Rondi Reed to Return to Chicago Wicked

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:08pm

Did a search and didn't find anything, so here it is.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119019.html

[logan0215]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:12pm

I'm all for sticking to a steady job when it's available, but:

Girl just won a TONY!

As much as Morrible is one of the few layered and well fleshed out characters in Wicked... really Rondi Reed? Really?

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:18pm

You do know that she was playing Morrible before she went into August: Osage County right? And that they had to coax her out continuing to play the role in Chicago, and have her come to NYC for the August run there.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:22pm

Apparently she made a deal with David Stone (Wicked producer) that she would return to the Chicago production of Wicked after she was done with August: Osage County. Just listen to her acceptance speech on the Tonys.

[logan0215]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:22pm

Yes, I know that.

I think the fact that the thread title includes "to return" would denote that.

I'm saying that "August" is a considerably better role with more meat for which she just received a TONY.

I'm aware that much of the cast were actually happier to be in Chicago than to transfer to Broadway. Not detracting from the merrits of the Chicago theater community, but I think it would be generally considered that Broadway is the "major league" for theater actors. She is currently starring in a TONY-winning original play and was awarded a TONY herself. She would have the pick of the litter for her next project if she stayed in NYC.

Updated On: 6/26/08 at 04:22 PM

[Ryan4]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:25pm

Yeah, but she doesn't live here. She lives in Chicago. That's her home, and that's obviously where she wants to be. And she's always spoken fondly on her time in "Wicked" in interviews for "August", so...I guess she feels she's doing the right thing for her at this point in her life/career.

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:27pm

Rondi Reed has repeatedly said that appearing in Wicked has been the best job she's ever had.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:31pm

A deal is a deal.

The August cast already stayed weeks beyond their original contract date just to get the Tony voters to see the original company.

One of my favorite characters, an actress in Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, says after landing a commercial, "Its a JOB! They do not pay you a hundred dollars an hour to haul hamburgers at Hamlines!"

Stone was generous to let her out of her contract at all. Rondi is classy to honor her end.

[logan0215]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:31pm

Well then I guess its just shocking & nice to see someone who is so devoted to their theatrical home roots.

I would assume this is an uncommon state-of-mind for most actors.

I remember Patti Cohenour being overjoyed to return to her Seattle home and theater at the 5th St. Playhouse after "Piazza" closed, though, so not entirely uncommon.

Updated On: 6/26/08 at 04:31 PM

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:37pm

I've spoken to Rondi about playing Morrible. She said they will have to take her out of the theatre feet first for her to give up that job. However, the show is closing fairly soon....why lose that momentum for what is now a temporary job?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:42pm

Somebody needs to proof that article - "the overbearing mother with a secret"??

It's no wonder Reed loves WICKED - it's an easy role in a show that looks remarkably fun to appear in (of course, as an audience member, it's an impossible bore to watch, IMO.)

Posted: 6/26/08 at 4:58pm

Ms Reed does an amazing job as Morrible. She brings awesome power to the role. When she does her scene in Defying Gravity- calling Elphaba "this....WICKED....WITCH!" you can hear people shudder all over the theater. She's spectacular in the part.

[Tag]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:05pm

It's a paycheck. And a considerable one for such a small role.
Money Money Money...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:09pm

Not to mention that yeah, she won a Tony and yeah, the show one a Tony, but I'm not really sure that automatically means she'd have "the pick of the litter" on Broadway.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:14pm

I saw Rondi Reed as Morrible in 2005. She was sensational.

People think that actors just "do whatever they want" rather than consider the options they have. I have accepted jobs for their glamor and prestige and wound up HATING them. I have also had jobs that pay better than what I earn now, but I wasn't happy there. In the end, I have to ENJOY the time I spend working AND I have a family to support, so I can't just hold out till I'm offered "the job of a lifetime."

She's an actress by profession. It's her JOB. "Money, money, money"? Yeah, that's WHY we have jobs, isn't it?

I think she's fabulous. I was thrilled that she won the Tony; she deserved it. I'd go to see her in ANYTHING because she improves everything she's in...good, bad or mediocre as it might be.

Go, RONDI!

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:22pm

But her job in Wicked it ending.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:24pm

And I'm guessing she's pleased she gets to go home and close the show.

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:42pm

Her job in wicked it ending indeed. But not before she collects her staggering paycheck another 30 times or so. I heard another Wicked actress explain her tenure in the show paid for her new house.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 5:59pm

There's also this thing called a "legally binding contract" that one often signs when one accepts a job. Getting out of one of those can cost you A LOT of your salary...not to mention what it does to your credibility with producers and so forth.

The goal of actors is to keep working because you never know when you're next job is coming. It doesn't even matter how GOOD you are. If the offers don't happen, you don't work!

[lakezurich]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 6:18pm

I am so glad she is returning to close out the show. I think she is FANTASTIC in the role, and I was so very happy for her when she won the Tony. And I have met her a few times in person and she is just one of the nicest people I have EVER met.

[jessica0414]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 6:43pm

^ agreed! Rondi Reed as Morrible was SO fantastic! I'm happy to hear she'll be back :)

[fxy2003cmu]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 7:40pm

I heard Tracy Letts speak in Chicago at the Printers Row Book Fair about a week before the Tonys and he had some really interesting things to say about Chicago theatre and the actors who choose to live in Chicago. The fact is a lot of the actors that live there CHOOSE to live there because they like doing theatre there. It's a very unique scene and there is definitely no shortage of original and amazing productions. Yes, NYC has the largest collection of theaters and lots of productions but that doesn't mean it's the goal for every actor. Many Chicago actors like doing theatre in Chicago and choose to live there and make their lives there.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 7:55pm

As Rose says, "New York is the center of...NEW YORK!"

There ARE other places where people are happy!

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 6/26/08 at 8:06pm

I'm not really sure why the AUGUST cast jumped ship so early. The show has been open a little over half a year, and they just won a ****load of Tonys.

Posted: 6/26/08 at 9:32pm

Well they have been performing this (very long & demanding) show in NYC and CHicago for over a year.

The Steppenwholf actors are used to doing one show for a couple of months, tops, then moving on.