Posted by jdterry 2012-02-14 12:25:35
Oh my gosh! The Roundabout Theater offered Megan Mullally the role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes!! I would LOVE to see that. It would be great to see Megan back on Broadway!Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by ljay889 2012-02-14 12:42:50
I don't really see it.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by SexyPants88 2012-02-14 12:59:18
Would Roundabout want to work with her again?!
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by dreaming 2012-02-14 13:13:59
I'll go see that.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by doodlenyc 2012-02-14 14:02:13
Why would anyone believe a first time poster with news like this?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Kalimba 2012-02-14 14:35:01
Doodle, honey, my sentiments exactly.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-14 14:51:40
And would Megan want to work with Roundabout again? The OP sounds like a troll to me,someone's bored.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Jay Lerner-Z 2012-02-14 14:54:19
Do Megan and Roundabout have bad blood between them for some reason?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by quizking101 2012-02-14 14:58:41
Although I love her to pieces, Megan Mullally is not Reno by any means...
Jane Krakowski on the other hand... :)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by JoeKv99 2012-02-14 14:58:49
Lips together, teeth apart. Mulally quits, show's canceled.
This was a joke that fell flatter than Taylor Swift.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-14 15:56:47
This board has the strangest casting notions.
Megan Mullally as Reno Sweeney is ridiculous! (Why? She can sing it. She's funny.)
But when it was announced that Bernadette Peters wouldn't go to L.A. with FOLLIES, there were dozens of posts talking about how great Mullally would be as Sally. When I asked why, I was informed that she could play "anything".
I realize the two different views may come from two different groups of posters, but I'm baffled by the casting methods employed here.
(BTW, I get that Mullally as Sweeney is unlikely because of her history with the producers. I'm just surprised that people find the casting idea so preposterous.)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Jon 2012-02-14 16:06:40
The casting itself isn't odd, but after Sutton, it would be odd to go with an actress in her 50's.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-14 16:12:04
^^^^^
I see your point. Mullally would be closer to the Merman Reno or even the Lupone Reno, rather than the Eileen Rodgers Reno.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by E.Davis 2012-02-14 16:49:36
Are you talking stylistically or age, because sutton is only 4 years younger than la Lupone when she played they part.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by TheatreFan4 2012-02-14 17:18:53
Yeah... Roundabout had to scrap an entire production do to her. I doubt they're clamoring to work with her again. Not only that doesn't she have a new TV show premiering in March?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by hyperbole_and_a_half 2012-02-14 17:34:49
Hold on...there's a dancing tub of butter joke in here somewhere, I just know it...
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-14 18:48:13
^Gaveston there was reason for sally comments, i pointed them out to someone who asked. As for reno, it's don't know, i would hope she would be good but it's very strange very strange. As for the past first time posters putting up stuff like this pascal in memphis anyone?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by nasty_khakis 2012-02-14 18:57:07
No diss to Megan, but they'd have to reconceive the entire production. She's not a dancer so she'd have to sit out the majority of the title song and "Blow Gabriel Blow." If that's something that Marshall and Roundabout want to do, then I think she'd be very funny and interesting.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by emo_geek 2012-02-14 20:12:31
Correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe Megan's original training was in dance.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by somethingwicked 2012-02-14 20:14:57
Mullally (who would be a fantastic Reno) trained extensively as a ballet dancer from the time she was a little girl all the way through college, including a stint at the School of American Ballet here in New York. She speaks about it extensively in her Inside The Actor's Studio interview with the cast of WILL & GRACE.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-14 20:23:51
Yes Megan did dance but I doubt she'd take on a major dancing role now. But apart from that she is less than half way through shooting a new sitcom due to premiere in March and isn't Anything Goes due to close at the end of Apri? I notice the OP hasn't been back to enlighten us more.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by nasty_khakis 2012-02-14 20:26:56
I stand corrected about her background/training, but do you honestly think she could still handle THIS choreography as is?? It would be amazing to see her do it on this level. I still see her being more in the Lupone couple of time steps and smiling while the chorus goes wild behind her. I'd love to see her shut me up with a jump split, full penché, and all.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-14 20:34:48
I'd love to see that too but I think she'd be the first to say NO WAY. She's very svelte these days though and can still do a high kick.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by somethingwicked 2012-02-14 20:35:33
nasty_khakis, they'd undoubtedly have to make adjustments to the present choreography, but to say that they'd have to "reconcile the entire production" because Mullally's "not a dancer" is a very, very big exaggeration.
