Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? | |
| Posted by: kieran 10:46 pm EDT 08/18/21 | |
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| On Stars In The House tonight, Cariou said Hal Prince, whom he first met at the “Applause” gypsy rehearsal, subsequently offered him the role of Bobby. When Seth Rudetsky asked how that would have been possible — “Company” opened less than a month after “Applause” — Cariou said he didn’t think Prince thought “Applause” would be a hit. | |
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| Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 12:59 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? - kieran 10:46 pm EDT 08/18/21 | |
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| I should know this by now. Why not let him go and get someone in there who wanted the part? | |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: ablankpage 07:46 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - bobby2 12:59 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| From Wikipedia: Dean Jones left the show on May 28, 1970. He was replaced by his understudy, Larry Kert, who had created the role of Tony in West Side Story. According to Prince, Jones' departure was planned. In 2001, he recalled the circumstances. Jones was wrestling with a troubled marriage—which Prince did not know at the time—and New York City, in Prince's words, “spooked him.” He went to Jones and said, “You can't stand being in New York City, facing a show that may keep you here for a year.” Jones replied, “Oh, you are so right.” Prince asked that if he promised to replace Jones very quickly, he would give him the opening night “that we deserve and that you are capable of giving.” Prince warned Kert, and a few weeks later, “We kept our promise. Dean Jones went home.” Mark Evanier and Canadian journalist Jaime Weinman are among those who have also reported this version of events. In his September 2, 2015 obituary for Jones in The New York Times, Mike Flaherty reported that “he quit the production, citing stress and depression related to the recent collapse of his own marriage.” Flaherty quotes Jones' 1982 autobiography, Under running laughter, in which he wrote of Company: “It was a clever, bright show on the surface, but its underlying message declared that marriage was, at best, a vapid compromise, insoluble and finally destructive.” And just me surmising here, but Dean Jones was coming off of a string of mega box office hits, including That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug. It was probably good business sense to open the show with a name attached, even if he would depart soon after. |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:04 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - ablankpage 07:46 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| Kert was actually the standby, not the understudy. I'm in the minority, I (still) find the Jones "Being Alive" close to definitive. I've watched the doc scores of times, and when he lands the song, it's harrowing and -- to my ears -- musically stunning. Yet this week I've read at least two appraisals that discuss his "vocal difficulties" in singing Robert. I don't hear them. And in today's musical theater, the Jones voice on a mic would be fine by any standards. Someone make a case otherwise, from the Pennebaker doc. I appreciate the loyalty to B'way royalty Kert's herculean job in jump-starting a role in a new hit, but the Jones performance hardly seems worthy of dismissal. (Yes, we now know from the Frank Rich interview that Jones's postponed recording delayed Stritch; but I can still admire his vocal.) I have had fights with people who are so put off by Jones' religious fervor and moralizing about the show that they can't judge his work. I can read about his personal woes and still appreciate the Jones "Alive." |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 03:11 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - Delvino 08:04 am EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| I'm not old enough to have seen the original company of ''Company'' in 1970, but I caught the reunion concert at the Vivian Beaumont in 1993. Frankly, I only knew Jones through his Disney movies, like ''Love Bug,'' so I never thought of him as more than a lightweight comedy actor. But at the reunion concert, Jones stood out in a stellar ''Company'' and blew me away with his passionate, pleading and vulnerable ''Being Alive.'' Through the years, I've now seen a multitude of Bobbys step into the light, but I don't think I ever caught a more moving ''Being Alive.'' |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: StageLover 05:37 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - WaymanWong 03:11 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| Ditto! Jones version is, for me at least, the definitive one, for the reasons you mention. Both superbly sung and acted. | |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: ablankpage 05:28 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - WaymanWong 03:11 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| Add me to the Jones camp too! YouTube has the doc footage as well as a recording from the concert. Both stunning. | |
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| re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 07:15 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - ablankpage 05:28 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| I saw Jones in 1990 as John Adams in 1776. He was a solid Adams, if not my favorite of those I’ve seen on stage. Laura |
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| Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 11:37 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Why didn't they replace Dean Jones pre-opening? - showtunetrivia 07:15 pm EDT 08/20/21 | |
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| Wouldn't he have been too big a star to be doing standby work if he didn't know the role would be his in a month? | |
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| re: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 11:53 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:53 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
| In reply to: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? - bobby2 11:37 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
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| I don't think we can say that Kert was a "big star" at that point. WSS was a ways back by then, and I think his only other major claim to fame before Company was playing Cliff in Cabaret toward the end of its run. That, and I don't think everyone puts "star status" ahead of getting work. Besides, it was a chance to work with Sondheim again, and a lot of other major talents. And he was the standby to the role that would carry the show, were he to go on. What's to turn down? |
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| re: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 03:14 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? - Chromolume 11:53 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
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| that makes sense. (for some reason I thought Kert had been in a TV series around this time that made him famous. checked his credits and looks like I was wrong.) |
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| re: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 10:06 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 10:05 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Was Larry Kert hired after they knew Jones would be leaving? - bobby2 03:14 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
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| Maybe you are confusing Larry Kert with Kenneth Nelson, who were the same age and sort of resembled each other. Prior to The Fantasticks, Nelson had roles on two TV series, Captain Video and The Aldrich Family. Larry Kert after West Side Story appeared in 3 short lived Broadway failures, A Family Affair, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and La Strada. |
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| re: Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? | |
| Posted by: ablankpage 09:52 am EDT 08/19/21 | |
| In reply to: Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? - kieran 10:46 pm EDT 08/18/21 | |
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| I'm assuming he meant Hal Prince offered him to replace as Bobby? It seems like it was openly agreed on by all (including Prince) that Dean Jones would depart after he opened the show. That would make the timing of the ask a little more sensible—although still very bold! | |
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| re: Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? | |
| Posted by: dreambaby 09:25 am EDT 08/19/21 | |
| In reply to: Len Cariou as Bobby in “Company”? - kieran 10:46 pm EDT 08/18/21 | |
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| He would have been a terrific Bobby then, I'd bet. Too bad he missed that opportunity. He did get some good work later, though, didn't he. | |
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