Top DreamCast Divas

There was recently an article on Playbill entitled PLAYBILL PICKS: Fantasy Casting, 11 Diva Performances We'd Love to Have Seen. They placed their favorite females in female roles across the ages [highlights: Bernadette Peters & Patti LuPone in Wicked, Liza Minnelli in Sunset Boulevard, Nathan Lane in Hairspray, & Betty Buckley in Evita]. While my DreamCasts tend to cast actors from different mediums as opposed to era, I loved this idea & decided to copycat. 

So, here is my list of Top-10 Female DreamCast Divas from the archives. 

10. Stacey Dash as Aida in AIDA 

AIDA is Disney’s watered-down interpretation of an opera, just as Clueless was a flighty interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Aida needs to convey a very real, but untapped strength. Stacey Dash is distractingly beautiful,but could pull off being more than just the prettiest face. 

AIDA DreamCast: 7.5.11

9. Gwyneth Paltrow as Mother in Ragtime 

Ms. Paltrow is the perfect picture of the classy, contemporary, Whole Foods, goop-livin', list-makin' Mother of the House.

Ragtime DreamCast: 4.20.11

8. Jennifer Garner as Ellen in Miss Saigon 

Her performance in Juno reminded me of Ellen's journey. Ellen can be played a million different ways, but I envision hers as: A steel magnolia who doesn't mind getting dirty, a wholly-devoted wife, who is strong despite herself, & a woman with the fiercest of maternal instincts.

Miss Saigon DreamCast: 5.21.11

7. Charlotte Gainsborough as Fosca in PASSION 

She played my favorite movie-version of Jane Eyre,which is a role that shares some of

the reactionary traits that Fosca must display: dealing with being pigeonholed due to gender, the result of being openly judged due to appearance, and the effect of isolation on one's person. Fosca is a similar character to Jane Eyre, except that she is physically ill, slightly crazy, & more emotionally aggressive.

Passion DreamCast: 12.4.11

6. Amy Adams/Isla Fisher as Daisy/Violet Hilton Side Show 

I always mix these two actresses up in my head, but have always appreciated their work. Isla Fisher seems to have the urgent & flamboyant undertone that Daisy demands, while Amy Adams has the sweet, hopeful, & passive demeanor Violet requires.

Side Show DreamCast: 6.3.11

5. Austin Scarlett as Angel in RENT

Angel needs to spin the loveliest web of an impression before his untimely exit, which is exactly what Austin Scarlett during Season 1 of Project Runway. He has an innocence & refreshing perspective, but knowingly faces his trials head-on.

RENT DreamCast: 5.15.11

4. Felicity Huffman as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd

She is a tough, cool, complicated actress that displays the roughened edges that dark humor demands. She displayed in Transamerica that she can unfold a character as the text presents new information, which is a necessity for Mrs. Lovett. Most importantly, she exhibits the strength & skill to play a woman who has spent years withholding her love towards a man.

Sweeney Todd DreamCast: 12.10.11

3. KIM CATRALL as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd.

Norma Desmond was always cast too old. She should be a very present 50-something lady with a strong sexual presence. And the knowledge of age, but not antiquity. In Sex & The City, she exhibited that urgent effort against aging & becoming obsolete.She also commanded & demanded center-stage attention, which is a defining characteristic of Ms. Desmond.

Sunset Blvd. DreamCast: 5.3.11

2. SURI CRUISE as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden 

She is finally old enough to star in something besides tabloids. Mary is a girl who is thrust into the world of the English moors after an isolated life in the foreign, unrelatable India. I think Suri could channel that feeling.

The Secret Garden DreamCast: 9.2.11

1. LADY GAGA as The Witch in Into the Woods

For only the most obvious reasons. Who else would have the creative competancy, respect for the work, & visionary chops to reign as one of Captain Sondheim's most beloved lady-part creations? I think Ms. Peters would approve. 

Into the Woods DreamCast 4.10.11

DreamCast: WICKED

I love WICKED. It is a completely unique musical that still holds appeal for a widespread demographic. It is also awesome for a musical to center around the friendship between two females rather than focusing primarily on a love story. Stephen Schwartz is a composer who always tries different tones & dynamics in his musicals; I don’t always love the choices he makes, but Wicked is a smart, innovative, contemporary musical that will be always be a staple in the Soundtracks section.



Emma Stone as Elphaba
Her performances have never disappointed.
I loved her in Easy A, Crazy Stupid Love,
Friends With Benefits, & The House Bunny.
She is a great actress & deserves an
all-star, shining, center-stage role.
She has found her niche in playing
a great girl trapped as undeserving underdog
who eventually comes into herself & shows her full potential.
The girl has also pulled off every hair color, so I'm sure she'd look good green.