sallyann, most television shows (even the midseason replacements) are preparing to wrap shooting for their current season by next month. ANYTHING GOES just extended through September, so Mullally could presumably accommodate a run from April through July, though she could stay longer if her series isn't renewed (which is likely given how it's had to be saved from cancellation twice already.)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-14 20:39:56
I know this may not matter and this may due to completely crazy, but wouldn't they need an older billy and hope to play opposite mullally?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-14 20:44:28
Well if it happens I'd be over the pond to see it but I just have a feeling it ain't going to happen.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-14 21:04:08
I know this may not matter and this may due to completely crazy, but wouldn't they need an older billy and hope to play opposite mullally?
Probably an older Billy anyway, random. Though I've seen productions where Reno was substantially older than Billy and it didn't matter much. I don't know that we ever take that romance very seriously.
As for whether Mullally could dance the current choreography, I've never seen a production where Reno does the heavy-duty dancing. She usually steps aside when that stuff starts. I think the "dancing Reno" is a Sutton Foster thing.
I'm wasn't singling you out personally when I mentioned my puzzlement at the Mullally-as-Sally discussion. I'm sure you explained yourself very well. But most posters I asked simply talked about Mullally's very high skill level (no argument from me), not about specific qualities that said "Sally" to them.
I assume we've all seen Mullally play brassy and funny, which is why I'm surprised at the resistance to her as Reno. Maybe it's a Merman-type v. Sutton Foster-type confusion.
(ETA come to think of it, maybe that Merman v. Foster issue speaks to your question about Billy's age. I've never taken the Billy/Reno romance seriously because Reno is played by a Merman type who bulldozes her way through the production. Maybe Sutton Foster changed the romantic equation.)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by emilyfaye48 2012-02-14 21:12:07
I would love to see Megan as Reno but I'd be really, really surprised if Roundabout ever worked with her again. I don't think so.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by nasty_khakis 2012-02-14 21:13:45
When I said reconceive I didn't mean throw everything out. I just meant this production was designed and staged around a Reno who could DANCE, almost like they cast the original with Ginger Rogers instead of Merman. To me, it would be a waste if they cast a new Reno who couldn't keep up with THIS staging. As much as I'd like to see someone who would normally make a great Reno (Megan, or opening it up to someone like Reba or Donna Murphy), to me it would damage this particular production to have her sing, walk off stage, then skip back on to sing the last line of the song. People seem to diminish dancing to "oh well, she'd be great otherwise!" I think it would be like casting Patti Lupone as Cassie in "A Chorus Line" yes, she'd sing the hell out of the song, but she can't dance it. It's the same as casting someone like Allison Janney in "Gypsy" yes, she may act it well, but she can't sing it. THIS Reno is a true triple-threat and they should recast with a true triple-threat.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-14 21:16:46
Well said, nasty. Speaking for myself, I didn't mean to demean dance; I'm just used to Renos who don't do the heavy lifting in that department.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-14 22:03:19
I think we seriously underestimate the dancing ability of some women, one must remember that dance is less important than many components in a Broadway show now a days. But does that mean that none of our girls can dance or that Suttons the only dancer we have, HELL NO!!! Remember nobody thought Stephanie J. Block could dance Reno either, we were all pleasantly surprised. Sherie Rene Scott learned the choreography to kander and edds over and over, in about five days i think, a show orginally designed for Bebe Neuwirth, and she was able to blow it away. Let's give Mullally a chance to actually get her taps on before we say, she can't dance it purely on principal.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by emilyfaye48 2012-02-14 22:13:08
here, here!
