"Elisabeth" dream casting

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 6:31pm

I think the show "Elisabeth" would make a great Broadway show. It would be interesting and fun to discuss who could play which role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-A9xL_Qse4

 

Elisabeth: I think Sierra Boggess would be a great choice. The role needs a very strong belt combined with a very strong head voice. Caroline Bowman could be interesting too.

https://youtu.be/8FQSpNTT-_c?t=36s

 

Luigi Lucheni, Elisabeth's killer: No idea

https://youtu.be/E92J99xJ2cs?t=28s

 

Death: Ramin Karimloo (if he works on his pitch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjiID_zRCPc

 

Rudolf: Aaron Tveit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPuX31eBt6U

 

Sophie: Patti LuPone

https://youtu.be/rO-MWUtG_eo?t=1m6s

 

Any other ideas?

 

Updated On: 11/22/15 at 06:31 PM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 6:47pm

Everyone and their mother would agree with you on the Sierra casting, as they've been talking about it all day. Go check it out (although I'm assuming you already have) 

[gypsy101]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 12:47pm

why is Elisabeth something that is even being dreamcast? no offense but literally, who cares. it's never coming to Broadway why do people keep bringing it up.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 12:50pm

gypsy101 said: "why is Elisabeth something that is even being dreamcast? no offense but literally, who cares. it's never coming to Broadway why do people keep bringing it up."

Because it's fun to dreamcast anyways. That's...kind of the point of doing it.

Anyway, here's my cast:

Empress Elisabeth: Sierra Boggess (or Mary Michael Patterson)
Death: Aaron Tveit
Luigi Lucheni: Josh Young
Crown Prince Rudolf: Andy Mientus
Emperor Franz Joseph: Jeremy Stolle
Archduchess Sophie: Pia Douwes

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 9:11pm

Coming from someone who saw a professional production of the show a couple years ago in Vienna, this one should stay locked away in the Schobrunn vaults.  The only thing the show really had going for it was the set and costumes.

Question: Have you any of you trying to dream cast the show actually seen it? It's not exactly something that will sell to the masses here. The score is just your run of the mill post "Miss Saigon/Les Mis," snoozefest. I will say one thing, it wasn't as sleep inducing as Dr. Z, but it wasn't exactly the Visit either.

P.S. I may be one of few, but I really don't get the Sierra love. She has been mediocre at best every time that I have seen her.

Updated On: 11/24/15 at 09:11 PM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 10:09pm

TheLadyoftheWood said: "Coming from someone who saw a professional production of the show a couple years ago in Vienna, this one should stay in the locked away in Schobrunn vaults.  The only thing the show really had going for it was the set and costumes.
Question: Have you any of you trying to dream cast the show actually seen it? It's not exactly something that will sell to the masses here. The score is just your run of the mill post "Miss Saigon/Les Mis," snoozefest. I will say one thing, it wasn't as sleep inducing as Dr. Z, but it wasn't exactly the Visit either.P.S. I may be one of few, but I really don't get the Sierra love. She has been mediocre at best every time that I have seen her."

As a matter of fact, yes, I have seen the show and I even own a few cast recordings and listen to the music from time to time; the show has a firm spot as one of my favorite musicals and is one of the musicals (along with Tanz der Vampire) that inspired me to begin learning German and even go for a minor in it. And yeah, I do realize that the show would never sell here (and will likely never even have an English-language production), but as I said before, it's still fun to dreamcast and wonder what it would be like if it DID happen. There's no harm in coming up with dream cast lists (especially since the very term "dream cast" implies a sort of fantasy aspect to the whole thing and therefore an understanding that it probably won't happen), and quite frankly I don't know why you're being so hostile about it.

Also, I respectfully disagree with your assessment that the score is a "snoozefest." I think the music in this show is gorgeous.

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 7:09am

gypsy101 said: "why is Elisabeth something that is even being dreamcast? no offense but literally, who cares. it's never coming to Broadway why do people keep bringing it up.

