Why didn't Betty Buckley do Into the Woods on Bway?

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Betty Buckley replaced Bernadette Peters in Song and Dance in 1986. I saw BP twice in the role and thought her performance was definitive. Regardless, I've always regretted not seeing BB's take on the part because I'd love to have experienced her renditions of those songs. She often includes "Unexpected Song" in concerts and has recorded it, but changes the tempo and accompaniment so much that it's really something else (and something diminished) altogether.

It was hard for me to imagine BB playing a naive 20-something year-old girl five years after playing the step-mother of naive 20-something year-old girls on Eight is Enough. I wish I had seen it to give her the opportunity to prove me wrong. (Anyone here see her in the show?)

The relevance to this thread is that she wasn't an audience draw; the show closed in November 1986, shortly after she joined. Into the Woods opened on Broadway one year later. If the producers needed a name other than Stephen Sondheim to drive ticket sales, Betty Buckley was not it.

[EricMontreal22]

Wow, I had no idea Buckley was in ITW's New York previews--did she actually make it to a few performances? I knew about Ellen Foley creating the role in San Diego and later on taking over the role again either on Braodway or the tour, but didn't know there was an actress between

[qolbinau]

I thought that poster was claiming she was an audience member during previews, not a performer.

[BwayEqs]

I was wondering about a similar situation. Stephanie J. Block was Elphaba in the Wicked workshops, but was replaced by Idina Menzel. Stephanie ended up going out on the 1st National as Elphaba. I don't understand why that happened.

[Auggie27]

She was a most inappropriate replacement for SONG AND DANCE. Nothing in her persona or presence suggests a flighty English girl who cannot find the right man. She seemed selected strictly for possessing the vocal chops, and the show was heavy-handed with her. And she notoriously had trouble with Emma's wardrobe, and didn't look quite right.

I would argue that her issues with The Witch having nothing to do with glamour. Certain in her youth she was a radiant, sexy woman, and look no further than CARRIE -- the film -- or her TV footage. But she doesn't have a knack for suggesting a lightness of touch. She was a humorless, almost one-note Rose at Papermill, finding the aggression and ruthlessness but none of the charm. I can imagine that her Witch lacked the necessary twinkle in the eye. WOODS requires a deft touch, sophistication and gravitas. But also a style, an understanding that even deconstructed, the material is still a fairy tale of a special sort. When I saw her Norma, I saw a victim. She tended to play the end, again, despite vocal brilliance, and if Norma isn't a bit of fun in act one, she's too tragic too soon. So I would think Buckley's Witch might've been all about "Stay With Me," the sad backstory-infused mother side of the character, and too little about the foreground "Enchantress." People may strongly disagree, but I just don't see a comfort with humor.

[ComingUpRoses2]

I think you're probably right, Auggie. She does go a little more for the tragic side of the roles she takes. Her Rose was fascinating to me, but, it's true that she wasn't very charming. She was just plain scary. It was hard to imagine why Herbie would stay with her despite the fact that, IMO, she was one of the sexiest Roses next to Bernadette Peters. Her "Rose's Turn" is deliciously selfish, dreamlike, and cold. It's a cool interpretation, but you certainly don't feel an inch of sorrow for Rose by the end of the show. You kind of want Gypsy to disown her and leave her to fend for herself.

I could see her knocking "Stay With Me" and "Last Midnight" out of the park, but I don't think she'd have any of the goofy, fun touches that others found in the role. She's a great dramatic actress, but I've never really seen her be very funny.

[EricMontreal22]

So just to be clear--Buckley played the role in workshops done between the original LaJolla workshop production, and the Broadway opening? Of course there were a number of differences in LaJolla, though the majority of the cast carried over.

[Auggie27]

People are routinely replaced between workshop and first production. It's not a rarity. Knowing the show as well as I do now, I am more keenly aware that she wasn't a perfect fit. It's not a slam to her talent or career. Not everyone is ideal for every role. (I didn't like Lupone as Joanne, perhaps for similar reasons. I never saw her on the Upper East Side, never saw Joanne's bio, trajectory, or lifestyle, just a star in a role.) The idea of every major musical theater star being able to play every role is fan- rather than sober, creative decision-based. Not that anyone here has pressed the case for the Buckley Witch.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, I'm aware about cast changes being common, I guess I'm just surprised I had never heard about Buckley being in the role. Of course Buckley, and certainly Peters, were bigger names than Ellen Foley who was probably best known for Night Court and (vocally anyway) for singing Paradise by the Dashboard Light with Meatloaf--and I got the impression originally they wanted to the Witch to be a bit more of a "rocker chick" than she ended up being, even if Foley later played the role as a replacement. I had just never heard of any major workshop staging between La Jolla and previews in New York, so found it interesting, (though maybe the OP meant rehearsals).

