I saw the show shortly after it opened, and I was very disappointed that Murphy (whom I had loved in the Privates on Parade revival a few years before) was out. Her understudy was Karen Trott, and according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Murphy regularly missed performances to give her voice a rest.
Michael Kilian wrote: "It has made a cult superstar of the leading lady, Donna Murphy, who plays the 'lowdown cheap saloon singer' Rose of Rangoon. It's making another star of Murphy's equally talented and frequently called upon (especially on weekends) understudy, Karen Trott, a sometime Shakespearean actress who manages to tear men's hearts out with torch songs, and plays four musical instruments to boot."
I'm afraid that contrary to Kilian's report, without Murphy the show did not make much of an impression on me, and I have never listened to the cast recording. (I do, however, remember the delightfully gaudy immersive nightclub setting.) |
