I saw all the women who played the role in the original Broadway production except Lauren Mitchell, who alternated with Kay McClelland for a couple of weeks when Gleason left, until Mary Gordon Murray took over. Murray then left for the tour. She was replaced by Cynthia Sikes, and Sikes was replaced by McClelland, who really was the best of the others. In fact, although she was not as funny as Gleason (no one ever will be), I thought she was just as good.
I saw the tour as it was winding down. The cast at that point was wildly uneven, with some wonderful performances, with several vets of the Broadway production in the cast at that point, and some painfully poor ones. Judy McLane had by this time replaced Mary Gordon Murray as the Baker's Wife, and I thought she was very nearly as good Gleason and McClelland. She had a slightly weak start but by the end of the show, I really thought she was as good as Gleason and McClelland.
It may have helped that her Baker was Adam Grupper, who had replaced Philip Hoffman as the Steward and understudy for the Baker on Broadway (and had played the Baker when Zien was on vacation). He's still my favorite Baker. And Betsy Joslyn, my favorite Witch, was on the tour. But some of the performances were just awful. |
