I saw her rather early in the first national tour, at the Kennedy Center in DC. She was not the effortlessly comic Desiree of Johns, and I missed the humor, particularly in the first act scenes. Johns was unique in finding the theatricality in the character -- you could believe that she toured and took on these Rushmore-sized stage roles -- but Simmons had quiet authority in the second act, a vulnerability that she had concealed until then, an interesting take on the character's arc. You could feel the stakes for this woman. I saw her opposite Margaret Hamilton -- an odd duo, to be sure, the oddest until Peters and Stritch perhaps -- and loved the show every bit as much as I had on B'way.
I saw the show in London in its final month, with the truly dreary Desiree of Virginia McKenna. She wasn't especially comic or glamorous in any way, beyond being an attractive actor who looked good in the famous Klotz costumes. The show needs a personality in the center, and without it, Desiree can disappear. She was barely there via McKenna. |
