High-baritonne
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the perfect cast?Which cast would be your dream cast?
Mine would be:
Helen Sjöholm - Florence Vassey
Anders Ekborg - Freddie Trumper
Tommy Körberg - Anatoly Sergievsky
Norm Lewis - Alexander Molokov
Marcia Mitzman - Svetlana Sergievsky
James Graeme - Arbiter
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Jekkienumber24601
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Anatoly: Robert Evan
Florence: Judy Khun
Freddie: Adam Pascal
Molokov: Simon Clark
Walter: Jonathan Dokuchitz
Svetlana: Julia Murney
Arbiter: Raul Esparza
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Salome
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Florence....Judy Kuhn
Freddy..Phillip Casnof
Anatoly..David Carroll
Arbiter...Raul Esparza
Molokov...Harry Goz
Walter...Kevin Colson
Svetlana...Alice Ripley
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Jekkienumber24601
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ok let's try this.
Who thinks Raul Esparza is just the best Arbiter and people shouldn't even vote for that character?
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Mademoiselle Lanoire
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Florence - Judy Kuhn
Freddy - Undecided. I like Phillip Casnoff, I like Adam Pascal, I like Anders Ekborg. I don't have any strong favorite.
Anatoly - Tommy Korberg
Svetlana - Josefin Nilsson
Molokov - Per Myberg. He's the only one that doesn't annoy me in the role.
Walter - no preference
the Arbiter - no preference
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Salome
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How can you saw the late great Harry Goz or Dennis Quilley annoy you as Molokov?? no one ever played KGB as well as Goz.
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Cadriel
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This is the cast I'd want to see if they brought it back to Broadway today:
Florence - Lauren Kennedy. I know she played Florence in an Atlanta production back in '99, and I'd love to see that performance.
Anatoly - Bryan Stokes Mitchell. Saw him in Man of La Mancha, he has a wonderful voice and would nail the part. I believe in Anatoly as a leading man type of role, and Mitchell is often called "the last leading man".
Freddie - Raul Esparza. The man's got a great, distinctive rock voice and I think he would knock the part of Freddie out of the park.
Molokov - Shuler Hensley. He won a Tony for his work in Oklahoma, and has the voice, charisma and stage presence for Molokov. Don't know how it fits in his vocal range.
Svetlana - I'm not going to put a performer here. I think Svetlana should be cast as an alto, and I can't think of any particular actress I'm dying to see in the role.
Walter - Also not going to name this one. Should be picked on presence and appropriateness.
Arbiter - Anthony Stewart Head. The Arbiter is actually within his vocal range, and I think he'd be so pitch-perfect for an uptight British Arbiter.
My all-time dream cast:
Florence - Helen Sjöholm. (Stockholm) Brilliant performance in every way. You couldn't do better.
Anatoly - Tommy Körberg. (London) His Stockholm take on the role was good, but in London it was the top of his career in both singing and acting.
Freddie - Philip Casnoff. (Broadway) Best singer and actor to tackle the role. He made the Broadway Freddie almost human -- a titanic feat.
Svetlana - Maria Mercedes. (Sydney) A gorgeous voice, a great contrast to a lot of the Svetlanas you could almost miss.
Molokov - Hal Goz (Broadway) The man deserves all the respect. It's a crime he was barely on the recording.
Walter - Kevin Colson (London) An even greater shame that he was not recorded. Got snapped up for "Aspects of Love," where his performance was perserved, quite well I might add.
Arbiter - Raul Esparza (BCEFA concert) Yeah, he's got it.
- Wayne
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Jekkienumber24601
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| Salome wrote: | | How can you saw the late great Harry Goz or Dennis Quilley annoy you as Molokov?? no one ever played KGB as well as Goz. |
they're both fine. I prefer the Danish one personally, but they're all good. Harry Goz was hilarious in my opinion which may not be a good thing for Molokov. Especially that famous "Vonderful we all made up"
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Mademoiselle Lanoire
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I don't know consciously what annoys me about them ... they just do, at some level.
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Salome
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Cadriel..although I find Shuyler Hensley a very talented actor..his whole style and acting type is wrong for the crafty Molokov. He isnt the type at all.