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by jdterry 2012-02-15 02:31:32
It's not a question about if the Roundabout would work with Mullally again. They OFFERED her the role! They know she'll make them money.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-15 10:16:26
/ /
So can you tell us more?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Huss417 2012-02-15 10:41:36
So we are to believe this info coming from a first time poster that has two posts and both in this topic? Where have you heard this from?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by jdterry 2012-02-15 14:29:06
You don't have to take it from me. Just ask the Roundabout.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Phyllis Rogers Stone 2012-02-15 14:32:17
I did and they said they offered they roll to Megan McCain, not Megan Mullally.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Kalimba 2012-02-15 16:10:17
This is what I think of when Megan Mullally's name is mentioned: pimping fake butter; failed tv talk show; annoying.
Poor sad, pathetic jdterry for wanting their rumor to gain traction.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Huss417 2012-02-15 16:18:33
I would probably get a better answer from the Roundabout i drive around every day.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by jdterry 2012-02-15 16:36:17
No, they offered it to Megan Mullally. And I hope Megan chooses to do it! Would love to see her in Anything Goes!
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-15 16:49:18
Really when most people think of megan they think of her comedy success in will and grace, or her string of successful guest spots on popular tv shows like happy endings, 30 rock, and up all night.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-15 16:59:42
Exactly, random. Hell, she was on WINGS 20 years ago and I had to see the rerun twice before I recognized her. Mullally is a fine character actress who is often happy to disappear into a role.
And of her three CDs with the band Supreme Music Program, the one I have is great. She sings everything from Weill to "Danny Boy".
http://www.amazon.com/Berry-Megan-Mullally-Supreme-Program/dp/B00006JJ1M
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Kalimba 2012-02-15 16:59:45
Honey, Kalimba isn't most people, that why I said, "This is what I think when...."
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-15 17:54:51
Yes i'm just saying she's not someone to underestimate. More people are going to think of her as successful rather than a disaster and annoyance.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Huss417 2012-02-15 18:26:49
Must be something with Anything Goes. Last week a persons first post was regarding Sutton Foster and a person who answered it was also their first post.
Hmmmm,
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by hollaj2 2012-02-16 16:34:26
I have no doubt she'd do a fantastic job. I'm blown away that they would ask her to come aboard after they stabbed her in the back.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Here I Am 2012-02-16 18:08:19
Why not just choose Stephanie J. Block? I hear she was really fantastic when Sutton took her brief leave of absence.
That being said, I have no doubt that Mullally would be a great Reno.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by blaxx 2012-02-16 18:22:52
I'm blown away that they would ask her to come aboard after they stabbed her in the back.
Wasn't it the other way around?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-16 18:31:39
Well I know I was a doubting Thomas before but I now have it from a reliable source that Megan Mullally was offered the role of Reno. I think she could be great in it. I wonder if she'd be willing to work with the Roundabout again though - only one side of that story ever came out, I think the original rumours about that incident( concerning the behaviour of other people in that production) were maybe nearer the truth than blame on Mullally's part.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Lee_5 2012-02-16 19:11:03
I know there were rumblings about someone behind the scene (who has a history of being hard to work with). I always found that to be a more plausible reason. Someone with a long history of being caustic versus someone who people always spoke of fondly. I think the odds would be squarely in Mullally's favor.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by dlish 2012-02-16 19:34:52
I finally broke down and had to register. I know since I'm a first time poster people will accuse me of being a troll or a shill, but I've been reading this site for a long time and I think it's hysterical the way people react to these things. Megan Mullally would be fine as Reno Sweeney and to get a star of her calibur (and I hate to break it to you, but in the real world she is a bigger star than Sutton Foster) they would adjust the show if needed.
I think it's hysterical how people here always say "she's not right for that" when any casting is mentioned. Remember all the snark about Kelli O'Hara doing Pajama Game? People on this site don't know what they're talking about.
