This casting seems so crazy to me that, when I first read it, I thought it must be a joke, but then I realized it's not April 1.
I agree with you that the role of Daddy Warbucks does indeed require charm, BUT the actor playing the role does need to be able to come across as a very rigid, almost cold, hard-edged businessman during the first part of the show (or movie). He also needs to speak in the rigid, formal manner of an extremely rich member of the establishment, not in the "cool," Southern-tinged way that Connick speaks. And similar, Daddy Warbucks' songs are meant to be sung in the legit or semi-legit style in which such previous DWs as Reid Shelton, Harve Presnell, and Conrad John Schuck sang them, not in the croony manner of HC Jr.
Connick strikes me as someone who is very talented within his limitation but, sadly, doesn't seem to know his limitations. For example, while I thought he was fine if not quite perfect in THE PAJAMA GAME, his casting in ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER turned out to be something of a disaster, again because he was all wrong for that role (though perhaps not so far off the mark as he seems to be for Daddy Warbucks). |