Leeann Dearing as Glinda
She is my great friend
who is as equallystunning in her acting skills as she is physically.
Glinda could easily be played a flat glitter queen,
so the actress in the role has to fight that urge to play a bland blonde.
Leeann approaches her characters
with thoughtful intelligence as well as striking beauty.

Terry O’Quinn as The Wizard
The Wizard serves as leader & protector of the crazy culture of Oz,
which is a parallel sentiment to his character John Locke on Lost.
He somehow legitimizes the otherworldly &
performs with strong commitment & sense of character history.

Bradley Cooper as Fyioro

I like the idea of casting Fyioro older than his romantic counter-parts.

The song Dancing Through Life would be much more effective

if delivered from one who has already danced through life.

He is also the most charming actor ever,

which is Fyioro’s defining characteristic.

DreamCast: SWEENEY TODD

I've been on a SONDHEIM kick lately.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sweeney Todd

He is just an amazing actor. He especially excels at
conquering shadowy title-characters like Capote,
with confidence, color, & a slightly arrogant intention.
His physicality is perfect & always intentionally executed,
and it would be exciting to see him
reimagine one of the most imaginative title characters out there.

Felicity Huffman as Mrs. Nellie Lovett

She is a tough, cool, complicated actress that displays

the roughened edges that dark humor demands.

She displayed in Transamerica that she can unfold a character

as the text presents new information, which is a necessity for Mrs. Lovett.

Most importantly, she exhibits the strength & skill to play a woman

who has spent years withholding her love towards a man.

Allison Harvard as Johanna 
I know she is not an actress, but she is the perfect caged-bird.  

She has the crazy curious eyes, gothic look, & detached personality

that would result from living in an isolated world.

Johanna is a caricature more than a character,

so a creepy, Tim-Burton-esque-model seems like the perfect fit.

 

Christopher Walken as Judge Turpin

He is a master intimidator who inherently demands

the respect of both other actors & the audience.

His subtle nuances & intense energy would ensure

that Turpin was not performed as a blank, sinister villain.

Michael Cera as Anthony Hope

He could play the earnest, eager moments of

the first falling-into-love of a sweet young man,

While still making the audience fall in love with him,

He provided the same tone in

Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Superbad,

Arrested Development, & Paper Heart.

Catherine Keener as Beggar Woman

She is so beautiful, but it’s an innate beauty

that is not immediately overwhelming.

She could play the Beggar Woman,

while still revealing who Lucy Barker used to be.

T.R. Knight as Tobias Ragg
On Grey’s Anatomy, he created a character who exhibited
blind devotion to his loved ones.
That character trait is the backbone of Toby,
except Toby takes this dedication to a
heightened, slightly crazy level,
which would be a cool challenge for T.R.K. as an actor.

Michael Emerson as Beadle Bamford

His performance as Benjamin Linus on Lost has eternally solidified

my love for him as the wacked-out pseudo-villain.

It would be cool to see him as the

sinister assistant rather than the sinister ringmaster.

 

Michael C. Hall as Adolfo Pirelli

I first fell in love with this man when he played

the Emcee in the Broadway Revival of Cabaret.

He performed the role with a perfect accent while

equally accentuating the campy & intrinsically creepy facets

of his seemingly simple character.

DreamCast: PASSION

Passion is not the type of musical I usually gravitate towards. Upon first glance, it seems emotionally intense & potentially boring. Apparently, I'm not alone because it is the shortest-running musical to win the Tony for Best Musical. But this musical is Stephen Sondheim at his best & the quality of musical production outweighs the seemingly simple plotline. The writing & music lives up to the title: the music is brilliant & beautiful and I love the acknowledgement of the power of writing letters, especially love letters.

 

Jennifer Ehle as Clara
I loved her in Possession, Sunshine, and
(of course) Pride & Prejudice.
Clara is a part that could easily become
the over-simplified, period, lovestruck blond,
but I've never seen Jennifer Ehle create a shallow character.
In my mind, she is the plays the quintessential
female oppressed by the constraints of a different era.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Giorgio

I loved him on Grey's Anatomy & in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Those two roles are quite dissimilar from each other,
but both incorporate elements applicable to Giorgio's character.

This role would be great for him as an actor

because it would allow him to play the role of a

weaker man that those in which he's usually cast.

Also, he's hot.