Okay, go ahead and call me a troll. I'll wear it with honor.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by blaxx 2012-02-16 20:03:10
Megan Mullally would be fine as Reno Sweeney and to get a star of her calibur (and I hate to break it to you, but in the real world she is a bigger star than Sutton Foster)
I hate to break it to you, but calibur is not a word.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by BroadwayFan12 2012-02-16 20:10:43
Am I the only one who finds Megan Mullally astronomically annoying?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sondheimfan2 2012-02-16 20:40:40
^yes
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by dlish 2012-02-16 22:11:25
Blaxx, thank God I spelled a word wrong so you can continue to snark and not acknowledge how myopic the people who post on this site are. The nastiness of the regular crowd on this site is why the message boards here remain underpopulated and the people who actually work on Broadway don't take you seriously.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by blaxx 2012-02-16 22:55:41
It's blaxx for you, love.
And I wouldn't get too upset, you already said "People on this site don't know what they're talking about" - we are glad you came to save the day!
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by emilyfaye48 2012-02-17 02:34:36
one of us! one of us! one of us!
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by dramamama611 2012-02-17 03:12:16
1. Only SOME of the people here don't see this as good casting. Most can see some merit in it. Most just don't think this is a real possibility given Mullally's past with Roundabout.
2. How can their opinion be wrong? I didn't like Curtains. HATED it in fact. Just because I'm in the minority, doesn't mean my OPINION is wrong.
3. People that work in the idustry don't take "us" seriously? I was always under the impression this was FOR "us", I don't expect for my opinion to matter to the industry. I only matter to them at the box office.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by The Distinctive Baritone 2012-02-17 11:21:35
I do think it's interesting to note however that when I joined this site seven years ago, there weren't anywhere NEAR as many nasty people on here. I don't care if posters sh*t on people in the industry, but I do take issue with posters being so damn mean and rude to EACH OTHER. Thank you to those who play nice.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by jayinchelsea 2012-02-20 14:30:43
While I believe she might be able to sing the role, and she certainly is funny enough to hold the stage, the fact that she could never do the choreography as it now stands should be a good reason not to cast her. Otherwise it's Patti all over again (and Eileen Rodgers too, she never did the tap stuff in the earlier revival).
And yeah, there is that Roundabout "bad blood" too.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by AC126748 2012-02-20 15:01:24
Chita Rivera didn't do the entire tap routine when she played Reno Sweeney, even though she certainly could have. It wasn't expected. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the past wasn't it rather common for the star to leave during the dance portion and then re-enter (at least in the context of Reno Sweeney)?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-20 15:15:15
You are absolutely right, AC. I've never seen Reno done otherwise.
Good for Sutton Foster, but I don't know how many stars are true triple threats.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by random person 112 2012-02-20 20:05:55
Yes i'm sorry but has anyone here seen Mullally do any serious dancing? If so feel free to say she can't dance it.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-20 21:22:57
(Deleted. I misunderstood random's post. Entirely my bad.)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by bwayfan7000 2012-02-20 22:36:01
I wish PalJoey would find his way to this thread. When this revival opened, he posted a very good explanation of why a Reno who doesn't dance the entire number, even if she is able to, is more traditional and overall better idea.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by HBP 2012-02-21 01:36:32
The choreography is such a big part of this show, so I'd be upset if they cast a Reno who stands to the back and just moves her hips along with the choreo. Megan Mullally, like many other actresses, would have been great in the '87 revival, but she would not fit into Kathleen Marshall's production. There are true triple threats out there, but very few of them starred in huge prime-time TV shows. We'll have to settle for a lesser-known replacement.
(side note: I am not a Stephanie J. Block fan. Her phrasing annoys the poop out of me. I have my fingers crossed that she takes the tour and we get a fresh replacement on Broadway)
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by adamgreer 2012-02-21 02:17:55
Otherwise it's Patti all over again
That would be just fine if it meant getting a Reno with as much charisma and star quality as LuPone. Mullally fits that mold a whole lot more than the dull as diswhater Sutton Foster.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by South Fl Marc 2012-02-21 08:05:59
"Otherwise it's Patti all over again"
Wouldn't that be Wonderful! I didn't care much for Sutton in the part. She was good but not great.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-21 17:19:09
Okay, adam, you've emboldened me to ask. I only know Sutton Foster from numbers on TV and YouTube. She's obviously very talented, but to me, her voice, while good, is rather generic.