 

"

Because the show is better than a lot of crap on Broadway today.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 7:42am

Given its success, I'm not sure why anyone would compare it unfavourably to The Visit, which was a major flop.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 8:07am

I don't really have a dream cast, but I do have thoughts about what the production should be like if it wanted to sell.

 

For starters, I really don't think Elisabeth's commercial possibilities on the English stage lie in the direction of Broadway. (Maybe the West End, but that’s a stretch.) I don't know the book or characters very well, except the barest bones of the plot, and what I've heard of the score sounds dated. (And -- most importantly -- it's hard to pin down which version to try to get into, because I know enough about the show to know that each production seems to have slightly different songs and running order, so every time a new production opens, a new recording comes out, and boy does that prove completely unhelpful to an American producer trying to get into it.)

 

But I can tell you this: without a hot well-known female star in the lead, or some rather amazing must-see buzz-generating staging, and those are very big maybes as X or "it" factors go, it wouldn't last 10 seconds on 43rd Street. Sissi is not well-known in America (many would confuse the title with the English queen of a similar name, and wonder why someone was trying to tell her story again when The Pirate Queen flopped), and the sad fact is that most (not all, but most) Americans don't like history lessons in their entertainment. Problem is, that's the crowd buying tickets these days. And the story is so rooted in European history and lore, and a historical figure that is so little-known in our country (she was and is an icon in Europe, but here she's a mere curiosity at best, unlike, say, Queen Elizabeth I or Marie Antoinette), that I just don't think the general American public would buy it.

 

Plus, regardless of the subject matter, the time just isn't right for a show of Elisabeth's tone and type of score. Of course, you could argue the question of how many people actually knew who Eva Peron was before Evita, or why Les Mis did so well for being a piece of French literature virtually unknown to the American theater-going public, but it was another time, another place. (If it helps you feel better, you can -- accurately -- say that we're not evolved enough to appreciate the story.)

 

I will concede this, though: if I had to pick a production of Elisabeth that might cross over best of all the possibilities, it would be the Stuttgart run. Of the seemingly endless variations, I feel that version easily has the best chance of going down well with an American audience: it included exposition of things that other versions don't explain (for example, Prince Rudolf, in his adult form, has more stage time and a somewhat proper introduction, compared to the Austrian version of the show where no sooner is he tossed onstage than he begins singing with Death almost right away; the Vienna version in general tends to have a lot of symbolism that causes head-scratching to the uninitiated), stylish scenery (including that revolving stage that also went up and down), beautiful costumes, and some great direction regarding characterization. Stuttgart, in my admittedly uneducated opinion, was the best production of the Dutch/German version, and would probably have the best chance of crossing over in America.

Updated On: 11/25/15 at 08:07 AM

[ILOHTFAHA (Aida Man)]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 9:03pm

Elisabeth - Sierra Boggess

Death - Aaron Tveit

Luigi Lucheni - Josh Young

Crown Prince Rudolf - Alex Boniello

Franz Joseph - Ramin Karimloo

 

Updated On: 11/25/15 at 09:03 PM

[evic]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 10:35pm

The musical was written for the great Pia Douwes and she is the one and only Elizabeth.  The show would and can never play Broadway..  But Cats is coming back....barf..  

[gypsy101]

Posted: 11/25/15 at 11:14pm

Eurotrash said: "Given its success, I'm not sure why anyone would compare it unfavourably to The Visit, which was a major flop."

 

what success are you even talking about

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/26/15 at 4:17pm

gypsy101 said: "what success are you even talking about"

 

I think he is talking about this, sold out in every country since '92:

 

1992 Vienna
1996 Takarazuka Revue
1996 Tokyo
1996 Budapest
1999 The Hague
1999 Karlstad
2000 Tokyo Revival
2001 Essen
2003 Vienna Revival
2005 Turku
2005 Stuttgart
2007 Japanese Tour
2006 Thun
2008 Berlin
2008 European Tour
2012 Seoul
2012 Osaka
2012 Seoul
2012 Vienna revival
2013 Korean Tour
2014 Shanghai
2015 Seoul

 

Updated On: 11/26/15 at 04:17 PM