Riedel on Diana Rigg being annoyed Ambrose misses Sundays- Page 8

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 3:43pm

GeorgeAndDot, I don’t care if someone thinks Lauren Ambrose isn’t great in the role. That’s your personal opinion. But you and I both know that’s not what I was talking about, because never once did I say that people who gave Ms. Ambrose a chance but ultimately didn’t like her in the role are in the wrong. What I’m referring to is the fact that people on this board and in the theatre community have been out for Ambrose’s blood ever since she was cast over those more “deserving” like Laura Benanti. (Sorry, but just because Benanti WANTED the part doesn’t mean she was entitled to it.) There are people who’ve been looking for every excuse to pounce on her just for daring to be cast in a musical, even people who never saw her in the show and are just being nasty about their own faves not being cast.

When Ambrose was cast, people were making nasty comments and swearing off seeing the show because so-and-so didn’t get the part. On the Tonys live reactions thread, there were people trying to make up bizarre drama by insisting Ambrose was mouthing rude things about the Once On This Island performance. Here, it looks like someone was implying Ambrose only got the role for less than savory reasons on Bartlett Sher’s part. And of course, people are blowing gaskets over the fact that Ambrose decided to adjust her contract so she gets one day a week off, which, as has been mentioned on this thread already, has happened with other performers in other shows with little to no fuss. The point is that people are being mean and nasty about Ambrose for petty reasons, and have been doing so since before anyone even saw her in the part or gave her a chance. This whole situation is just another excuse for people to cling to to justify their toxicity.

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 3:49pm

What’s the longest that Rigg has ever played a role?  On Broadway, it appears that she never did more than 10 weeks previous to MFL.  

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 3:55pm

I hear what you're saying, but I still can't wrap my head around why she was cast, especially after seeing her in the show. I think the outpouring of disappointment after her casting was largely just due to the fact that she just doesn't seem right for the part on paper. I assumed she must've done something incredible in the audition room, but I was extremely disappointed in her performance. She seems to be a victim of miscasting. I remember being even more shocked by her casting in Funny Girl. I think people are so upset about everything that happens with her because many people, myself included, cannot see why this opportunity wasn't given to a Broadway actress or an unknown that could've given a better performance 8 times a week. It just seems to me that she really wasn't prepared to step into this role.

[A Director]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 4:41pm

poisonivy2 said: "There are a number of shows right now with principals who have/had excellent attendance.

Angels in America cast - 8 hour play, Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, etc. all have excellent attendance. In fact did they ever miss a day?

Carousel - I believe Josh Henry has only missed one show. He even sang the night his wife gave birth. And Billy Bigelow is a hard sing.

The Band's Visit - Katrina Lenk AFAIK has had excellent attendance. Idk if she's missed shows but haven't heard of her being out much if at all.

And you have many cases of stars who kept on with it despite personal injury. Jim Parsons broke his foot and didn't stop acting in Boys in the Band, Andy Karl tore his ACL and was back for opening night a few nights later, etc. etc."

I've heard of an actor who went on even though he was dead!

[A Director]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 4:42pm

GeorgeandDot said: "I hear what you're saying, but I still can't wrap my head around why she was cast, especially after seeing her in the show. I think the outpouring of disappointment after her casting was largely just due to the fact that she just doesn't seem right for the part on paper. I assumed she must've done something incredible in the audition room, but I was extremely disappointed in her performance. She seems to be a victim of miscasting. I remember being even more shocked by her casting in Funny Girl. I think people are so upset about everything that happens with her because many people, myself included, cannot see why this opportunity wasn't given to a Broadway actress or an unknown that could've given a better performance 8 times a week. It just seems to me that she really wasn't prepared to step into this role."

GIVE IT A REST!

 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 4:42pm

Trust is a very important element in acting and I am sure that Ambrose now trusts Rigg as far a s she can throw her.

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 6:12pm

SmoothLover said: "Trust is a very important element in acting and I am sure that Ambrose now trusts Rigg as far a s she can throw her."

