Satine mid-show switch @ Moulin Rouge 1/1?

[Nope15]

I was at Moulin Rouge last night and after an extended intermission, an announcement was made that the role of Satine would be played for the rest of the performance by Ashley Loren. While it was a little jarring as Ashley's Satine seemed VERY different from Karen's (namely, Ashley did not use a British accent), she easily settled in for the rest of the performance and has a killer voice; I found myself wishing I had seen her act one Satine to fully grasp her characterization versus Karen's (Karen's Satine definitely seemed a little rougher around the edges while Ashley seemed sweeter).

Does anyone know what happened to Karen? She seemed to be in great voice all throughout act one and I certainly didn't notice anything amiss. I'm super curious!

[dramamama611]

Extened intermission imolues the time needed to get the understudy ready...so perhaps an injury or an emergency.

[ACL2006]

Olivo was/is out for both shows today. I know Loren went on during the matinee, not sure if she's on tonight or if Amber Ardolino is going on.

[ModernMillie3]

I hope she's okay but man, her attendance has really sucked

[iluvtheatertrash]

Her attendance was atrocious in West Side Story too. I won’t forget the night I skipped WSS (despite winning the lotto) as I had seen she was out on the board just before I paid. I went to Fela and nabbed a last minute rush seat instead. Guess who was there too... Olivo.

[ModernMillie3]

You're kidding. Jesus. 

[UncleCharlie]

suicidalmickeymouse said: "Don’t plenty of people take off other kinds of work for “not feeling it” though? I think that would qualify as personal leave. Obviously, would have been best to just call off the whole show though. "

Maybe for "not feeling well" but not for "not feeling it" and every place I've worked requires some advance notice for personal leave.

[WldKingdomHM]

iluvtheatertrash said: "Her attendance was atrocious in West Side Story too. I won’t forget the night I skipped WSS (despite winning the lotto) as I had seen she was out on the board just before I paid. I went to Fela and nabbed a last minute rush seat instead. Guess who was there too... Olivo."

How did this happen? The lobby wasn’t even opened when the lotto was going on 

[Zion24]

Olivo's attendance has been atrocious in almost every show she has been in (not sure about Hamilton in Chi), and for that reason I was genuinely surprised when she was cast as such a high profile lead. She is a brilliant actress (she was a really great understudy in RENT back in the day) but unprofessional. I normally would call BS on the notion that anyone just left the show because they "werent feeling it" but in this instance, I can see it.

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

suicidalmickeymouse said: "Don’t plenty of people take off other kinds of work for “not feeling it” though? I think that would qualify as personal leave. Obviously, would have been best to just call off the whole show though."

Not in a union setting. I

[JSquared2]

WldKingdomHM said: "iluvtheatertrash said: "Her attendance was atrocious in West Side Story too. I won’t forget the night I skipped WSS (despite winning the lotto) as I had seen she was out on the board just before I paid. I went to Fela and nabbed a last minute rush seat instead. Guess who was there too... Olivo."

How did this happen? The lobbywasn’t even openedwhen the lotto was going on"

It didn’t happen. The understudy board at the Palace was inside the inner doors and not visible from the box office area. I don’t want to call the OP a liar, but...

 

[Auggie27]

If you follow the understudy thread on Twitter, you can track how often she's missed since this show opened. By any standards, it's not a good track record.  It's also baffling.

[Hairspray0901]

I was thinking of grabbing a ticket for tonight. Worth seeing without her AND Danny Burstein?

[haterobics]

iluvtheatertrash said: "Her attendance was atrocious in West Side Story too. I won’t forget the night I skipped WSS (despite winning the lotto) as I had seen she was out on the board just before I paid. I went to Fela and nabbed a last minute rush seat instead. Guess who was there too... Olivo."

Well, if she is on vocal rest, seeing another show doesn't impact that?!

[Wee Thomas2]

Not worth seeing it without them.

 

 

 

Nor with them

[SouthernCakes]

Her pay must be pretty cute if she can miss 3 shows a week and still survive.

[Philly Theater Girl]

Hairspray0901 said: "I was thinking of grabbing a ticket for tonight. Worth seeing without her AND Danny Burstein?"

i would still go.Both actors  are good but, from what I hear, their replacements are good as well. 

