Zach Braff to Make Broadway Debut in BULLETS OVER BROADWAY April 2014; Ashmanskas, Wolfe, Wolpe, Yorke, Pastore & More Join Cast- Page 2

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 10:12pm

Ellen Greene

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 10:21pm

Can someone clue me in as to what I should know Helene York from?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 10:58pm

Julie White hasn't done a musical since LUCKY STIFF, but she would be my choice for Helen Sinclair.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 11:14pm

NO one adores Julie White more than me, but can she pull off regal?? I just can't picture her pulling off the grand-dame theatre queen.

Audra McDonald could be interesting, but looks a bit youthful. I also would KILL to see Jan Maxwell do this.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 11:14pm

No offense to Ms. Yorke, but I was hoping that her name was a typo, and that Rachel York was going to be part of this cast.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 6/27/13 at 11:36pm

Anything for more Betsy Wolfe in my life.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 1:33am

Was not Caroline O'Connor rumoured for this?

[SweetLips]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:27am

Caroline O'Connor should be Miss Hannigan.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 8:32am

I think Beth Leavel would make a hilarious Helen. But hadn't thought of Christine Ebersole, What a great idea!

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 8:38am

The only thing about Ebersole and Leavel is they've both kinda played this part before, to a degree. And both won Tonys for it.

Ebersole - 42nd Street
Leavel - Drowsy Chaperone

I almost feel like I've seen them as Helen Sinclair already.

Still, they were wonderful in my head, so I wouldn't mind seeing either of them play Helen on the real live stage.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 8:53am

Can someone clue me in as to what I should know Helene York from?

She was the original lead in Bring It On during it's Atlanta try out, but left due to injury. She also was Glinda on the second national tour of Wicked.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:53am

I was thinking that too, best12. That's why I said win another Tony since the role is so similar to their previous ones. It's also similar to Maxwell's character in "The Royal Family" mixed with Phyllis. I also almost mentioned Annette Bening but remembered she played it in "Being Julia."

Their performances would be very by-the-book casting and in their wheelhouse, but like you said, wonderful already in your head! I'd love to hear more out of the box casting ideas too. We picture Helen as a larger than life, deep-voiced, dramatic grand-dame type because that's how Dianne Weist played her. I'm not a huge fan of Bernadette, but maybe Helen could be a cutsie-wootzie type of star letting go of those roles? Not ideal, I give you, but more suggestions like that would be fun to hear.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 12:08pm

Besty, that's why I'm not on the Ebersole/Leavel train, I feel like we've seen these performances from them already. One of the things that made Wiest so brilliant in the film is that she hadn't had a film role like that before, and looking back it's surprising that Allen even cast her. She has said that she felt she was completely wrong for the part from day one and that after shooting (maybe the first day or first couple days), Woody Allen called her in to look at the dailies because they were not good, so she assumed she'd be fired. However, he let her keep trying things, and so she came up with the Helen voice, and she says that ended up being her way into the role. The rest is Academy Award-winning history.
I'd love for them to get someone surprising and refreshing, Julie White would be fascinating, maybe counterintuitive but intriguing. Murphy hasn't gotten to play a diva role in her career but I think she'd totally nail Helen. I want some interesting people and not expected people.

[followspot]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 12:26pm

Stockard Channing.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 2:47pm

^ Excellent idea! My pick.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 3:06pm

Carrie Fisher? Julie Halston? Charles Busch?

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 3:32pm

Harvey Fierstein?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:18pm

Actually I think Betty Buckley would be ideal for Helen. She is daffy enough and mannered enough to make it work. However, the creative team may not want to work with her.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:21pm

Isn't Buckley too old to protest about playing mothers?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:47pm

I just remember how surprised I was to see sweet little sweet-voiced Dianne Wiest play Helen. It was a shock.

The story is that they started filming, and she was terrible. She knew it, Woody knew it, they all knew it.

A few days later, he met with her and they talked about it. During that meeting, she tried lowering her voice like Tallulah Bankhead. She became a "smokey baritone."

They reshot the scenes that had been filmed to that point, and Wiest went on to win an Oscar (and many other awards) for one of the best and funniest performances in the past 30 years.

So my point to that is maybe it should be someone who isn't an obvious choice. I would love to see what Victoria Clark could do with it. What about Chenoweth? Could she disguise her voice and nail it?

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:55pm

Who is our 40-something Marian Seldes?

[dreaming]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:57pm

Victoria Clark lacks the stage presence factor. I feel like for the stage version you need someone who's got a larger than life presence. Wiest even had that on screen.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 4:58pm

The point that she is complaining about being cast as a mother, when she is "plenty" old enough is the joke.

Casting "out of the box" is a great idea.

This is one of the plum roles on Broadway this season.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:00pm

40's is "plenty old enough" to play a mother. To complain about it in your 60s isn't funny, it's delusional.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:02pm

Here's a really wacky idea that I kinda love ...

Audra McDonald.