| I'd imagine Hearn was actually near top of the list... | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 11:00 am EDT 03/15/21 | |
| In reply to: Laurence Guittard ??? n/m - FleetStreetBarber 10:40 am EDT 03/15/21 | |
|
|
|
| He'd been around for almost 2 decades and was in his late 40's when he replaced Cariou... but aside from long stints in the road companies of Camelot and 1776, he'd had half a dozen Broadway credits by then, with his most recent being originating 2 leading roles in 2 short-lived shows in the 9 previous months – playing Papa opposite Liv Ullman's Mama in the Richard Rodgers "I Remember Mama" musical, and then, less than 2 months before joining "Sweeney", playing the family patriarch in a brief revival of "Watch on the Rhine", for which as far as I can tell he received the best reviews in the cast. Cariou and Lansbury did the show for more than a year before they left in March 1980, so producers probably realized it only had a little longer in it after they left (and in fact it did close just 3 months later, in June of that year). Also bear in mind that Cariou had had well-known, if not well-publicized, vocal issues during that year-long run. With recent Tony-winner Dorothy Loudon on board to replace Lansbury in her scene-stealing Tony-winning role, and with Cariou never having been a huge box-office draw in the first place, producers probably figured they had some nominal star power with Loudon, and wanted to make sure they replaced Cariou with someone who wouldn't have any trouble singing the role and sustaining it. (with an eye, presumably, to someone who would also be willing to tour with the show when it went out on the road). All the names below are good ones and I bet many did come up in conversations... but I'm sure Hearn seemed like not only a safe choice, but someone they could in fact feel highly confident about. How right they were. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | Laurence Guittard ??? n/m - FleetStreetBarber 10:40 am EDT 03/15/21 |
| Next: | re: I'd imagine Hearn was actually near top of the list... - FleetStreetBarber 03:12 pm EDT 03/15/21 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.017221 seconds.