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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 17:23:19 GMT
Isn't Alexandra Burke a really obvious casting choice for this? Two leading roles in musicals, Strictly finalist whos role in The Bodyguard was made more dance heavy because of her casting, boosted sales of The Bodyguard and was the reason Sister Act sold as well as it did. The Strictly tour ends in Feburary... her name is as good as signed on the dotted line is my guess.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Dec 15, 2017 17:25:03 GMT
There is no dancing around Velma's choreography (get it?). Whoever plays Velma needs to be a very serious dancer to pull it off. Have you seen clips of Sam Barks' "performance" in the role? I was very impressed, it takes a genius to play that part without dancing a single step.
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Post by showtoones on Dec 15, 2017 17:26:14 GMT
Wasn't Joanna Riding in it already? Or Josefina Gabrielle? I always confuse these two. Any rate, Joanna is a bit unexciting as far as I'm concerned. I don't mind stunt/celebrity casting as long as they are good. Nicole sounds like she could be fun. The London production did have some good casts in it. Hello, did we all forget that God in the form of Chita Rivera played Roxy at the Adelphi in the late '90s?! Maria Friedman was fabulous, and from what I heard, Brooke Shields and Denise Van Outen were pretty amazing too. Joanna hasn't done it but Josefina did it for 4-5 stints through the years. She was excellent with Anna Jane Casey. Daniel Johnson is right that Nicole was fabulous in cats and would be fabulous in this. They need someone exciting - not that she would EVER do it but Gaga comes to mind.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 15, 2017 17:27:57 GMT
I am aware she played the part and that there are clips on YouTube, but haven't bothered. Luckily it was just a concert for a few days. She's all wrong for Velma, anyway. I always pictured Velma to be a girl who has been around the block..been there, done that, shot the bastard. Ironically, Roxy works well with a younger actress, when in reality she is supposed to be a bored housewife whose chance just passed her by.
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Post by showtoones on Dec 15, 2017 17:27:59 GMT
Or they could go real camp for Billy and get Michael Ball or Wayne Sleep? LOL
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 17:29:11 GMT
If anyone has seen 'The Twilight Zone' at the Almeida, I think we can all agree that Matthew Needham has got the role of Velma Kelly all sewn up.
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Post by ellie1981 on Dec 15, 2017 17:31:39 GMT
I’m getting flashbacks of when they had Kelly Osbourne as Mama Morton.
When I saw it the “celeb” was Maxwell Caulfield as Billy.
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Post by ali973 on Dec 15, 2017 17:32:18 GMT
Or they could go real camp for Billy and get Michael Ball or Wayne Sleep? LOL I think the camp/tacky route was taken for many many years. It's time for them to slightly redeem themselves and assemble an exciting cast worthy of a return.
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Post by Being Alive on Dec 15, 2017 17:40:31 GMT
Why has no one mentioned a Nolan yet?! Surely that's a done deal!!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 17:40:36 GMT
Or they could go real camp for Billy and get Michael Ball or Wayne Sleep? LOL Oh the jolly japes the person shoehorning Miss Ball into a pair of hot pants and fishnet stockings every night would have. One wrong move and he could take out the front half of the stalls. The gal's got class I'll give her that.* It would be worth the money though. That's what you have a premium priced seat for Miss Cameron Mackintosh. * See what I did there?
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Post by martin1965 on Dec 15, 2017 18:09:10 GMT
I wouldn't be surprised if Mr McFadden didn't make the leap back to MT from Strictly into this. Funny enough i mentioned to friends at wkd that i bet he had a show sorted for 2018! Could see him as Billy.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 15, 2017 18:27:01 GMT
Nicole Scherzinger must be delighted to know how many MT roles she gets hypothetically cast in, given that she’s only ever done a bit part in one musical where she sang one song.
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Post by andromedadench on Dec 15, 2017 18:32:54 GMT
On one hand, I do get the misgivings (to put it mildly) most of you have about Chicago's return, but on the other, I hope I'll get to see it again as it's both a wonderful show and a wonderful production when cast properly.
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Post by zak97 on Dec 15, 2017 18:57:42 GMT
If only Kenwright was producing, Marti Pellow would be part of the package...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 19:22:08 GMT
"These are the people who cast David Hasselhoff in a musical".
That being said, won't rush to buy a ticket, but I may enjoy seeing Chicago sometime next year.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 19:22:18 GMT
Nicole Scherzinger or Alexandra Burke would be great casting. Mica Paris would be a great Mama Morton.
