Greetings PopWatchers! Welcome to EW.com’s brand-new, biweekly column devoted solely to the stage (show queens rejoice!), and a fine place to start in the wake of Labor Day weekend is to spotlight those workhorse types who step into long-running shows, often with very little rehearsal, and try to make firm imprints on well-established roles. So let’s jump right in and take a look at some shows with legs that have a few new gams on display:
Legally Blonde: This one is perhaps the most high-profile replacement casting of the year, thanks to MTV’s reality series chronicling the tireless search for the next Elle Woods. I wasn’t a big fan of the TV show — if actual casting was this defeating, antidepressants would be handed out at casting guru Bernie Telsey’s door — and was apprehensive about anyone being able to duplicate original star Laura Bell Bundy’s “Positive”-ly aces Elle, a physically and vocally demanding part that’s neck-and-neck with Patti LuPone’s Gypsy as Broadway’s most arduous current gig. But — surprise! — Bailey Hanks (pictured, center), the 20-year-old Southern belle winner, has put her own twist on Elle, using a combination of youthful physicality and cheery optimism. Not only is she a joy to watch, but she’s age-appropriate for the part, too.
Monty Python’s Spamalot: 7th Heaven’s Stephen Collins and Dancing with the Stars champ Drew Lachey (pictured, left) have brought fresh energy to a show that’s been running since February 2005, and they’re doing it without going too far over the top. Spamalot is the kind of show that almost begs its performers to mug incessantly, yet amazingly, Collins and Lachey resist the urge, and playing King Arthur and his put-upon flunky Patsy respectively, they are the cuddliest duo I’ve seen in the roles to date. The guys bounce off each other with complete, gleeful ease, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone utter “Awww” after their (sort of) Act II duet “I’m All Alone.”
Xanadu: The teenyHelen Hayes Theatre on Broadway has been often standing room only since Whoopi Goldberg has joined the cast. But rumors of cuecard reading be damned (reportedly, she needed them for her first fewperformances), the Whoop is injecting her characteristic drollness into the role of saucy sister muse Calliope. And while Goldberg still seems to finding acharacterization in there (particularly in her smaller, secondary roleas Aphrodite), I actually preferred the one-time Oscar winner to her on-stage sparring partner, MaryTesta, who milks a laugh until its udder bleeds.
Goldberg’s additions to the script — asking the audience for a dollar to put in Testa’s toga, throwing in a new lineabout a missing thong — showcase a comedic edge that hasn’t been dulled by having to sit across from Barbara Walters every day. Whoopi’sunflappable too. My visit was one of the most unusual only-in-thetheater nights I’ve ever had: Patti Murin subbed for star KerryButler, and a mere 15 minutes into the show, costar Cheyenne Jackson had toabruptly depart thanks to an allergy attack, leaving hisunderstudy Curtis Holbrook (the show’s tremendous tap dancer) to exithis own role and step in…opposite Murin, Holbrook’s real-life girlfriend!Yet Whoopi never missed a beat, even with Huey Lewis sitting mere feetaway (eyeballing Tony Roberts’ elder statesman role perhaps? Hmm…).
So PopWatchers, have you managed to catch any of the above performers in their current Broadway runs, and if so, what did you think? Who have been some of your favorite replacement actors in previous stage roles? And has any actorever completely ruined a show you once loved?
Also, be sure to go to the comments section below and tell us what you’d like tosee covered in future editions of The Footlights! Untilthen, the ghostlight is on…
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I’m excited about having a biweekly stage column on popwatch!
i haven’t seen collins, lachey, or hanks yet, but i actually saw whoopi last night, and she was fantastic! i thought she played well off tesa, though i liked the tesa/hoffman duo much better. still, whoopi really added a lot of sass to the production, which works perfectly with the shows tone and douglas carter beane’s brilliant book. xanadu is a self-mocking show. you’re all along for the joke. and whoppi played along as well. the limitations she has as a performer (not the best singer, not the best dancer) worked in the show. all and all, i think whoopi’s one of the best celebrity stand-ins i’ve seen on broadway.
theatre? really? it’s about frakkin’ time! i am so looking forward to this column. will you only be covering musicals or plays, too? there seem to be more easily identifiable talent (read: those outside the broadway world) in plays on the great white way than musicals. but musical theatre is so much more accessible.
i am looking forward to discussions about the upcoming 9to5. two actresses from previous productions of “wicked” (the best show for women in years) stephanie j block and megan hilty, the amazing allison janney and songs by dolly parton. can’t wait!
thanks for keeping us non-manhattan people in the theatre loop!
Thanks for adding a stage column! Another celeb on the Great White Way is Hunter Parrish from “Weeds,” who’s starring in “Spring Awakening.”
Finally! EW needs to cover more theatre and this is a good start!
And I haven’t see her, so I can’t comment on her performance, but you think Bailey Hanks is age appropriate? You see a lot of 20 year olds already in grad school at Harvard Law?
I’m so bummed I’m not going to see Whoopi, but I expect a play by play on Harry Potter showing his hairy peter! Thanks EW!
To CJ: Well, Elle is supposed to be just out of college, so she’d be about 22. I’d say 20 is closer to that than Laura Bell’s 27.