Charlotte Gainsbourg as Fosca

She played my favorite movie-version of Jane Eyre,

which is a role that shares some of
the reactionary traits that Fosca must display:

dealing with being pigeonholed due to gender,

the result of being openly judged due to appearance,

and the effect of isolation on one's person.

Fosca is a similar character to Jane Eyre, except that she is

physically ill, slightly crazy, & more emotionally aggressive.

Just another love story, that's what they would claim.

Another simple love story. Aren't all of them the same?

Unhappiness can be seductive. How quickly pity turns to love.

DreamCast: After The Fair

After the Fair, set in late 1890s England, is the story of the tangled web that is woven when Edith, a bored married woman, begins to write love letters on behalf of her maid, Anna, to a young man with whom Anna has had a brief romance. The letters, Edith insists, are her words, but Anna's feelings. One of the interesting questions this musical raises is whether feelings can be separated from words. Can you feel something if you can't express it? Anna, charming as she is, is uneducated and limited in her ability to convey her feelings. Her brief (and physical) encounter with Charles is very different from the deeper, cerebral relationship Edith develops with him via letters. Which is more real? Which would he choose, if he had to? 

After The Fair: TalkinBroadway

Why I Love This Tiny Musical

• It reaffirms the power of letter-writing. At the end of the day, there really is nothing better than receiving a great, well-written letter. And if it's a love letter, all the better.
• With the love letters holding so much power over the plotline, there is a substantial amount of pressure for these love-letters to be exceptional. The beautiful text fulfills the expectations, but the fact that these love letters are placed to music of equal quality makes this the most authentically romantic musical I have ever encountered.
• In an opposing (but equally appreciated thought), this musical also brings to light the dangers that come with writing something meaningful rather than speaking it. It's ironic that this is such a solidly-set period piece because this message is so applicable to the contemporary, text-friendly audience.
• I love theatre being structured in a quadrangle [4-character] structure. This structure is becoming more common in plays, but I would love to see it applied to the musical theatre scene as well.

The Players

Bonnie Wright as Anna
I'm not a Harry Potter fan, so her face seemed familiar
but it was hard to pinpoint from where.
I like that vibe for Anna.
She has a manner & face that is
vaguely familiar & vaguely worldly, while still seeming
earnest, endearing, entrancing, & adorable.

James Franco as Charles Bradford
He immediately comes across as charming but with some depth.
If he could channel that sense of intensity with
a lazy rich-boy tone,
he would be a perfect casting as the
charismatic but ultimately disappointing beau.

Edward Herrmann as Arthur Harnham
Arthur's role is that of the unwaveringly strong, eternally oblivious,
but ultimately loving male provider.
He operates from the mentality that care-taking equals love,
but a love that is not always sufficient
to the complicated females in his life.
The distant, white-collar husband/father is a role that can easily fall flat,
but on he played & conquered a similar role on Gilmore Girls.

Sela Ward as Edith Harnham

I initially thought of her because of her physical resemblance to Michele Pawk.

And being a regular on CSI means that she knows how to play a thinker,

and Edith is nothing if not a

plotter, planner, & executor.

DreamCast: The Secret Garden

My Thoughts

This is an amazing & underappreciated musical that should be reproduced in tours/regional/community theatres much more frequently. I think the reason why it is a back-burner musical is due to the fact that it seems misleadingly like children’s theatre. I’m sure it is difficult to sell tickets to a children’s book turned musical that is actually so poignantly & applicable to the adult mind. Like Oliver! and Carousel, these musicals read as overly-sentimentalized if poorly directed or thematically misdirected.

The musical opens with the death of Mary's parents, which displaces her from India to the English Moors. Here she meets her Uncle Archibald, who is lost in grief over his dead wife Lily. Mary’s reminiscence of Lily compounded with Archibald’s grief drives him to eventually to run away to Paris. There is a thread of this story that acknowledges the physical displacement occurring in the face of grief. Whether it a choice or a forced relocation, the physical journey in the face of grief is a direct symbolic reflection of the journey that overcoming grief demands. Mary’s active pursuit of life despite grief pulls Archie back to allow him to “walk through the walls he’s hidden behind for years.”

To me, The Secret Garden is thematically a musical study & poetic homage to the reality of adjusting to a grief-stricken life. It accurately addresses the dismantling effect of an acute loss to the living victims. In this musical, the dead are not memories but present characters. This allows the audience to picture their presence, grieve their absence, and empathize with the characters.

