BWW Blog: (Some Of) My Quarantine Dream Castings

I've moved back to college, I've gotten the dreaded nasal swabs, I've stocked up on Goldfish and cereal, and now it's time to isolate. And wait. And slowly go insane. (I'm mostly kidding.) With all of this time in a room by myself, I've turned to the old standby, dream castings, to occupy my time. And let me tell you-I would pay good money to see any of these shows. So, without further ado, here are just a few of the castings I've dreamt up during quarantine.

1. Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Andrew Scott in Much Ado About Nothing

I'm a Fleabag fanatic, and I simply can't get enough of PWB and Andrew Scott together. Enter: Shakespeare's greatest comedy. Phoebe has the ability to effortlessly play the witty, dry, occasionally manic character of Beatrice, and everybody knows that Andrew can toe Benedick's line between cocky and lovestruck. Their drunken arguments and protestations would bring down the house, while their undeniable chemistry would undoubtedly lead to sparks flying. As they have shown again and again in Fleabag, they can go from heartbreaking, highly emotional moments to lighthearted hilarity in a matter of seconds, which is a necessity for Much Ado. West End, make this happen. And film it for National Theatre Live.

2. Patina Miller in Cabaret

Patina Miller's performance as the Leading Player in Pippin deserved every award it got. She was equally hilarious and terrifying, deftly executing the choreography and effortlessly singing her way through the score. It's that mix of scary-yet-electric that makes her the perfect candidate to play the Emcee in Cabaret. There is a slightly

menacing quality to the character that makes it truly great, and in moments such as "If You Could See Her," it is absolutely vital that the Emcee is able to take everyone for a walk in the park and then pull the rug out from under them. Everything the Emcee does must be sharp, precise, and vicious-something that Patina embodied to a T in Pippin.

3. Tom Hiddleston in Arcadia

Arcadia is one of my favorite plays and Tom Hiddleston has long been one of my favorite actors, so it should shock nobody that I want to make this crossover happen. I think that Tom has what it takes to pull off the charmingly arrogant Bernard Nightingale -a well-educated man who can't see past the end of his nose-without turning him into Bernard Nightmare. Thanks to his performances as Loki, we all know that he can make conceit lovable, and as a consummate theatre actor, this material is dense enough to give him something to really sink his teeth into. Pair him with an actress like Carey Mulligan or Lily James as Hannah Jarvis, and we're off to the races.

4. Eva Noblezada in Jesus Christ Superstar

I've been thinking about this one a lot, and there is nothing I'd like to see more than Eva Noblezada as Jesus Christ. Theatre is all about experimentation and subversion, and Eva has both the vocal cords and the charisma to pull off this performance. I'm picturing a staging similar to NBC's 2018 live broadcast, perhaps a little more punk, with lots of eyeliner and scaffolding. To that end, somebody like Broadway's resident rock star Adam Pascal would be the perfect candidate to play King Herod. Though the character only makes a brief appearance, Adam's incredible voice would surely make Herod's scenes memorable. This show would be one for the ages.

5. Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Christian Borle, and Renée Elise Goldsberry in Anastasia

There was an idea called the Anastasia dream casting. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. All in all, this show would be the Avengers of musical theatre. It all started when I realized just how much I wanted to see Aaron Tveit's take on Dmitry from the 2012 reading of the show. Then, I thought about Christian Borle bringing his energy and bombastic voice to "Learn to Do It" and "We'll Go From There." The pieces fell into place: Renée Elise Goldsberry as the fun-loving, strong-voiced Countess Lily, Laura Osnes as the sweet yet strong titular character in a reunion with her Hallmark movie co-star (shoutout to my friend Gretchen for this suggestion), and Ramin Karimloo reprising his role as the vengeful Gleb-nobody else can play it quite like him. Much like the Avengers, this casting may only ever exist in fantasy, but if we all think about it hard enough, we may manifest it. I would wait in line for hours to get a ticket to this show.

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