like John Stamos can play opposite her.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:56pm

I agree
Tell the lighting designer..

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:04pm

I was shocked when she was cast in "Annie Get Your Gun".. due to the simple fact that she CANNOT sing. The ONLY reason she got the job was because she's "Erica Cane", plain and simple. The Weisslers are notorious for hiring "big names" and "non singers" for important roles. After all, they are the same producers who hired Rosie O'Donnell to play "Rizzo" in the 1994 revival of "Grease". I'm glad I didn't have to witness that torture. I can stand just so much pain. from RC in Austin, Texas

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 11:09pm

I thought she was pretty awful in Annie Get your Gun. However, I also saw Cheryl Ladd in the role, and found her surprisingly good. Not the greatest singer on the planet, but she was much funnier that I had expected.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 12:34am

Rosie actually wasn't too terrible in GREASE. It was clear that a vocal coach had spent A LOT of time working with her, and she really held her own throughout each solo number.

Each time I've heard Rosie sing since GREASE has been for benefit performances in which she was probably given little to no rehearsal time, and in those cases she sounded awful. But Rosie actually made it work in GREASE.

For a non-singer to make it all the way through "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" is quite an accomplishment, and Rosie really did it. It was far from pretty, but she had no pitch problems and she sang every note on key.

[FranzRelax]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 12:49am

Foster, did you see Rosie's performance live in GREASE? Did she sound the same as the cast recording. Because I've ready both Rosie and Brooke Shields had a lot of digital help with their singing on both GREASE cast recordings.

I also wonder if Rosie's Rizzo had any sex appeal. Are there any pics?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 9:08am

Franz, I did see Rosie live in GREASE. It was a few months into the run, a Saturday matinee, and I remember expecting a nightmare and really being pleasantly surprised. Her Rizzo was funny, and heartbreaking where need be. She was clearly comfortable in her own body, so the fact that she wasn't thin didn't damage her portrayal. I specifically remember "Worse Things I Could Do" and thinking that she did a quite a satisfactory job. I am in no way saying she was brilliant -- far from it -- Rosie isn't a top notch actress or singer, but if any character in GREASE has any sort of an arc, it's Rizzo, and Rosie really gave a moving performance that worked from beginning to end.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 11:09am

Thank you, Dolly. It's August, and a hot one; I'm slowing down... The Stamos post was the bitch-slap I needed.

How about Lucci in UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, opposite Walt Willey? She could cell Leadville Johnny Brown 14 K trinkets on QVC. I'm so there. But I'd rather see Kim Zimmer in MAME (or maybe as Margaret White in CARRIE). Or Linda Dano in BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, opposite David Canary. Or Erica Slezak in CALL ME MADAME. Or Eileen Fulton as Madame Armfedlt ("lee-AAY-s'ns? Honey, I mean, what's happen'd t'THEM?")

[Calvin]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 11:20am

I want an all-"Days" ALNM. Diedre Hall could be Desirée to Francis Reid's Mme. Armfeldt, and Drake Hogestyn as Egerman.

[Kringas]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 11:22am

Lucci can't really act, either.