Most stories build up to a climax. In The Secret Garden, we are seeing what happens in the aftermath of the climactic moment. The drama has already happened. Lily died, Mary’s parents died. The Secret Garden is almost like Seinfeld in that it is about nothing. But this nothing is a reflection of the absence of something: namely, the person whose death still haunts the one(s) left behind. The moral of this story is that grief is rightfully debilitating, but can somehow be overcome with time from the most unexpected string of catalysts.

The Players

Ralph Fiennes as Archibald Craven

In Wuthering Heights, he was a perfect brooding Heathcliffe.
In The English Patient, he showed that he can conquer
difficult physicalities in characters &
use them to project his performance.

Joseph Fiennes as Dr. Neville

In Shakespeare in Love, swooned silently & sacrificially,

and swallowed feelings of inappropriately directed love.

Those are the feelings that also drive Neville's quiet actions.

I would love to see actual brothers sing this song.

Natascha McElhone as Lily

I LOVE her on Californication.

She is entrancing English rose with a fittingly steel backbone.
And has the hauntingly beautiful thing down.

Suri Cruise as Mary Lennox

She is finally old enough to star in something besides tabloids.

Mary is a girl who is thrust into the world of the English moors
after an isolated life in the foreign, unrelatable India.
I think Suri could channel that feeling.

Chris Colfer as Colin Craven

I don't watch Glee, but a little bird suggested this casting.

I like it because his face has a sweetness to it. Colin is usually cast so frail,
but that physicality should be a result of circumstance. He could first appear sick,
but then go through a physical transformation to appear
alive & fresh in the finale.

Michael Cera as Dickon

He has a positive approachable energy that he brings to every part.

Dickon's first role is to provide companionship for Mary.
Michael Cera is always cast as
a guy who seems fun to hang out with.

He seems to play characters
(Juno, Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist,
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Arrested Development)
that find tiny details of life & make them interesting.

Which is exactly what transcribes between Mary & Dickon:
he introduces her to the unnoticed life around her &
awakens her senses & sense of self.

Ginnifer Goodwin as Martha

I've always had a soft spot for this girl.

She really does exemplify that girl-next-door thing
without being annoying or idealized.

I have liked her in a lot of performances,
Big Love & He's Just Not That Into You (no judgement),
but I have never seen her dominate.

Martha would be a great part to demonstrate her strengths.

Maulik Pancholy as Fakir

His role on 30 Rock proved his skill at
making small characters memorable.
Plus, he graduated from Northwestern's Theatre program, so props for being local.

Rose Byrne as Rose Lennox

I like that she looks like she could
be the sister Natascha McElhone,
as well as the mother of Suri Cruise.

She has a serious & earnest quality
that Rose requires as the concerned sister.

Sam Anderson as Ben Weatherstaff

My primary reasoning for this casting was Lost alumni loyalty.

As Bernard, he was hard-working, honest, & slightly dopey.
And those are the traits of a great gardener.

Kelly Bishop as Mrs. Medlock

She is a great actress & a most important Broadway alum
(1976 Tony for Best Supporting Actress in A Chorus Line)

Not to mention she is also a Gilmore Girls alum.
She is a strong, subtle actress who can play the icy matriarch
without being cold & bland.
Plus, she's so pretty.

DreamCast: AIDA

AIDA is an opera that was translated into a musical that could have been highly sensual show, but Disney had to sand that essential element down. The musical was a glorified cartoon at times. My imaginary movie would be more sensually-based & historically-relevant like Rome. But I do love some of the songs & Disney never fails in awesome spectacle, which is always appreciated onstage. I also love that AIDA has a very different tone than the typical Disney musical. At least this musical was based on an opera as opposed to the animated inspirations of Shrek, Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, & even the mighty Lion King.

 

The Players

Stacey Dash as Aida

AIDA is Disney’s watered-down interpretation of an opera.

Just as Clueless was a flighty interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma.

Aida needs to convey a very real, but untapped strength.

Stacey Dash is distractingly beautiful,

but could pull off being more than just the prettiest face.  

Jesse Williams as Radames

He could play the quintessential character of a male

sitting on the fence that a boy has to hop into manhood.

He seems masculine, but still insecure & growing into his manhood.

His crazy-pretty, enigmatic eyes make him seem

from a distant, different time & place.

I have the utmost faith in any Grey's Anatomy actor, &

Radames deserves to be presented as a complex character,

not just the man at the center of a love triangle.

Rashida Jones as Amneris

Why is this character always blonde?

Let’s try to be slightly realistic, Disney designers.

Cast a brunette as this Egyptian princess, at the very least.

On The Office, she played the potentially awesome partner

to a guy whose heart was just already taken.

Had he [Jim/Radames] not already met his soul mate [Pam/Aida],

she would have seemed like the perfect fit.

