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| I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role | |
| Posted by: dramedy 01:18 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: "M. Butterfly" Yesterday - student_rush 09:26 am EST 12/14/17 | |
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| I Think the diplomat could be any age and might even be more pathetic as older lonely man seeking attention from young Asian girl. | |
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| re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:00 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role - dramedy 01:18 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| At 72, Lithgow is only three years older than Tony Randall was when he was the final actor to play Gallimard in the original production. And a couple of people I spoke to back then felt that Randall was the best of the four, although I always wondered what it was like for audiences to hear Randall, famous as an opera buff, talk (as Gallmard) about how he didn't like opera. My memory is that while Lithgow was playing it, there was a quote from him in Playbill about how extraordinarily exhausting he found the role. If my memory is correct on that, it's pretty unlikely that he'd have considered coming back to it almost 30 years later. I did think it was interesting, back when Randall was doing it, that a man so much older than Lithgow was playing the role that Lithgow had found so exhausting. |
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| re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role | |
| Posted by: Thom915 10:18 am EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role - AlanScott 08:00 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| Tony Randall was indeed excellent in the role and it was a role he dearly wanted to do so much so that though he was well known for being rabidly anti tobacco he lit and puffed on a cigar at a moment in the show because the script called for it. That moment and only that moment took me out of the show for a split second not his talk of opera. | |
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| re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role | |
| Posted by: MarjorieMae 10:14 am EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role - AlanScott 08:00 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| Randall was in exceptional physical condition for not only his age but for any age. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't find the role as exhausting as Lithgow. | |
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| I saw Lithgow recreate the final M Butterfly scene recenty | |
| Last Edit: Leon_W 03:45 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| Posted by: Leon_W 03:41 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role - dramedy 01:18 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| At a NYC Talk about his life Lithgow recreated some scenes form plays he had been in including in the chilling end of M Butterfly. At the end he said "and now it's over to you Clive Owen". John also talked about the audition process and how he heard that some other actor that I can't remember now had the part and he was indignant because he said they were completely wrong for it but that he eventually won it back. |
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| Lithgow | |
| Posted by: TimDunleavy 05:04 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: I saw Lithgow recreate the final M Butterfly scene recenty - Leon_W 03:41 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| Lithgow talked about the process on Seth Rudetsky's Chatterbox about 15 years ago. As I recall, he said he was sent the script, but didn't read it right away because he was shooting a movie (he didn't say which one) and didn't want to be distracted from the character he was playing. On the last night of shooting, a Thursday, he had to stay up all night shooting on location, so he brought the M. Butterfly script with him to read during his down time - and couldn't believe how good it was. He went home, slept most of the day, then late on Friday afternoon called the New York agency that was handling it, but he was in California, and because of the time difference they had already closed for the weekend. When he finally tracked someone down over the weekend, they told him that because he hadn't responded promptly, they assumed he wasn't interested and had given the part to Ed Harris. "No! He's completely wrong for it" Lithgow said. But eventually it worked out for him. |
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| Fantastically well remmebred... | |
| Posted by: Leon_W 11:57 am EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: Lithgow - TimDunleavy 05:04 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| Now I read it the story comes back to mind properly and this was pretty much exactly what Lithgow said when I saw him discuss it. | |
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| re: Lithgow and Harris | |
| Posted by: mikem 06:02 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: Lithgow - TimDunleavy 05:04 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| I'm curious why Lithgow thought Ed Harris was completely wrong for the part. I think he'd be fine. | |
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| re: Lithgow and Harris | |
| Posted by: larry13 11:20 am EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Lithgow and Harris - mikem 06:02 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| Not to underestimate the talent of Ed Harris' acting but Harris certainly comes across as super masculine, an image that makes for quite a stretch to play Gallimard. He might have been brilliant; it might have been revelatory for the play. So I can easily understand Lithgow's reaction, even separate from the obvious despair he felt at losing the role. As I've posted here before, I saw Lithgow play this part three times and thought him sublime. I know others disagree. |
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| re: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 02:45 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
| In reply to: I kind of wished Lithgow reprised his role - dramedy 01:18 pm EST 12/14/17 | |
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| For a while, it looked like Lithgow (in his one-man show) and the M. BUTTERFLY revisal were going to overlap on Broadway for several weeks, but I guess not.... | |
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