"She needs to rest from 5 bway shows in nearly 10 years? And she was through with Anything Goes over 2 years ago. So again, what does she need to REST from?"
She left Anything Goes for Bunheads, a gem of a show on ABC Family. Unfortunately, it didn't mesh well with the other programming so it was canceled a few months ago. She has been doing concerts and her Mother also died recently. So....yeah.
Jordan! I like that Beth Leavel idea. She still looks young for her age, but I she might be able to make it work and she's certainly got the comic chops. Love her.
Wow, a musical? Wonder what it is. Always exciting to see Foster do a Broadway musical.
"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"
One would think the musical in question is a transfer of VIOLET, no?
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
I've heard rumblings of a VIOLET production as well. I liked (but didn't love) the concert version, so I'd be anxious to see how they improve it for a more sustained, substantial run.
I heard the a Violet rumor and took it as that. I thought the Encores performance this summer was a good start. It seemed like that cast, having Tesori incredibly involved, and at a venue like City Center allowed this to be a production that could be mailable and formed into a piece that would draw people in.
I'm now far more interested in this rumor then it just being a passing piece of gossip. If this is true, Josh Henry needs to come back as Flick. The end.
I imagine scheduling is the primary sticking point complicating a continued life for VIOLET, since Leigh Silverman is tied up with KUNG FU at Signature Theatre Company through February (a production they're rumored to be working toward transferring quickly thereafter).
Back on topic- if anyone should replace Tovah in PIPPIN, I agree that there is no choice more ideal than Beth Leavel.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Then I laughed at how no one suggested Audra as Leading Player but then I realized how silly cause she couldn't win a Tony! Why would she take on a role without the Tony being handed to her just for taking on a role.
bwayphreak234 wrote: "Well, by all means, take their word for it because those fans obviously know everything."
Yeah, I know - I was trolling. Though there was this guy there who was all talking big like he knew sh*t, that even as a tourist made me roll my eyes.
kad wrote: "We'll find out soon enough. Roundabout has to get the tickets out to the nursing homes where their subscribers live asap. "
Now taking this more off-topic: WTF is up with the subscribers there? I went to Bad Jews and when I asked the usher if it was selling out due to reviews she said that it was filling but that night would be especially full as it was a subscriber night. So here I am in a back row centre, and anytime I loudly loudly laughed or snorted, this lady in front of me turned her f*cking head around like the child in Poltergeist or whatever and stared at me like I was doing something wrong. When I came mincing in, all 250 pounds of me, I got plently of looks from the more conservative Jew types and you could tell they were like Oy look at what we got here - but at the end when I was sobbing these very same ones were the first to come up to me and pat me on the shoulder and ask if I was gonna be OK... but this WASP bitch and her stares I cannot get over.
While it would a trip to see Carol, this doesn't seem like a fit. Besides which, I can't imagine her accepting it. It's probably unlikely that the producers would hire someone in her 80s to do that kind of routine, wouldn't it? But if we're talking TV legends, what about Florence Henderson. She herself is turning 80 next year, but she looks 15-20 years younger and seems to be very physically vital. Or the lovely Shirley Jones?
Rita Moreno would have fun with this role, too.
If we're dong some color blind casting, Debbie Allen could be interesting if, you know, she maybe hits the gym again. Man, in her youth she could have been a really interesting Leading Player, too. She would have danced the hell out of it. Or we could be really ridiculous and look at film and tv stars like Susan Sarandon, Julie Walters, Mercedes Ruehl, Blythe Danner, Jean Smart...
But I still think the suggestion for Beth Leavel is still the best answer.
I just finished a marathon Oz binge, so the idea of Rita Moreno sounds fabulous right now. The key to Berthe, it seems, is finding someone who would bring the surprise factor. We KNOW what the Berthe routine is, but it's still surprising to think of Tovah Feldshuh and Andrea Martin doing the act.
Beth Leavel would be a dream. Throw a wig on her and the audience will think she's old enough.