Angela Lansbury, Aaron Lazar to Star in Anastasia Stage Reading

[E.Davis]

I just got chills imagining what the Ghost Waltz could look like in Once Upon A December. In the right hands this could really be special.

[Jordan Catalano]

I want to be in a coma and wake up when this opens so I don't have to wait another minute to see "Once Upon A December" on stage.

[DEClarke]

Jordan, I very much so agree with you!

[Jordan Catalano]

I just hope whoever ends up in the role of Anastasia sings "Figures dancing gracefully across my memory" instead of "Figures dancing graceuflly across my mammory", like Liz Callaway sings it.

[beautywickedlover]

It's too bad Bernadette Peters can't play Sophie unless she gained lots of weight or make her wear a fat suit like the actors in 'Shrek the Musical' do.

[E.Davis]

You don't want people dancing across her Mammory?

[Jordan Catalano]

Nah, I'm over my dancing mammary fetish.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Dear Angie:

Why aren't you doing more Movies?
Your early movie career produced incredible work and more promise than most huge Movie stars. Why haven't you played a Villianess in a Bond Movie? Any role Dame Judi can play, you can play better. There's an Oscar still waiting with your name on it!

L,
CPD
xxx

P.S. Could you also play the grifting mother of the Mentalist on THE MENTALIST?


Paul Esparza might actually be a good choice for this.
And Liz Callaway's mammories are lovely, she can sing about them all she likes.

[Will42]

Thank you so much! And so true about Dame Judi (with due all respect).

[E.Davis]

I just watched the sequence on youtube and I will be going you in the coma.

[EricMontreal22]

I could imagine Dark of the Night being the cut song, if one is cut. I agree--don't even try to do a stage Disney and incorporate Bartok. Frankly, I think it could work on stage without Rasputin at all, much like the original film, or else to keep him more as a bare minimum--maybe his presence lurking a bit, but not much else.

[Will42]

Lets not forget about Aaron Lazar. I only saw him in A Little Night Music and was very impressed by his voice, acting, ... and bare chest.
I'm sure he'll be great in the role.

[EricMontreal22]

To be utterly superficial, I never fully got the Lazer love. I guess he just doesn't do it for me--that said, oddly, he does seem like really good casting in the male lead for Anastasia, even if he does read a bit old, perhaps.

[Jordan Catalano]

I like Aaron but Dimitri is one of the only cartoon characters I want to f**k and I would have a total fangirl meltdown if Colin Donnell took that role on stage.

[Rainbowhigh23]

"I just watched the sequence on youtube and I will be going you in the coma"

I've gotten insomnia, darn it. Wish I could go into a coma until it opens. Why this hasn't been brought to the stage yet is beyond me.

(I ain't using those italics ever again!)

[PalJoey]

a 29-hour reading of ANASTASIA

Sounds awfully long, doesn't it?

[Will42]

Yeah, what does it mean and how does it work, exactly?

[E.Davis]

I was just thinking that Colin Donnell would be a great fit for the role. Isn't Dimitri supposed to be like 20-23?

[VSlader]

I think Jenn Damiano would make a great Anastasia.

[Yero my Hero]

A 29-hour reading is an Equity thing. It means that the actors are only hired for 29 hours of work (usually spread over a week of rehearsals) and the producers only have to pay a small stipend and no benefits. Most of these developmental readings you'll hear about will be called 29-hour readings.

This is different than a workshop, which is usually off book with staging and choreography and requires much more rehearsal time.

[JohnyBroadway]

Is Ashley Brown to old?

[Will42]

Thank you so much!

[CurtainPullDowner]

PJ, some actors are slow readers.

I don't get the Aaron love either but I'm ok with him baring his chest.

[BroadwayBound92]

I'm so ecstatic! Of course, it was pretty unavoidable wasn't it? The music team behind Ragtime AND Seussical? I mean, even the film itself screams musical-theatre. I'm glad that Angela will be playing Marie and, if the show ever makes it to the B'way, that she'll play her there to. Now, if we can just get Bernadette Peters to return for Sophie....

[sueb1863]

Somewhere on videotape I have the live production number from the 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade where they did the 'Rumor in St. Petersburg' number. It was lip-synced but it worked great live. The stage show should be pretty cool!

[Auggie27]

I do like those nice songs. Just listened to "Journey to the Past" last week, musically and lyrically one of the best "I Want" songs since a certain mermaid wanted to join life on dry land. If the show could be de-animated, made slightly darker and more real (despite the known truth about the Czar's daughter these days), it could be quite compelling. One of the best stories ever, and if it's not entirely true, it's a terrific fable. It has a plot stolen for many a soap, deservedly.