Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Two more | |
| Posted by: aleck 03:13 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Famous Broadway firings - KingSpeed 03:04 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| Celia Kenan=Bolger Light in the Piazza William Duff-Griffin Passion The Duff-Griffin story became rather famous after Duff-Griffin became seriously ill after being "left go" but with a contract that paid him for the run. The producers reasoned that since Duff-Griffin was not able to perform because of his illness that they didn't have to pay him any more. A spirited court case followed and Duff-Griffin won. |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 03:44 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: Two more - aleck 03:13 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| I don’t think Celia was fired. She chose another show. Spelling Bee, I think. Jesse also chose Spelling Bee over Spamalot. Christian Borle took over and his part was blown up in rehearsals because he was good. He wasn’t nominated for a Tony but this got him noticed in a new way and was a big step forward in his career even though he had already played leads in FOOTLOOSE and MILLIE. But I digress. | |
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| Celia Keenan-Bolger talks with Kelly O'Hara in her Podcast | |
| Posted by: FIG 12:32 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - KingSpeed 03:44 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| Celia Keenan-Bolger did a podcast with Kelly O'Hara and they discuss most of the situation. It is an amazing podcast and they share how bad both of them felt about the whole situation. Worth the listeningd | |
| Link | Sunday Pancakes - Having A Hard Conversation (And The Healing That Accompanies It) with Kelli O’Hara |
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| Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 02:42 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: Celia Keenan-Bolger talks with Kelly O'Hara in her Podcast - FIG 12:32 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| She was interviewed on the Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast after she was Tony nominated for To Kill a Mockingbird, and discussed being sort of gently let go, how much it hurt, and how it all sort of worked out in the end. I saw Keenan-Bolger during Piazza's run in Chicago. She was not, by any stretch of the imagination, "bad," but the show didn't work as well with her as Clara. Her acting choices and petite stature first made it very difficult to discern how old the character was supposed to be. When it became clear she was supposed to be a young adult, it became so obvious that Clara was living with a mental impairment that it was impossible to believe Fabrizio and his family wouldn't notice it. Margaret's "tricky game" didn't make sense and felt lower stakes. And, yes, as Keenan-Bolger has acknowledged, she could not sing the score with the huge and luscious soprano that O'Hara has. I was not shocked when it was announced that O'Hara would be replacing her. I was much more surprised that Wayne Wilcox, who was FANTASTIC as Fabrizio, was also let go. I've always felt that, had he opened the show in New York, he would have become quite the musical theatre star. It may also be worth mentioning that, as much as I loved Sarah Uriarte-Berry as Franca, O'Hara was ALSO better in that role. Her Franca was funnier and more mercurial. |
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| Link | Celia Keenan-Bolger on Awards Chatter |
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| re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) | |
| Posted by: tenor1350 11:38 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) - DanielVincent 02:42 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| It may also be worth mentioning that, as much as I loved Sarah Uriarte-Berry as Franca, O'Hara was ALSO better in that role. Her Franca was funnier and more mercurial. This is saying a lot. Sarah Uriarte-Berry is a fantastic talent. She's currently in Night Music at Pasadena Playhouse and stealing every scene in which she appears. |
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| re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) | |
| Posted by: mikem 03:13 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) - DanielVincent 02:42 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| This is all really interesting to me. During Piazza's Broadway run, because O'Hara didn't seem to be that impaired, there was speculation that Clara in fact did not have any significant medical impairment at all, and that Margaret had shielded Clara her whole life in a way that was unnecessary (and constricting to Clara). That interpretation obviously places a very different spin on Margaret's behavior and actions, both before the play begins and during the course of the show. At some point, I asked O'Hara about this possibility at some stage door, and she said that her understanding was that Clara in fact had a legitimate medical issue, but that the creative team didn't feel it was best to play the role with a large degree of impairment (basically, what you are saying). I love Piazza, but I think that having Clara be impaired but as subtly as was portrayed in the Lincoln Center version is a bit problematic, because it raises this possibility that Margaret is overreacting. Which is an interesting show also but apparently not the show that Guettel and Lucas wanted us to be watching. |
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| re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:52 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) - mikem 03:13 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| I think perhaps Katie Clark found a good balance between seemingly too obviously impaired and hardly seeming impaired at all. Re whether Margaret had overreacted: Of course, it's not just Margaret. It's also Roy. I think we are meant to believe that Clara's impairment is significant and real. Have you seen the film version of the novel? It seems to me that Yvette Mimieux as Clara is rather obviously impaired, and it is odd that the Nacarelli family never seem to notice anything off about her. |