I’ imagine they are both getting a good laugh over all of this .

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 6:32pm

Wow, did this thread blow up.

Why is there so little focus on the fact that Ambrose is the mother to two little kids? Victoria Clarke, who won a Tony for The Light in the Piazza, stopped doing matinees towards the end of the run to spend more time with her young son. It’s understandable and admirable that Ambrose is trying to balance being a good employee and a good mother.

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 6:34pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Wow, did this thread blow up.

Why is there so little focus on the fact that Ambrose is the mother to two little kids? Victoria Clarke, who won a Tony for The Light in the Piazza, stopped doing matinees towards the end of the run to spend more time with her young son. It’s understandable and admirable that Ambrose is trying to balance being a good employee and a good mother."

 

Wasn't she a mother of two kids before she took on the show?  Aren't there a bunch of working mothers on broadway?  

 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 6:43pm

Kelli O’Hara is the mother of two kids. She also has an excellent attendance record.

[bk]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 7:35pm

trpguyy said: "bk said: "She was actually very nice about Ms. Ambrose's performance, calling it definitive. Her irritation was finding it out via the press. That is not Ms. Ambrose's fault."

It's nobody but Rigg's fault if she indeed found out from the press. The arrangement was announced to the company before the press release went out."

Well, I haven't read that anywhere, so tell everyone how you know this or provide a link.  Thank you.

[MBFan]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 8:07pm

Anyone know why Benanti wasn't cast in the role?

[Elegance101]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 8:30pm

MBFan said: "Anyone know why Benanti wasn't cast in the role?"

Because Barlett Sher didn't think her Eliza was the one he wanted in this production. He didn't like what she did in the audition room. Why doesn't anyone get any part? If you're asking for tea, there isn't much. She didn't get the role and she's talked about that openly.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 10:52pm

Um after all this brouhaha did anyone actually see Kerstin Anderson today?

[Elegance101]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:04pm

poisonivy2 said: "Um after all this brouhaha did anyone actually see Kerstin Anderson today?"

I can't imagine her performance would be too different from other times she went on.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:10pm

"Entitlement and arrogance is a virus in musicals because.. the unity [between dancers, chorus, and principals] isn't created from the start. Plays are much different. Each actor learns his responsibility in the play through the table reads, the importance of which musicals seem to ignore. Unbelievable care must be demonstrated from the beginning of a rehearsal period and a director needs to help each member own his part and his responsibility to it. It's the  only explanation I have for the laziness and the amount of missed performances some Broadway companies have to contend with. Thanks to Arthur Laurents, I had a uniquely different experience with the Gypsy company concerning this phenomenon... As a result, the performers owned their roles, loved this play, and wanted to be onstage every night. They never missed a show."

- Patti LuPone on Lincoln Center's Anything Goes and the 2008 Gypsy

Updated On: 7/8/18 at 11:10 PM

[Elegance101]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:31pm

...didn't Benanti miss like a lot of Gypsy shows? Not saying her absences weren't valid or she was unprofessional, but what does Patti mean when she says "they never missed a show?"

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:47pm

Elegance101 said: "...didn't Benanti miss like a lot of Gypsy shows? Not saying her absences weren't valid or she was unprofessional, but what does Patti mean when she says "they never missed a show?""

Laura Benanti was out when I saw it. Not complaining, because Jessica Rush was fantastic. 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:50pm

It's nobody but Rigg's fault if she indeed found out from the press. The arrangement was announced to the company before the press release went out."

Well, I haven't read that anywhere, so tell everyone how you know this or provide a link.  Thank you.