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Jekkienumber24601
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It works fine in his range, but I agree he's not the right choice. I'm thinking Alfred Molina, lol (tevye is my prime example of a good molokov) Also Raul is amazing with his rock tenor voice, but I know that his highest note is a B, whilst Freddie needs a C to a C# unless it was the swedish version which goes to a B
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Jekkienumber24601
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oh and I didn't realize Harry Goz was in two by two with Danny Kaye
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Salome
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Goz sings the shows best song
"As Far As I'm Concerned" with Trish O"Neill.
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Jekkienumber24601
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yeah. though I like "something that you like"...mainly cause it was the first song I was paid to make a music track for.
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The REAL Ciaron
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Did any of you actually see Judy play Florence? I did. She sucked
The best Florence was Emma Kershaw.
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Salome
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I saw Judy on broadway and in the swedish concert. Jusy IS Florence Vassey. perfect performance. gutsy,emotional. on edge. no one came close.
plus she was nominated for a Tony in a very tough year. so she deserved that nod.
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Jekkienumber24601
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ok.
Now I have to say Kevin Earely is easily the best Anatoly.
Ty Taylor vs. Murray Head is like comparing Carl Anderson to Murray Head. The black guy is always better. lol
The choreographer was the guy who did Footloose on broadway so the arbiter number was pretty awesome. Even though Matthew Morrison pulled off too many Micheal Jackson moves. great voice though
Florence was short. Really short, but great acting and singing. I guess she was the OBC little red riding hood/rapunzel/snow white in Into the Woods.
Susan Egan was perfect as Svetlana, though her voice seemed a little raspy during someone elses story. I kinda felt sick from the cold air too.
Molokov was good, nothing spectaculer.
Walter was a revelation. I expected to hate any baritone who played Walter and was over the age of 35 but this guy was really sauve and cool. US vs. USSR was staged brilliantly.
This concert used the script from the Josh Groban/Julia Murney/Adam Pascal concert, but there were no scripts onstage. There was no chess board. plain stage with a bed and table and chairs on each level on each side. Full costumes. It worked really well. This is the closest I've seen chess to being perfect, though I still maintain that the London production is perfect. (this one had most of the london songs, but had Freddie Goes Metal, Someone Else's Story, & a mix of the Broadway and London Endgame. Anatoly loses, but we don't have to sit through the horrible "is he still in bed or in the shower" or "has better chances of winning the kentucky derby")
The concert was filmed so I'm sure it'll turn up on a broadway bootleg trade list in a couple of months and I'll be sure to get it, cause this is what anyone should wanna reference their production on.
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Salome
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question: I usully dislike any Walter under 45. why would you want him to be youngewr? he has a line "I used tro bew al iberal but that was back in the 60s.." he'd need to be at least 40.
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The REAL Ciaron
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| Salome wrote: | I saw Judy on broadway and in the swedish concert. Jusy IS Florence Vassey. perfect performance. gutsy,emotional. on edge. no one came close.
plus she was nominated for a Tony in a very tough year. so she deserved that nod. |
You saw her on Broadway? I didnt know that. Live?
She was so dull!!!
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Salome
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yes. live. and i was so moved by her honest performance. I cried my eyes out in her last scene with walter.
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Cadriel
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| Salome wrote: | I saw Judy on broadway and in the swedish concert. Jusy IS Florence Vassey. perfect performance. gutsy,emotional. on edge. no one came close.
plus she was nominated for a Tony in a very tough year. so she deserved that nod. |
I have to differ with this. I've seen the performance video at the Lincoln Center, and a number of women playing Florence with clear influence from Judy Kuhn's portrayal in the part, and I think it's quite far from an "ideal" performance as Florence, though not for any reasons that have to do with Judy Kuhn as an actress or singer. The direction was obnoxiously bad in the Broadway production, and the Florence that it created wasn't a coherent character. The character as conceived and acted in the book scenes was not the woman who was singing the songs. (There was a similar effect, though more pronounced, with Carolee Carmello in the US Tour.) Trevor Nunn had Kuhn play up the ingenue in Florence, which was totally wrong for the character. Act II, Scene 4 - "You and I" - is the clearest example of this, but it runs through the show. It's hard to think that this is the same woman who sings "Heaven Help My Heart," much less "Nobody's Side" or "I Know Him So Well."