[EvaLyn]

To be fair to Karen, who I saw in Moulin Rouge both times I saw it and in West Side Story both times I saw it, Satine is a really vocally and physically demanding role.

I actually would love to see any of her understudies though, so if there is any preplanned missed shows for her, is there a place to check? And is SRO the only option for cheap tickets aside from the lotto at the moment (is last minute cheap Stubhub a possibility?)

[iluvtheatertrash]

I’m not lying. It was years ago. Perhaps I asked at the B.O. I don’t recall. All I remember is, I was informed while in line to pay that she wasn’t on, so I passed. It was shortly after she won the Tony.

But whatever.

Her attendance - like her arrogance - has always been atrocious.

[ljay889]

I was one of the lucky ones during WSS. Every time I went to the show expecting to see her, she was in, and this was probably around 7-8 times.

[inception]

Didn't she just do a nine show week? I saw her twice in a row, X-mas night & the next matinee & for both performances she was phenomenal. The show is phenomenal. I saw Tina, Hamilton, TKAM, Hadestown, Lion King all the same week and it while all were fantastic, MR was still the best.

Also, worth noting that certain people who always crap on Olivo, seem to be first in line to disparage any performer of color.

I'm as white as they come, but I just finally clued into what these people on here are up to the other night when I was filing the cd's I bought on this trip in my collection. I pulled out the In The Heights cast album, to listen to, with the film on the way and all.  I totally forgot Olivo was in that. I was all like, " Oh she's Latin?" Suddenly it hit me like a tonne of bricks what's going on with certain posters here. Besides Olivo, what is the real issue they have with the new WSS? The advertising prominently features Zuri Noelle Ford - a woman of color. The cast prominently features many other people of color. So these BWW disguise their racist motives for months by making all kinds of other accusations against the production.

[WayTooBroadway]

OKAY, POPCORN TIME!

[Philly Theater Girl]

inception said: "Didn't she just do a nine show week? I saw her twice in a row, X-mas night & the next matinee & for both performances she was phenomenal. The show is phenomenal. I saw Tina, Hamilton, TKAM, Hadestown, Lion King all the same week and it while all were fantastic, MR was still the best.

Also, worth noting that certain people who always crap on Olivo, seem to be first in line to disparage any performer of color.

I'm as white as they come, but I just finally clued into what these people on here are up to the other night when I was filing the cd's I bought on this trip in my collection. I pulled out the In The Heights cast album, to listen to, with the film on the way and all. I totally forgot Olivo was in that. I was all like, " Oh she's Latin?" Suddenly it hit me like a tonne of bricks what's going on with certain posters here. Besides Olivo, what is the real issue they have with the new WSS? The advertising prominently features Zuri Noelle Ford - a woman of color. The cast prominently features many other people of color. So these BWW disguise their racist motives for months by making all kinds of other accusations against the production."

I'm pretty sure she didn't do a nine show week for the holiday schedule. If i remember correctly, her understudy covered the Monday night performance (at least).

This has nothing to do with her being a performer of color. If the star of the show, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, is out frequently people are going to comment on it. Especially when some people are going to see a show because they want to see a particular performer. MR tickets are expensive and I would be disappointed to attend a show and then be told one of the leads wasn't performing. Say what you will about how people are going to see the show and not a performer, it's not true in all circumstances and producers know it. When i purchased my MR tickets, I received a survey and the gist of one of the questions was whether I bought my tickets because of a particular performer. If I remember correctly, Karen, Aaron, and Danny were listed.

[JSquared2]

iluvtheatertrash said: "I’m not lying. It was years ago. Perhaps I asked at the B.O. I don’t recall. All I remember is, I was informed while in line to pay that she wasn’t on, so I passed. It was shortly after she won the Tony.

But whatever.

Her attendance - like her arrogance - has always been atrocious."

Well it's nice to see that you don't have an ax to grind with her personally!  Did she kick your dog while laughing maniacally, as well?

[LuPita2]

She did 7 shows the week of Christmas. It's interesting, women like Idina Menzel and Laura Benanti have received criticism about their attendance (If/Then & My Fair Lady) on Twitter/Instagram, but I have never seen anyone say a thing to Karen. Weird.