For what it's worth, the original Post article down deeper in the body has this quote from an unnamed "production source"

Diana is right that we were all surprised. [Ambrose] came in the other day and just told everybody she’s dropping the Sunday matinee. I think André or Bart [Sher, the director] might have said something to us.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 7/8/18 at 11:53pm

That comment meant that they were surprised when Ambrose told them she would be out of the Sunday matinees from now on. The team was surprised when she requested this, but after they granted her request, they did inform everyone, Rigg just didn't listen to that announcement and found out from the news.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 8:07am

bk said: "trpguyy said: "bk said: "She was actually very nice about Ms. Ambrose's performance, calling it definitive. Her irritation was finding it out via the press. That is not Ms. Ambrose's fault."

It's nobody but Rigg's fault if she indeed found out from the press. The arrangement was announced to the company before the press release went out."

Well, I haven't read that anywhere, so tell everyone how you know this or provide a link. Thank you."

I did, earlier in the thread. A friend of mine in the show (and others since then) passed on that notice was posted on the callboard before it went to press. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 9:42am

Elfuhbuh said: "GeorgeAndDot, I don’t care if someone thinks Lauren Ambrose isn’t great in the role. That’s your personal opinion. But you and I both know that’s not what I was talking about, because never once did I say that people who gave Ms. Ambrose a chance but ultimately didn’t like her in the role are in the wrong. What I’m referring to is the fact that people on this board and in the theatre community have been out for Ambrose’s blood ever since she was cast over those more “deserving” like Laura Benanti. (Sorry, but just because Benanti WANTED the part doesn’t mean she was entitled to it.) There are people who’ve been looking for every excuse to pounce on her just for daring to be cast in a musical, even people who never saw her in the show and are just being nasty about their own faves not being cast.

When Ambrose was cast, people were making nasty comments and swearing off seeing the show because so-and-so didn’t get the part. On the Tonys live reactions thread, there were people trying to make up bizarre drama by insisting Ambrose was mouthing rude things about the Once On This Island performance. Here, it looks like someone was implying Ambrose only got the role for less than savory reasons on Bartlett Sher’s part. And of course, people are blowing gaskets over the fact that Ambrose decided to adjust her contract so she gets one day a week off, which, as has been mentioned on this thread already, has happened with other performers in other shows with little to no fuss. The point is that people are being mean and nasty about Ambrose for petty reasons, and have been doing so since before anyone even saw her in the part or gave her a chance. This whole situation is just another excuse for people to cling to to justify their toxicity."

Thank you for saying this. It's clear that this is exactly what is going on. People are ignoring all the many examples of Broadway staples (some considered legends) who also missed many performances to the point that it was widely reported or that Riedel published something regarding it (sound familiar?), had noted vocal issues, etc. People are bringing irrelevant things about Ambrose because they've been out for blood since her announcement and were all too happy to hear the negative reports on her performance while ignoring the positive ones, including the vast majority of the professional reviews including the NY Times. Nobody says you have to like her performance, be confused about it, or question it. But the fact that some keep bringing it up and some of them posted some petty as hell stuff passing it off as snark and one-liners just makes what Elfuhbuh said to be on the mark.

Let this be a lesson to all casting directors and directors, only cast from a small pool of BWW approved actresses and if you don't then make sure they pass the BWW posters' threshold of being famous enough despite the fact people complain about famous people taking roles that the approved theatre performers (NYC) feel entitled.

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 10:30am

MBFan said: "Anyone know why Benanti wasn't cast in the role?"

Bart Sher does.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 10:46am

Benanti being out due to injury is very different, not sure why that’s being brought up.

This blew up because LCT and the producers didn’t handle it well. I thought Ambrose was simply radiant in the role, and I hope this extra day off allows her to extend her run in the show.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 10:59am

IdinaBellFoster said: "Benanti being out due to injury is very different, not sure why that’s being brought up.."

Benanti is a such a different case because she has had a "reputation" for missing a lot in every major musical role (expect Women on the Verge, I believe) and each time she's had actual medical reasons-- throat infections, injured spinal column (forgive me for not knowing the actual issue), pneumonia, and lastly, pregnancy/morning sickness. None of them are within her control and I don't think she was out drinking every night before either, but nonetheless, she still has the reputation.