This general syndrome -- excellent performances ruined by awful directorial vision -- plagued Broadway, particularly with Philip Casnoff's Freddie. Here you had one of the strongest singers and actors ever to tackle the part -- his vocal performance was sublime, and it's criminal that he wasn't recorded doing "Florence Quits" or "Freddie Goes Metal." And it was wasted on the most unappealing, unredeemable characterizations of Freddie possible. He was playing a caricature, and gave it his damnedest to make it a real character, but couldn't. I have no end of respect for Kuhn and Casnoff (not to mention David Carroll and Harry Goz, whose characters were not as badly mistreated by Nunn) for their Broadway portrayals, but I can't consider them to be the best Florence or Freddie. Which is a shame, because they're among the best performers to take on the roles.
- Wayne
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Jekkienumber24601
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| Salome wrote: | | question: I usully dislike any Walter under 45. why would you want him to be youngewr? he has a line "I used tro bew al iberal but that was back in the 60s.." he'd need to be at least 40. |
Yeah and in any good production of chess he doesn't have that line.
Our Walter is pretty darn good. I'm not sure how old he is but he looks 30 and he's australlian.
my new perfect cast. and understudys (or 2nd place winners)
Anatoly- Kevin Earley (u/s Stig Rossen)
Florence- Judy Khun (u/s Christine Noll)
Freddie- Adam Pascal (u/s Zubin Varla)
Svetlana- Susan Egan (u/s Alice Ripley)
Molokov- Simon Clark (u/s Thomas Griffith)
Walter- Tom Schmid (u/s Johnathan D)
Arbiter- Raul Esparza (u/s Matthew Morrison)
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Jekkienumber24601
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| Cadriel wrote: | | Salome wrote: | I saw Judy on broadway and in the swedish concert. Jusy IS Florence Vassey. perfect performance. gutsy,emotional. on edge. no one came close.
plus she was nominated for a Tony in a very tough year. so she deserved that nod. |
I have to differ with this. I've seen the performance video at the Lincoln Center, and a number of women playing Florence with clear influence from Judy Kuhn's portrayal in the part, and I think it's quite far from an "ideal" performance as Florence, though not for any reasons that have to do with Judy Kuhn as an actress or singer. The direction was obnoxiously bad in the Broadway production, and the Florence that it created wasn't a coherent character. The character as conceived and acted in the book scenes was not the woman who was singing the songs. (There was a similar effect, though more pronounced, with Carolee Carmello in the US Tour.) Trevor Nunn had Kuhn play up the ingenue in Florence, which was totally wrong for the character. Act II, Scene 4 - "You and I" - is the clearest example of this, but it runs through the show. It's hard to think that this is the same woman who sings "Heaven Help My Heart," much less "Nobody's Side" or "I Know Him So Well."
This general syndrome -- excellent performances ruined by awful directorial vision -- plagued Broadway, particularly with Philip Casnoff's Freddie. Here you had one of the strongest singers and actors ever to tackle the part -- his vocal performance was sublime, and it's criminal that he wasn't recorded doing "Florence Quits" or "Freddie Goes Metal." And it was wasted on the most unappealing, unredeemable characterizations of Freddie possible. He was playing a caricature, and gave it his damnedest to make it a real character, but couldn't. I have no end of respect for Kuhn and Casnoff (not to mention David Carroll and Harry Goz, whose characters were not as badly mistreated by Nunn) for their Broadway portrayals, but I can't consider them to be the best Florence or Freddie. Which is a shame, because they're among the best performers to take on the roles.
- Wayne |
Oh yeah. I hate Freddie in the broadway script. There's no redemption in his character at all. And lines like "my advice to the president, is the only utterence you believe from a Russian is when he farts" ruin the goodness that is the London Freddie.
And people don't get on my case on how Freddie shouldn't redeem himself after Pity the Child. It was the authors original intent and it is seen in the london production during Talking Chess that Freddie does seem to take things into perspective and even goes as far to help Anatoly.
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