But losing both of those guys ended up serving as

a launching pad towards life as a stronger woman.

DreamCast: Blood Brothers

Blood Brothers just might be the best musical ever written. It is so thick & so poignant, especially for being penned in the 80s. I was lucky enough to see it in London & it was one of my Top-Ten Theatre Experiences. I love the dingy setting, the creepy undertones of the music, the quietly complicated characters, & the serious nature seasoned with perfect moments of light.

Jane Krakowski
Mrs. Johnstone
Something about her screams deadened potential.
I first met her on the soundtrack to Grand Hotel,
now she is associated more her with 30 Rock & Ally McBeal
(both positive associations, IMO).
But first impressions say it all: to me,
she will always be a quality & capable
musical theatre rockstar.

Michael Emerson

The Narrator
I apologize for the repetition,
but I can't stop casting this man in my imagination.
What an exceptional actor,
what a great &expressive face, &
what positive associations for me from the Lost years.

Laura Linney
Mrs. Lyons
For some reason, she plays the suburban crazy very well.
I liked that she had the same coloring as Jane Krakowski
because Mrs. Lyons should serve as a foil
of who Mrs. Johnstone could have been.
Mrs. Lyons is a symbol of Mrs. Johnstone's lost potential,
& requires an untouchable quality that Laura Linney could convey.

Jack McBrayer
Eddie
He has proven on 30 Rock that he is a smart actor.
It takes such articulated effort to play a believable idiot.
Not that Eddie is an idiot, but he is a man
whose mind has been simplified by the luxury of an easy lot.

Ellie Kemper
Linda

She has grown into one of my favorite character on The Office. 

I could see her though Mickey's eyes:

 as his familiar partner in crime.

I could see her through Eddie's eyes:

as a an idealized & eternally adored armpiece.

Jeremy Sisto
Mickey
He is a crazy great actor.
I first loved him in Clueless, but his work on Six Feet Under
solidified my confidence in his solid skills.
He has such a strong performance presence,
a strong & striking speaking voice, &
creates crazy, great characters out of nowhere.

DreamCast: Side Show

"some hidden magnet is bringing me back,

back to this strange little show..."

I remember randomly buying the 1997 soundtrack to Side Show at Borders,
but not expecting much from it.
It grew into one of my strange favorites.
No question, it is a strange subject matter for a musical
Siamese twins in the 1920s 
breaking out of a Freak Show to find success on the Vaudeville Stage,
and finding love along the way is a
disfamailiar & intriguing plotline.
But the feelings are so relatable, &
the story seems crazy but is largely based on reality.

It's a crazy musical with some great one-liners:  
an awesome infusion of artistically altered history,
and songs that are the makings of musical theatre classics.
It is a difficult show to perform well.
The product-ablity curve is scaled against it.
Mostly because it has a tiny but weighted cast who has
to have lungs of steel & chemistry that is just as strong.
(really, how does one cast the chemistry that exists between Siamese sisters?),
the huge degree of artistic license that can be intimidating,
and the thematic controversy that erupts
from strikingly familiar, uncomfortable, & universal chords.

It only ran 91 performances on Broadway,
but has lived on well through fanatic fans as well
as regional, college, & high school productions.


  The Players

Isla Fisher & Amy Adams

as Daisy & Violet Hilton

Disclaimer: credit where credit is due. Ironically enough,
this perfect sister casting decision was my own perfect sister's suggestion.

I always mix these two actresses up in my head,
but have always appreciated their work.
Isla Fisher seems to have the urgent & flamboyant
undertone that Daisy demands,
while Amy Adams has the sweet, hopeful, & passive
demeanor Violet requires.

Peter Krause as Buddy

On Six Feet Under, he had all the right Buddy characteristics down:
disheveled, charming earnest,
half-heartedly invested despite wanting to be fully-invested,
and an inherent strand of cowardice.

Eric Dane as Terry

He is so suave you can't help but distrust him.
Maybe he's generally a good guy,
but he complicates it with the intention of his energyy.

Isaiah Washington as Jake

On Grey's Anatomy, he always begged the question:
Why so serious?
Just like Jake.
He plays unwavering & dedicated well.
And seems good, but not necessarily likable.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

as The Ringmaster

This role gets back-burnered but it is so important.

He has the stage/screen presence to serve as a production's Ringmaster.

This part can be played as a bland predator,

or a narrator of sorts who

paints the picture of the reality of the freak show

He could pull off this amazing opening &

set the stage this show requires as our

Master of the Odditorium.

Queen City Theatre Company