Stokes, LuPone, Scott & More to Star in WOMEN ON THE VERGE- Page 2

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:17pm

There aren't any roles original to the musical.

The breakdowns are as follows, as posted previously. The Taxi Driver being listed as a female is a typo, as Burnstein has played that role in both previous developmental incarnations:

1.) MALE (50s; any ethnicity) - IVAN. Handsome, sophisticated and smooth. Pretty much a haircut and a voice, it would be possible to mistake him for a bounder, but the truth is he falls in love with every woman he meets. A player. Strong comic actor and singer;

2.) FEMALE (20s; any ethnicity) - CANDELA. Very pretty, razor-skinny, naive working model and hopeless romantic who falls in love at the drop of a hat. Much smarter than she appears, with a small-town innocence underneath her cosmopolitan sexiness. Truly in love with Ivan. Her diet consists of lettuce and diuretics. Strong comic actor and singer;

3.) FEMALE (50s; any ethnicity) - LUCIA. Ivan's ex-wife. She has just been released from a mental institution after 20 years, but she is still mad. Both comic and scary, with a heartbreaking vulnerability underneath it all. Everything she does is 20 years ago; her mind might as well be frozen in time. Strong comic actor and singer;

4.) MALE (20s; any ethnicity) - CARLOS. Ivan and Lucia's son. Handsome, sexy, shy, awkward, unassuming and studious-looking. Struggling to break out of his shell; has a real untapped passion that is yearning to be let out. Attached to his father, even though he doesn't know him. Dominated by his mother. Strong comic actor and singer;

5.) FEMALE (mid 30s-early 40s; any ethnicity) - PEPA. Working actor and presently spurned lover. Warm, funny, sardonic, matter-of-fact, down-to-earth, emotional, motherly, and naturally sexy (i.e. not working it). Has just broken up an affair with Ivan. Strong comic actor and singer;

6.) FEMALE (20s; any ethnicity) - MARISA. Carlos' snobby fiancee. A striking, exotic, unusual-looking woman. Very matter-of-fact and no-nonsense. Stern, depressed, competitive with Candela. Firmly holding onto her virginity, but with a smolder that will eventually emerge. Strong comic actor and singer. This role will dance;

7.) FEMALE (mid 30s-early 40s; any ethnicity) - PAULINA. A smart lawyer, a 1987 feminist, and a bitch - although we must also believe she can be swept off her feet. Attractive underneath her business suit and stern demeanor. Ambitious, funny, on par with Pepa. It's a surprise that she ends up with Ivan. Strong comic actor and singer;

8.) FEMALE (mid 30s-40s; any ethnicity) - TAXI DRIVER. Very off-center, very talkative, and big-hearted. Takes on the problems of any of his passengers. He is the spirit and energy of Madrid. Strong comic actor and singer.

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:17 PM

[Felm_heart]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:18pm

I don't see how LuPone could be anyone other than Lucia...

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:18pm

This is a dream cast. Can't wait till October 2nd!

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:18pm

^ I agree with MB. There must be an original role for Mary Beth Peil. I can't see her playing Stokes' ex-wife. She's 70 years old.
Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:18 PM

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:21pm

I'm freaking out!!!!!!!!!!!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:22pm

There's not an original role. Unless there was a massive re-write since the last workshop (which I highly doubt,) the roles are as I previously posted them.

Lucia is supposed to have an absent mind and be frayed from having been in a mental institution for twenty years. It's not entirely ridiculous that they'd go with someone older like Peil, especially considering how phenomenal she in particular looks for her age.

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:22 PM

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:22pm

Very excited, but disappointed that Biel won't be doing this.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:24pm

I'd rather de'Adre than Jessica

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:27pm

Piel does look great and has been wonderful in her recent television guest spot work - it just seems hard to imagine LuPone wouldn't be playing that showy role. Maybe Mary Beth Piel is her standby (?) grasping for straws...

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:33pm

I hope Danny's role is written well enough to finally get him the Supporting Tony he has deserved in the past.
I wonder if the billing will be ensemble-like, I would hate to have been in that negotiating meeting!

[jv92]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:33pm

Excited as hell. Can't wait. Yes!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:36pm

CANNOT WAIT.

ETA: Playbill has LuPone as playing Lucia.

