Plus, Desiree is supposed to be an elegant beauty. Let's just put it this way, I don't think there's any role that Natasha Richardson--who was class personified--could have played that Patti LuPone is or would have been right for. LuPone's humor, presence, and persona lacks any of the sophistication and class required to play the part. I mean, maybe she's okay for Ravinia, but not for a first rate Broadway revival.
Of the crop of Sondheim actresses, Donna Murphy is the one who is most right for the part, and how I wish she'd have been cast
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"