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| re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 02:32 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Celia Keenan-Bolger also confirmed she was fired on another podcast. (Plus memories of her performance) - AlanScott 04:52 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| The problem with Keenan-Bolger's performance at the Goodman was that she seemed very obviously mentally challenged, no doubt about it. This made Matthew Morison seem like a horny young guy wanting to prey on a nice looking, but challenged young woman who is (as a result) an easy fuck. He's not a bad person, just immature with a lot of testosterone and not behaving responsibly about his future. Keenan-Bolger comes across as a girl where O'Hara is definitely a woman. Just IMO. It's been a long time since I've seen the film, but I've always thought that the chances for a long happy marriage between Mimieux and George Hamilton were not good. I think de Havilland deep down inside knows this but wants her daughter to experience the relationship and perhaps motherhood even if it is shortlived. However, I probably need to watch the film again. |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: ablankpage 03:57 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - KingSpeed 03:44 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| Celia didn't choose Spelling Bee over Piazza, it just worked out that another show fell into her lap. I also wouldn't categorize her as being fired, but she was definitely not asked to move with the show to Broadway. She has been fairly open about how painful it was to see it go on without her. Kelli O'Hara had played Franca in Seattle and was bumped up to Clara for the Broadway run. Celia did a workshop of Spelling Bee, then opened it off-Broadway and moved with it to Broadway in quick succession, opening the same season as Piazza. She and Kelli were both nominated for Best Featured Actress that season. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: theaterisok 03:55 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - KingSpeed 03:44 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| Celia was most certainly fired. After Chicago, I'm pretty sure. Adam and Craig always had their eye on Kelli, who was playing a smaller role. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 03:52 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - KingSpeed 03:44 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| I always thought that Celia completed the Seattle run of Piazza and was then replaced by Kelli O'Hara for the next incarnation, which I think was Broadway, but I can't remember now. If Celia already had Broadway in her contract, then I suppose it was a firing. But if not, it's more like she wasn't invited to continue. I very much doubt she chose another show. I think she was no longer going to be involved with Piazza, THEN Spelling Bee became an option. And she was wonderful in that. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 03:59 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - EvFoDr 03:52 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| The Light in the Piazza started in Seattle, then played the Goodman in Chicago. Celia Keenan-Bolger was Clara in both of those, but it does seem, as you say, that she was not invited to continue after that. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:27 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - AlanScott 03:59 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| I saw Celia Keenan-Bolger at the Goodman in Chicago. Her performance was fine, but she has sort of a natural childlike quality that made it obvious to audiences (right at the beginning of the show) that she was mentally challenged. When I saw Light in the Piazza on Broadway, O'Hara was much, much better in the role. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: larry13 05:35 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - BroadwayTonyJ 05:27 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| AND didn't Keenan-Bolger herself admit she couldn't compare as a singer to O'Hara? | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: theaterisok 03:43 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: Two more - aleck 03:13 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| For what it is worth, Duff-Griffin really was awful in the role. It was the right move, despite the off-stage drama that ensued. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 07:38 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - theaterisok 03:43 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| It's so funny that you say that because I also saw Duff-Griffin at an early preview and then returned at some point later and saw Tom Aldredge in the role. And I genuinely could not figure out why Duff-Griffin had been replaced. I didn't think his performance was bad and also didn't see Tom Aldredge doing anything so differently as to really affect anything or make one realize why he was preferable to Duff-Griffin. Both were solid, small featured performances in a show that doesn't have a lot of room for characters other than the three leads. |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:22 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - JereNYC 07:38 pm EDT 05/25/23 | |
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| I didn't think Duff-Griffin was bad, but I think his dry, ironic delivery was getting laughs when discussing Fosca. As the authors/director were trying to get rid of laughter at Fosca, they thought he was part of the problem. This is my perception of why he was fired. Personally, I think they made a mistake in trying to eliminate all of the laughter, but it was their choice. | |
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| re: Two more | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 03:27 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: Two more - aleck 03:13 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| If William Duff-Griffin, whom I saw at an early preview of PASSION, became ill AFTER having been let go from the show, I don't see why the producers would retroactively attempt to blame his dismissal on his illness. Why would anyone even have considered that his becoming ill after whatever financial agreement was made when he was let go, would affect anything? It doesn't seem like the producers would've had a leg to stand on and I hope they were made to pay the costs for Duff-Griffin as well as their own. Seems like the very definition of a frivilous lawsuit. |
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| I recall | |
| Posted by: aleck 05:48 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Two more - JereNYC 03:27 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
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| 1. Keenan-Bolger says she was "let go." 2. I couldn't find the coverage on the Duff-Griffen case, but I remember that the Passion producers had to keep paying the estate AFTER he died in November before the show closed. Bob Joy, Duff-Griffin's husband, brought the suit. That's my memory, but it's not mentioned in the Time Duff-Griffin obit. |
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