"The Oscar-nominated film centers on Pepa (Scott), a voice-over actress on a mission to deliver an important secret to her philandering boyfriend, Iván (Mitchell). A two-day chase ensues, involving Iván's mentally insane ex-wife Lucía (LuPone), who has been recently released from a mental institution and is hunting down the father of her child and his mistress for one last confrontation."

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:36 PM

[MelFromLI]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:38pm

OMG Fantastic!!!!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:39pm

Someone on ATC posted this in regards to Piel. Could this be the answer to our little mystery?

I assume that Mary Beth Peil will be playing the Jehova's witness door lady. I know it's not a big role in the movie, but I could see her being a Marge MacDougal/Jan Donovan type cameo role.

Her playing a smallish role would make sense, given her commitment to The Good Wife.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:41pm

Maybe she's also playing the role of the receptionist - another hilarious cameo.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:44pm

As I said earlier, LuPone seems much more appropriately cast as Lucia to begin with, but it just seems odd that Peil (with her pedigree in particular) would get principal billing and then take a role that's so small it wasn't even listed in the breakdowns. Unless they grouped a couple of those small funny cameos into one role to be played by the same actress? That could be fun.

Hopefully Lincoln Center puts the character names with the bios when they go up on their website, which should clear up the confusion.

Regardless, it's great to see so much first-rate talent involved in what should be a terrific production.

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:44 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:46pm

That doesn't seem totally out of line with her other recent Broadway roles: Old Lady/Blair in Sunday in the Park and Guido's Mother in Nine. She looks great for her age, true, but she still reads as too old to be in her fifties.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:47pm

Playbill has added more role specifics to their initial article. Peil does indeed seem to have taken a showy cameo, with Aziza stepping into Jessica Biel's previous role of Paulina:

"The Oscar-nominated film centers on Pepa (Scott), a voice-over actress on a mission to deliver an important secret to her philandering boyfriend, Iván (Mitchell). A two-day chase ensues, involving Iván's mentally insane wife Lucía (LuPone), who has been recently released from a mental institution and is hunting down the father of her child and his mistress for one last confrontation. The plot involves an unstable best friend, Shiite terrorists, a mambo-loving taxi driver (Burstein), a hostage motorcycle driver, gazpacho laced with sleeping pills and a charred bed.

Aziza is cast as Paulina, Lucia's lawyer, Lanzarone will be Marisa, the girlfriend of Lucia and Ivan’s son Carlos and Peil will portray the Concierge. The key roles of Candela, Carlos and Marisa have not been announced..."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/141520

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:47 PM

[onedaymore]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:59pm

YAYYYYYY!!!! Stokes is back!!!

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 03:59 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:59pm

The concierge is indeed the Johovah's Witness.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 3:59pm

A friend and I have planned a weekend in November that includes seeing part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Saturday matinee of Bells Are Ringing at City Center and the Saturday evening performance of Women on the Verge.

I'm pretty sure it'll be the best weekend since the one when I saw Juno and Gypsy the same day.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 4:02pm

I thought Biel was up for Candella?

This is all so confusing!

This had to be Biel.
FEMALE (20s; any ethnicity) - CANDELA. Very pretty, razor-skinny, naive working model and hopeless romantic who falls in love at the drop of a hat. Much smarter than she appears, with a small-town innocence underneath her cosmopolitan sexiness. Truly in love with Ivan. Her diet consists of lettuce and diuretics.
Updated On: 7/26/10 at 04:02 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 4:05pm

Yes and that Playbill article is saying that Candela has yet to be cast. Perhaps they are still trying to woo Biel. Seems like Aziza would have been good for that role - I never thought Paulina would be quite such a knockout...

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 4:07pm

I agree, MB. Aziza does seem to be a natural for Candela. One of the initial articles about Biel from when she was first cast in the reading said she was playing "the lawyer," so I always assumed she'd been Paulina.

The casting on this show has sure been a doozy. They've gone in some really interesting directions. I'm also dissapointed Mia Maestro appears to no longer be involved. I gather she was Marisa when she was attached?

Updated On: 7/26/10 at 04:07 PM

[bertandrew2]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 4:09pm

Excellent! I have just saved over $100 because now I don't have to see this. Another night of Patti eating the scenery? No thanks.