As I mentioned in another thread, Mackey is boring! She has a great soprano voice, perfect for an ingenue who sings pretty and does not much else, however, she lacks the comedic chops for Rosa, I call your attention to her numerous youtube videos of the crickets chirping when she was Glinda in Wicked.
I don't think Davie's age will be an issue. I think she'll read fairly young in the costumes and all, and Rosa's innocence and humor are more tied to the comedic choices that are made rather than physical appearance.
Does anyone think they're going to bother changing the lobby poster? I can't imagine them making any changes to anything else with how little time they have left in the run, but having a very large poster of Betsy Wolfe staring at you when she is no longer in the show is sort of odd. Though I guess she and Davie look enough alike, most won't notice or care.
Kelly2- You captured my thoughts on the character of Rosa Bud perfectly! I also was thinking the same thing about the posters! I doubt they'll bother to change the show's window card, but I think they may perhaps re-do her lobby poster, what's one poster, but Roundabout may think the same thing I just stated and not change it- we'll see! Looking forward to catching it again before the end of the run. I must say your passion of "Drood" is always great and I love following your posts! I also have a friend in this, I wish for him, and the rest of the cast, the run wasn't ending it truly is s superb production more people need to see!
I don't think Erin's age will be an issue--what is she, 35? Patti Cohenour was 33 or 34 when the original production premiered.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Erin Davie is a funny, quirky, performer who is quite enjoyable to watch onstage. It took her a little while to find her footing as Charlotte, but once she did (after the show opened, unfortunately), she was really quite good.
Erin Mackey has a gorgeous voice, but every single performance of hers I've seen has been about as exciting as watching paint dry. A horribly boring performer.
"Kelly2- You captured my thoughts on the character of Rosa Bud perfectly! I also was thinking the same thing about the posters! I doubt they'll bother to change the show's window card, but I think they may perhaps re-do her lobby poster, what's one poster, but Roundabout may think the same thing I just stated and not change it- we'll see! Looking forward to catching it again before the end of the run. I must say your passion of "Drood" is always great and I love following your posts! I also have a friend in this, I wish for him, and the rest of the cast, the run wasn't ending it truly is s superb production more people need to see!"
Thanks Phillytheatreguy! What can I say, I am totally charmed by this show, no shame in it. :) I hope they redo her lobby poster just because I think doing all those litle extra things, writing bios for their Music Hall characters, etc. really helped this current cast get into their roles a little more and flesh out their backstory. Since Erin won't have the full rehearsal process that the original company had, it'd be nice for her to be able to do some of the things the others did and get into the spirit of the show a bit!
Who knows, nothing is ever impossible, I'll keep wishing for an extension, even though I know the odds are slim.
Erin Davie is early 30s, and Will Chase early 40s. What's the issue...? She looks 20s onstage imho. Looking forward to seeing what she does with the role myself. She's hysterical.
I think the controversy stems from that within the context of the show, Rosa Bud is supposed to be 18 years old. However, since this isn't an adaptation of the Dickens novel, but rather an adaptation of the novel as put on by actors in a Music Hall, I think the age isn't anywhere near as important as the comedy and the character.