Why did Erin Dilly leave Millie?- Page 2

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 7:50pm

I think Wicked might have had a 'tad' more to loose (say 13 someodd million dollars) than Millie.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 9:24pm

I have read several articles and heard several stories about this, and I believe Erin Dilly did not LEAVE the show. She was replaced. Early on in the rehearsel process for the Lajolla run, they decided that Erin was not right for the role, so they asked her to step down. Since it was such short notice, Sutton (who was the understudy in the Ensemble) was forced to step up and take over the role, and, as they say, the rest is history. They were so impressed with her that between the tryout and coming to New York, they re-worked alot of the music (a producer was quoted as saying as much as 70%) to be tailored to Sutton's portrayal. As other people said, this whole thing was kind of unheard of, a relative unknown stepping in for a bigger name and taking the show to New York. The creative team for TMM took alot of heat in keeping Sutton, but when people actually saw her on Broadway, they quickly canged their tunes.

In regards to Kristin Chenoweth, star2be was right. She was intially brought in at the very beginning to audition for Miss Dorothy. They were so impressed with her that they then asked her to audition for Millie, and she got the part, but did leave after some readings. Not, however, to do the tv show "Kristin." She left because she was on a short list of about five people to play Roxie in "Chicago," and so she didn't want to continue on with "Millie" because of the possibility of that. Rob Marshall (the director of "Chicago") ended up thinking Kristin wasn't right for Roxie, but it was between her and Christine Baranski for Mary Sunshine. As we know, Christine ended up getting the part.

Updated On: 11/12/05 at 09:24 PM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 9:44pm

That's interesting.... because when I heard that Kristin was offered the part of Millie, I was really surprised because I could so much more easily see her as Miss Dorothy (classical soprano part, blonde, etc.). It's good to know that I wasn't insane for thinking that.

I'm sure she probably would have been an okay Millie, but the part would've ended up way differently. I'm glad that Sutton ended up with the part.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 10:28pm

Honestly, I don't care what the circumstances were. Erin would have been a terrible Millie, as would Kristin Chenoweth. They made the right decision, and Sutton was able to shine.

[TrulyWicked]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:40am

"Anyway, the original Millie was Kristin Chenoweth, but she left because she had a choice between Millie and her mediocre self-titled television show. So she chose the latter, which was not a good choice in my opinion."

Somewhat of a good point- BUT, if she wouldn't have left Millie and her show wouldn't have flopped, then we wouldn't have had her as Glinda in Wicked- which means she wouldn't be getting all these film projects right now, so she obviously made the better choice in the long run.

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:58am

Was Amanda Naughton attached to it at some point, or am I confused?

[apdarcey]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:00am

not to quibble, but stephen schwartz wrote wicked for kristin chenoweth, so i doubt there's any way we would have seen a production without her playing glinda.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:08am

Are you sure? I'd heard that they beefed up the part of Glinda A LOT from the original plan once Kristin came onboard, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there wouldn't have been a Wicked without her. They could have still done it, it would just look nothing like it does now.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:32am

Sorry, but I just can't imagine Kristin in that dark short Millie wig....

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 8:40am

I agree. Sutton was perfect! :)

Updated On: 11/14/05 at 08:40 AM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 10:05am

Kristin was not the original Millie. She simply read for the part in some workshops.

When it came down to the actual show, she was offered the role of Miss Dorothy, which she turned down.

She did NOT turn down Millie because she wasn't offered Millie.

[AnythingButQuiet2]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 10:33am

1. there were a million people who did readings for millie, including kristin, but kristin was never cast for La Jolla.
2. erin dilly was cast in La Jolla, and did the part until tech week before previews. right before tech, erin got a cold and sutton stepped in and did the show for 2 or 3 days for tech while erin recovered.
3. no one knows exactly what happened next, sutton just quotes michael mayer saing "erin dilly has decided to leave the show and the part is yours if you want it". i think most people assume that the creative team liked what they saw in sutton a lot (more than erin), and took a chance on her. yay for them.
4. and yeah, the show was completely redone while at la jolla, in the year between la jolla and broadway, and during broadway previews, so it makes sense that we can't picture kristin, erin, or anyone in the part. sutton says that they lowered erin's keys so she could belt more, and they tailored the part to her. gimme gimme was written for sutton in la jolla. so i guess it's unfair to try to picture any people involved in the show pre-sutton to sutton, because the part was pretty much written for her. :)
5. yay creative team for trusting a $10 million show on the shoulders of an unknown. WOOT.
6. about the kristin in wicked thing, he wrote the part of g(a)linda with her in mind, and then she came on board and did a million readings. and during the readings, people became more interested in the glinda/elphaba relationship than the elphaba/fiyero relationship, so that is why they beefed out glinda's part.
whew

[BwayBoy25]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 4:11pm

erin was replaced...she wasnt cutting the dancing bit and when an understudy was in the back working it was easier than her...they chose the understudy...nuff said