Given her fan base, I've always assumed she is absolutely electric on stage.
But given the superlative score of ANYTHING GOES (particularly after the interpolated numbers are added), I'd rather have a Reno who is a great and unique singer than one who merely sings well and does all the dances.
Mullally may not be Merman or Lupone, but based on her CDs, she's a unique singer in her own right. Am I being unfair to Foster?
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by adamgreer 2012-02-21 17:24:59
No, you aren't. However, I've found Sutton to be bland and completely lost at sea in everything I've ever seen her in. The woman is the luckiest chorus girl alive. Her voice, as you said, is nothing more than generic (and it's a pretty thin belt) and she doesn't command the stage the way someone like LuPone does.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Gaveston2 2012-02-21 18:13:30
adam, the first time I saw ANYTHING GOES in 1971, Reno was played by opera coloratura, Patrice Munsel (by then long past her opera heyday).
Totally wrong type of voice for the role (she was a last-minute replacement for Mimi Hines, who would have been amazing), and yet one still had the sense that Cole Porter's greatest songs were being sung by a unique instrument.
To me, that is the heart of the show.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by BroadwayFan12 2012-02-21 19:26:34
adamgreer, are you blind? Sutton owns the stage more than anyone else I've seen, including legends such as Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, and Bernadette Peters. It's there. You're just not seeing it.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by blaxx 2012-02-21 19:45:28
adamgreer, are you blind? Sutton owns the stage more than anyone else I've seen, including legends such as Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, and Bernadette Peters. It's there. You're just not seeing it.
Oh, then I am blind too! She has a LONG way to go before coming close to any of the aforementioned legends.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by givesmevoice 2012-02-21 19:53:01
I must also be blind, since I find Foster to be basically unoffensive, although I will say that she has great comic timing. And I was really disappointed in her vocals in this production: I thought she affected some accents that were totally inorganic, not to mention the fact that she's been sitting on her cords way too hard lately.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by BroadwayFan12 2012-02-21 19:57:35
She hasn't reached their legendary status yet, but IMO she does at least as much charisma as Lansbury, Stritch, and Peters. I say that as a fan of all three of them.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by WiCkEDrOcKS 2012-02-21 20:49:04
I happen to really, really like Sutton and I thought she shone in this production (moreso than her last few Broadway ventures where she was good, if a bit bland). But she is clearly not in the same realm as LuPone, Merman, Lansbury, etc etc.
As much as I enjoyed Patina in SISTER ACT, I have to say Sutton earned her Tony Award this year for me. I think Mullally would be a wonderful Sweeney (and I imagine would approach the role very differently than Sutton). I hope this rumor is true.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by ljay889 2012-02-21 23:36:27
Having seen Angela Lansbury, Elaine Stritch, Chita Rivera, Patti LuPone, and Bernadette Peters live on multiple occasions - I can say that Sutton Foster has absolutely NOTHING on them. Besides enormous talent, those legends also have unique personalities and presence. Sutton is as bland as they come, in my opinion.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by qolbinau 2012-02-21 23:54:48
"Luckiest Chorus girl in the world" is definitely a great description of her. Although I did enjoy her in ANYTHING GOES this woman just lacks the Charisma that all of those other ladies have. She doesn't feel like a star, despite her numerous over the title Broadway star credits.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Christoph 2012-02-22 18:57:25
Would that all Broadway performers suffered from the awful lack of charisma that Foster does. When she did her cabaret show, she was warm, personable and enchanting. Honestly I can seriously see some of the posters on this board if they were around a few decades earlier exclaiming that "that Merman broad is just so overrated and has no talent or range" and "don't get me started on that lousy Verdon!" When Foster's name is on the marquee, even in an underwhelming production, you know that you are going to get 110%, which is exactly why she keeps being cast in so many roles on Broadway.