Surprised they didn’t announce casting today so booking would pick up on Wednesday. They must announce it soon, probably new year, as it only opens in March. Hope it’s some great celebrity casting
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Post by Rory on Dec 15, 2017 19:38:10 GMT
On one hand, I do get the misgivings (to put it mildly) most of you have about Chicago's return, but on the other, I hope I'll get to see it again as it's both a wonderful show and a wonderful production when cast properly. I enjoyed it when I saw it years ago but it just became really gimmicky with the casting which seemed desperate. This talk about casting, whilst fun, has also slightly reminded me why I don't really want to see it come back to hog a good theatre. I loved The Exorcist personally so I'll be sorry to see it make way for Chicago. I just hope it gets to March 10th and completes its run. I think it deserves to.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 15, 2017 19:41:17 GMT
How about Scary Spice?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 19:44:33 GMT
Nicole Scherzinger must be delighted to know how many MT roles she gets hypothetically cast in, given that she’s only ever done a bit part in one musical where she sang one song. I'm fairness, she also did Rent at the Hollywood Bowl and sang Andrew Lloyd Webber on TV. She is on peoples radar so I'm not surprised she is Dreamcast alot. Not to mention for the most part she got great reviews for Cats and arguably she was the reason it was as successful as it was. So I'm nor surprised her name is brought up whenever star casting is.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 15, 2017 20:00:54 GMT
Nicole Scherzinger must be delighted to know how many MT roles she gets hypothetically cast in, given that she’s only ever done a bit part in one musical where she sang one song. I'm fairness, she also did Rent at the Hollywood Bowl and sang Andrew Lloyd Webber on TV. She is on peoples radar so I'm not surprised she is Dreamcast alot. Not to mention for the most part she got great reviews for Cats and arguably she was the reason it was as successful as it was. So I'm nor surprised her name is brought up whenever star casting is. And I totally agree that those things were successful. BUT she has not carried a long running musical (or a short running one for that matter), she has not done 7 perfs a week in a headlining role (one song in Cats and touring in the Dolls does not count) and she is unproven as an actress (unless anyone thinks those yoghurt ads are good). Yes, she might be great, I like her and Id like her to be amazing in something other than Muller Lite but I do think her name gets casually thrown into dream casts without much supporting evidence.
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Post by showtoones on Dec 15, 2017 20:41:11 GMT
Or they could go real camp for Billy and get Michael Ball or Wayne Sleep? LOL Oh the jolly japes the person shoehorning Miss Ball into a pair of hot pants and fishnet stockings every night would have. One wrong move and he could take out the front half of the stalls. The gal's got class I'll give her that.* It would be worth the money though. That's what you have a premium priced seat for Miss Cameron Mackintosh. * See what I did there? I think they should cast two men as Roxie and Velma...it would be a new take on the show and perfect for a revival of a revival. Or they can do it inthe John Doyle style and have everyone play instruments. LMFAO Kimberly Walsh and Cher Lloyd. Sorted.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 20:48:24 GMT
I think they should cast two men as Roxie and Velma...it would be a new take on the show
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Post by showtoones on Dec 15, 2017 22:02:41 GMT
It just occurred to be that Hannah Waddingham would be a fierce Velma - though not sure she could dance it?
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Post by Phantom of London on Dec 15, 2017 22:29:25 GMT
Could be worse, they could announce that Dirty Dancing is touring again.
I had a co-worker who went to New York recently and asked me “what about seeing Chicago, as he and his wife love the movie” I said to him “it’s a cheap to run tourist show,that pulls unexpected punters in from Times Square, the production qualities are low and you could see an exact replica of this show in Milton Keynes”, unfortunately he didn’t listen and was left dissapointed.
He then went down to Nashville and back to New York, where he caught Kinky Boots, which was the best show he has ever seen.
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Post by frontrowcentre on Dec 15, 2017 22:30:42 GMT
I love me some Beverley Knight but they cannot approach her to do this. She has given us no indication that she can dance (does the 6 minute beginning of Cats count?), and though they can always modify Roxy's dance bits as they have done for a dozen actresses, I don't think she's funny enough to pull it off. There is no dancing around Velma's choreography (get it?). Whoever plays Velma needs to be a very serious dancer to pull it off. Though Bev's All That Jazz could blow the roof off and she'd look hot in these costumes. You're right. And I don't think they ever stunt cast Velma in all the years it run in the West End
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