Who else could have played Francesca?
Who else could have played Francesca?
#1Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 1:18am
Sorry to start another BRIDGES thread. I was listening to a clip of Elena Shaddow, and she sounds like a little girl singing the role. While Kelli is technically a bit young for the role, she always acted and sounded like a mature woman.
If Francesa was cast more age appropriately, who could you see in this great role? I think the obvious choices are Marin Mazzie and Carolee Carmello.
I know the role was basically written for O'Hara, and her performance will really stick with me, but it would have been interesting to see other women in the role, if it had been a hit.
Updated On: 5/18/14 at 01:18 AM
brettarnett
Featured Actor Joined: 5/2/09
#2Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 1:24amIf the show was produced years would have Lupone been able to do it? I think she has a more similar look to Streep in the movie. Actually what about Donna Murphy? I feel like Murphy would be an obvious choice, no?
#2Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 1:37amI like Murphy a lot, but I'm not sure that she has the vocal range for it.
brettarnett
Featured Actor Joined: 5/2/09
#3Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 1:39amVery true, I guess I was mainly looking at type not necessarily vocal range. My bad.
#4Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 1:42am
“Who else could have played Francesca?”
YA MOTHER.
#5Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 2:05am
Marin Mazzie is the most obvious choice to me. She has Kelli's legit soprano voice but more maturity and a killer belt that if used sparingly would have brought a fresh take on the score without truly breaking the Kelli mould (I could imagine her belting in sections of To Build a Home, Falling Into You, One Second and a Million Miles, and Always Better). This would have been the perfect role for her to originate or replace.
And who better to cast along-side her than her husband Jason Danieley. I realise he probably doesn't have Steven's voice but I think he would get by and the novelty of them together would make it worth it (it definitely added something to their performances in NEXT TO NORMAL, for me).
Plox Marin and Jason, tour with the show or take it to London.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 5/18/14 at 02:05 AM
#6Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 2:11amWhile Jason would be missing the "hunk" quality that Pasquale brought, they really would be a great team for the tour. Marin would absolutely nail it.
#7Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 2:12amI think Marin is the obvious choice but as soon as I read the thread title my mind went to Carolee.
#8Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 2:35am
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 6/8/14 at 02:35 AM
BroadwayFan12
Broadway Star Joined: 4/17/10
#9Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 7:42amFrancesca is actually supposed to be in her late 30s.
evadiva
Broadway Star Joined: 12/9/06
#10Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 9:48am
Laura Benanti would be perfection. How hot would she have been with Stephen when their romance was ablaze?!?
Updated On: 5/18/14 at 09:48 AM
evadiva
Broadway Star Joined: 12/9/06
#11Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 9:52amI think Benanti always read WAY older.
RW3
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#13Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 10:48amLjay, just out of curiosity, could you explain a bit what you found childlike about Shaddow's sound? She has a much brighter timbre than O'Hara, which results in a more technically proficient sound. Yet I imagine many would find that she lacks the warmth and voluptuousness of O'Hara's voice. Yet I don't think I ever found she sounded like a child; her voice actually reminds me a lot of Benanti.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#14Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:11am
Francesca is actually supposed to be in her late 30s.
Is that true? There was much talk about O'Hara and Pasquale being too young for these roles.
imagine many would find that she lacks the warmth and voluptuousness of O'Hara's voice.
That's exactly how I feel about her voice. To me, it sounds like a girl singing in a college recital.
Updated On: 5/18/14 at 11:11 AM
#15Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:30am
"Is that true? There was much talk about O'Hara and Pasquale being too young for these roles."
Similarly, back in the day, I think there was a discussion that Streep and Eastwood were too old for theirs. But anyone saying that is probably using the movie as their entry point to the material.
#16Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:32amIf Francesca came to America at 21 and lived with Bud for 18 years at the beginning of the show...that would make her 39.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#17Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:39amMakes sense. Although in the musical, we see Francesca age throughout the years. Kelli nails it by changing her physicality and mannerisms.
#18Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:45am
I think they're both appropriately cast age-wise. Foster too. Danny Jenkins played the part at Williamstown and he looked far too old.
Shaddow reads older, and when I saw her in the role she didn't seem too young.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#19Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 11:56am
Haterobics has it half right. Not sure it matters all that much, but judging by the book, O'Hara's the right age and Pasquale is not.
In the novel, Francesca is, one would guess - war bride 20 years after immigration - late 30s to early 40s. But Robert is 52.
At 38, O'Hara is more age appropriate than Streep was when she played the role (47). (It is far more likely than Francesca was 18 than 27 when she met Bud.)
Even Streep was far more age-appropriate for Francesca than either Eastwood or Pasquale were/are for Robert.
Updated On: 5/18/14 at 11:56 AM
#20Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 12:23pmI had thought, based on interviews, the creatives aged both characters down for the musical.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#21Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/18/14 at 12:40pmI'm excited to see where they take the musical. If it will tour or just go the regional circuit. I think it'd be smart to do a Caroline Or Change type tour and just take it to the bigger markets.
#22Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/19/14 at 6:22amRE: ages. In the cast recording liner notes it says "The lovers are also made younger, so the consequences of their choices are vast.". So someone thinks that they 'should' be older. Whether that is the movie, or the book (or wrong), I don't know.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
ditsylife09
Chorus Member Joined: 5/14/14
#23Who else could have played Francesca?
Posted: 5/19/14 at 12:32pmI would love to hear Melissa Errico take a stab at the role!
grandpianoalex
Stand-by Joined: 2/15/10