I saw Whoopi in Xanadu a few weeks ago at a Saturday matinee, and while the audience was eating out of her hand, I found myself really missing Jackie Hoffman. Whoopi seemed like she was just reading the lines, not relishing the sheer lunacy and hokiness of the show. Mary Testa (who totally should’ve been Tony-nommed) played much better off Jackie, as they fed off each other’s wackiness, whereas Whoopi played it dry. It’s a valid choice, but one that didn’t mesh with the tone of the rest of the show.
Thanks for doing this column. Yea!!
thanks for this column!
would love your thoughts on the two current wicked witches. i’ve heard all sorts of conflicting “reviews”!
Great for EW for doing more theatre coverage, but maybe try to do these columns in a more timely matter. Whoopi is almost done with her stint in Xanadu. Whoopi was fine, but nothing special. Love that Curtis Holbrook, but I’m sorry about Cheyenne Jackson.
Thank you so much for adding more theatre coverage!!!
About time EW got some theatre coverage on a regular schedule! THat said, I can’t believe you actually compared the part of Elle Woods to the part of Rose in Gypsy. Elle Woods might be demanding athletically, but nothing in that block of corporate marketing dotted with paper-thin characters is remotely close to what Patti LuPone, or any actress playing Rose, has to find within herself and put on a stage eight times a week.
Thank god there’s finally more theater coverage on EW! I moved away from New York 2 years ago and I miss Broadway like mad.
And, while I know this column will most likely be US-centric, maybe you and Aubry D’Arminio could team up for a very special column on the RSC’s much buzzed about Hamlet? Pretty please?
Legit theatre column? Super!! Keep up the good work.
I love love love that this column exists! Thanks! Can’t wait to read more about what’s hitting the Great White Way.
So will the column be twice a week or every other week? I think of bi-monthly as twice a month. Still, glad to hear about the column addition. Please cover actual theater stars, not just celebs from other venues on broadway for a short stint. Thanks.
They’re still doing THEATRE in New York??? How cute! Good for them!
I understand the need for Broadway to bring in “names” for publicity, but I agree with Braggtastic, please bring more attention to the amazing talent (of the non-celebrity type) that the rest of the country will probably never hear about.
I’m heading to New York in mid October and have tickets to go see Spamalot (for a 2nd time, Love Love Love the show!) Hopefully Sephen Collins and Drew Lachey are still in it, does anyone know when their run is over?
Oh and thank you for adding theatre to the entertainment mix. I was sad to see the Stage section disapear from the magazine.
What I’m hoping is that TV networks will start airing more Broadway shows a la MTV with Legally Blonde and PBS with Oklahoma. (hint hint BBC America, get us David Tennant in Hamlet!). I know that it’s not the same as seeing it live, but as a poor sod with a ton of student loans that’s about as close as I’m going to get for a long long time.
I would love if there was a section of the column designated to shows coming up that the general public might not know about. There is a wealth of theatre beyond Broadway and it would be great if EW would help encourage people to try something new
YAY! Please continue this column! I miss seeing the State section in EW. Before I became a true unemployed actress in New York, it was this girl from Ohio’s main link to the happenings in the theatre world! I look forward to reading more
I demand you get an interview with Seth Rudetsky, stat! He was the whole reason I watched “Legally Blonde, the Musical: the Search for Elle Woods.” Plus his playbill.com column is hilarious! I’m contemplating getting Serious radio just so I can listen to him on the Broadway channel.
Ugh. I meant Sirius.
YAY! A theatre column! What about interviews with some of the hot composers on Broadway…like Jason Robert Brown on “13″ or the guys from [title of show].
I’m sorry, but 20 years old for Elle Woods? Not age appropriate. I don’t know any 20 year olds who graduate from law school.
Well, this goes way, waaaaaay back, but when “Equus” first appeared on Broadway in 1975 or so, part of the staging was a series of bleachers directly onstage (as if it were an operating theatre), and you could get one of those seats for five dollars. FIVE DOLLARS!!!! So I did see a very young Anthony Hopkins originating the role of the doctor, but before Richard Burton made a splash with the part, I also got to see, of all people, Anthony Perkins do it. And he was surprisingly terrific — commanding and deeply troubled at the same time. The boy gets the flashier role, but I think the doctor is the harder one, and Perkins absolutely nailed it.
I saw Whoopi in Xanadu on her second night and she did indeed whip out the cue cards for the entire final scene. Now, I love me some Whoopi, but I think that is inexcusable. This is Broadway, Whoops. If you’re not ready, let the understudy go on. She used them for the entire final scene. And she didn’t really know any of her choreography yet. Maybe the producers pushed her out of the nest too soon.
(I should add that i love Love LOVE the show and have seen it FOUR times already)
Are you on CRACK??!? Mama Rose = Elle ??? That is most insulting to LuPone and many other demanding roles, present and past. Not to mention an absolute lie. Elle demands a pop vocalist with an ability to do considerable belts. You know, those things that can ruin your voice if not done properly. Mama Rose is not at all similar to Elle. It requires an understanding that goes deep into an actor’s gut. The talent needed is rare. Take note of the ladies who’ve done it: Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters. And then you get some chick from a reality show for Elle?
LB is indeed a cute show. It’s decent and provides good entertainment, much like Spamalot. But Gypsy it is not.
Also? Mary Testa is a brilliant talent in theatre. Don’t you even go there.
I highly suggest you all learn a thing or two about musical theatre before you continue reporting on it. This was a complete joke. But I’ll let this first column slide as you need to hook people with names/shows they’ll recognize.