Jordan - as of this last week, she was still on the cast board, and I saw her in the show last on September 18. She plays the same track that she's always played in the role - that of an older woman in the town (in the ensemble). She still understudies the role of "Grandma."
I haven't seen her as Grandma. I only saw BILLY ELLIOT's first preview a few years ago. I won tickets at the flea market for next week and just wanted to make sure she was still in the show because I am a fan of hers.
It's not a featured ensemble role by any means. I'm sure she's happy for the paycheck, and I'm sure she plays the hell out of Grandma when she goes on.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
Love her. Met her at the stage door after a performance of Kiss of the Spider Woman in L.A. and she was just the sweetest.
Have loved her work since first listening to her on the original Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd and seeing her on the televised Into the Woods as Little Red's granny/Cinderella's mother.
She has this rich quality to her voice that stands out and it inflects beautifully. I had no idea she was still performing and it's wonderful to know she is.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Playbill has not been updated for some time. Patti Perkins is actually the full time Grandma on tour. When she was in rehearsals they billed her as the standby on Broadway last summer. Merle is the first cover, and I saw her once and she was great. She performed Grandma's Song amazingly, she was so funny.