First, I will mention that I wrote this in my reply to Seth: "But Ruthie Ann Miles with yellow hair? Even dirty yellow hair? I don't know . . . I guess we'll see." This was specifically in reply to his suggest that the actress who will be playing can wear a wig. If she does that, we are moving toward literalism. And I mentioned that her hair should be dirty. Still, dirty hair that is yellow will not look like dirty hair that is black.
Second, literalism is what there wasn't in the concerts in which Audra McDonald played the Beggar Woman. Some actors were visibly too old, at least in 2000. No literalism.
I don't give a damn whether they go literal with this or not, whether they change or cut some words or not. Just pointing things out.
Sweeney in "Johanna" specifically says that Lucy has (or had) yellow hair. She is older now, it may well be gray, and as I suggested myself, it is certainly dirty. But IF we are being literal in a production, it should look like it might be believable that she did have yellow hair.
But, again, I don't much care what choice they make. Just saying it's in the text that Lucy had yellow hair. Or Sweeney, whom we know is mad, thinks she did. I suppose we can decide she never did. In his current madness, he just thinks she did. |