Ironically, I see some of the same people that bad mouth Foster and some of the newer and most promising talent on Broadway (like Kelli O'Hara as well) bend over backwards to make excuses when name talent underwhelms. I love Bernadette Peters (I have seen her perform a number of times), but I thought her Sally in Follies was a nightmare and did not do justice to the score, and having to listen to ardent fans rush in with excuses like "She was suffering from allergies that day...have you no heart? She is only human!" is quite a lark considering how often those same people come down like a ton of bricks on others for far less reason. Or if one suggests that perhaps La LuPone's nomination for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown might have been a stretch and smacks of them throwing her an undeserved offering every time she puts her little toe on stage, you get "Well...maybe it wasn't her best, but it is Patti. Patti deserves the Tony every year! Patti deserves the world and more. Patti, I tell you! PATTI!!!!"
On a side note to another post in this thread, I happen to like that in this production (and the London production with Sally Ann Triplett) that Reno is front and center dancing throughout the title production number. It never felt quite appropriate to me that she disappeared for large portions of it (sort of like when Dorothy Brock bitches in 42nd Street about being brought out on stage in the closing moments of a huge production number). If Megan Mullaly does step in, I hope she can do the dancing. I have seen the ill effects of when an actress cannot do even the limited steps when Leslie Uggams brought the tour of the show around many moons ago and it was not pretty - but then Rex Smith was eviscerating the score and dance steps as Billy Crocker at that time so that drew off some of the fire that would otherwise have been aimed at Uggams.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by blaxx 2012-02-22 19:03:10
Although I did enjoy her in ANYTHING GOES this woman just lacks the Charisma that all of those other ladies have. She doesn't feel like a star, despite her numerous over the title Broadway star credits.
Truly a try hard. She always looks like she is working her hardest to make things happen, it certainly doesn't come to her effortlessly.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by BroadwayFan12 2012-02-22 19:17:13
Interesting. My favorite thing about Sutton is that she commands the stage more than almost anyone and makes it look completely effortless. To each their own.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by Actor2 2012-02-23 00:27:53
It's a paradox, but the idea that appearing effortless means that you're not trying hard is stupid. If the phrase were taken literally, effortless performances would be boring, indicated, one-dimensional, phoned in, contrived, and...well...without effort.
Trying hard and putting a ton of energy and work in, while simultaneously appearing confident and naturally full of the total commitment, enthusiasm and excitement for the work, is what real 'effortlessness' looks like.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by BroadwayFan12 2012-02-23 01:49:56
^Good point. The latter is how Sutton appears to me.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by sallyann 2012-02-23 10:00:57
Sutton's good but Megan Mullally has an incredible voice and great stage presence. I think she could totally do the role if the dancing was pared back. It looks like Roundabout need a name to keep Anything Goes doing well though. However I don't see her working with them after they let her take the rap for the failure of Lips Together, Teeth Apart and didn't dispel the false rumours going around about her reasons for doing so at the time.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by walt1896 2012-02-24 01:54:26
Christoph, excellent points. Also, Sutton has perfect American Songbook phrasing. Her intro on "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a perfect example of marriage of musicality and emotion.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by CONAries 2012-02-24 03:20:05
This whole argument is redundant as Playbill.com have confirmed Stephanie J Block as going back into the role permanently from March 15th!
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/160029-Times-Have-Changed-Stephanie-J-Block-Is-New-quotRenoquot-of-Broadway39s-Anything-Goes
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by dramamama611 2012-02-24 08:33:15
Oh, p'shaw! Let's not let FACTS cloud an otherwise fascinating discussion.
Megan Mullally in Anything Goes!!!
Posted by hollaj2 2012-03-01 14:19:35
This is one of the reasons that I was so surprised when Roundabout offered MM the job on Anything Goes:
"As it turns out, her much publicized departure from Lips Together, Teeth Apart was the result of the abusive nature of the shows director, Joe Mantello. I wont use her exact descriptor words on request, but her treatment under the director was less than desirable and reached a tipping point when he tried to pit her against friend and co-star, Patton Oswalt. Mullally and Oswalt quickly realized what was going on and she decided it was worth breaching her contract to leave the show and avoid working in such a hateful and unhappy environment. However, musical theater is still one of her great loves and will likely be in her future again sometime."
http://poptimal.com/2011/07/comic-con-2011-childrens-hospital-press-room-and-panel/#.T0_JHXniGjc