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

I agree with you, Auggie re Buckley playing the Witch (though I respectfully disagree with your thoughts on LuPone as Joanne, but I have similar complaints--of star playing rather than inhabiting a role--of her as other characters though). I cannot imagine Buckley being able to pull off the "Witch's Rap" with the kind of humor, wit, and magical charm that Peters gives that song. Same can be said for other numbers and specially the dialogue and bits that Bernadette Peters did so perfectly. I'm sure Buckley would have pulled off "Last Midnight" or the aforementioned "Stay With Me," but there's something about watching Peters' Witch go through those moments full of pathos and gravitas, after you have seen her so seamlessly pull off the humor and lighter parts, it was truly one of her best performances in a career full of great performances.

[Leadingplayer]

There were two workshops in La Jolla. Buckley did the first. Ellen Foley the second.

[EricMontreal22]

Ah, thanks for the explanation. Was the Buckley one open to the general public too? I've heard a few different recordings of the LaJolla (two audios and one video), but they all feature Foley, even though there are changes in the show between them (but all have the brief bit with the pigs--which was pointlessly added back for the revival, etc).

[Leadingplayer]

I don't think Buckley's was open to the public. I don't think it was a complete show then...may have just been one act.

[FlowerChild67]

Actually, she did! Eventually.... I'm not sure why she was replaced, but about a year into it's run, she replaced one of the other NUMEROUS actresses who played the witch. (She was actually the Witch my mom saw when she saw the show on Broadway, and she actually said that as much as she loves Bernadette Peters, she liked Buckly's interpretation very, very much :))

[dramamama611]

Which "she" are you referring to? Ellen Foley or Buckley? (impossible to tell from your post)

Yes, Foley played the role.
Replacement List from IBDB

[westcoast_wannabe]

I'm sorry FlowerChild but your mother must be mistaken. Buckley never played the Witch on Broadway, or in any other fully produced production of Into the Woods.

[best12bars]

It's not as easy to replace actors in workshops as you think. Most of them, especially the leads, and especially any "names," but often even the chorus members, are on "right of refusal" contracts.

Workshops are done for little or no money at all while they hone the show, so the only thing producers can offer actors as an enticing carrot is a contractual "guarantee" of sorts or at least a financial commitment to use them should the show move forward into a full-scale production.

If an actor is on one of these (typical) workshop contracts, they have to be "bought out" of it if the production moves ahead without them.

So while it does happen, it's not cheap to do it, and producers have to think long and hard about who they hire for their original workshops, for that reason.

[Jon]

I sasw Foley at the end fo the Broadway run. She was delightful.

As for Murphy not being "glam" enough, check out the video clip that accompanies the NY Times review. She looks absolutely stunning in the infamous "green dyed wedding gown".

[dramamama611]

Westcoast -- I think the poster meant that Ellen Foley played the role. If he clicked "reply to message" on one of the posts about her, we'd have no way to see that. (but most people assume we can tell)

[best12bars]

Foley was replaced for one reason alone ... they wanted a bigger and more "reputable" name in the part to open the show in NY. It had nothing to do with her talent. A very similar situation as to why Stephanie J. Block was replaced with Idina Menzel. They were worried that they needed a "New York name" of sorts to carry the show.

That's why both Foley and Block eventually played the roles. It must have been a bitter pill to swallow, but at least they ended up playing the parts eventually.

[westcoast_wannabe]

Which is why Patti has a pool bought for her by Lord Loyd Webber. Lol

This is in response to the Best12Bars explaining being bought out.

[westcoast_wannabe]

Dramamama read FlowerChilds post again. It says that she liked Buckleys performance as the Witch on Broadway.

[FlowerChild67]

Westcoast_wannabe: whoops! No, I was mistaken. I meant Folley, but for whatever reason, I though it was Buckley. Can I use the it was 1 AM, and I spent the day at rehearsal and performing excuse? Sorry....

[followspot]

Gothampc: There's no way they can make Murphy look better than Adams.

Way.

[best12bars]

Amy Adams reminds me of "Sybil"'s mother in that horrifying TV movie with Sally Field.