I only saw the originals, about two weeks before 9/11 if memory serves, blazing hot New York day, matinee, the show cheered to the rafters as few are. Lane and Bialystock were so one, it was impossible to fathom another actor playing the role without his defining signatures. The line readings, the shtick, it seemed in the text by that point.
Did anyone see another Bialystock that landed as well as Lane or his Brad Oscar clone? I've never met anyone who saw Jason Alexander who thought he was funny enough, though accomplished. Most commented that Martin Short walked away with that iteration. Alexander is a comic actor who doesn't actually do shtick; he's reality based, which is harder to corral into a role as broadly defined as Max. If someone disagrees, and saw a bold new interpretation, I'm all ears. But the show always felt as hard to recast as any. Max was not a Tevya, or Harold Hill. Once Lane reminted the role post-Mostel, it bore his imprint forever. |
