Darlings, I just found this out! Can you believe that this summer will mark the 50th--yes, 50!!!!!!!!--Anniversary of Free Shakespeare In The Park, at the Delacorte Theatre???????? And just what is the NYSF going to serve up this Season?
Well, for starters, that old Shakespeare comic standby, "As You Like It."
And--this is the real reason for excitement--the Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine musical, "Into The Woods"!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, my God, girls!!!!!!!!!!! Get ready for a media feeding frenzy!!!!!!!! Because this production is going to be THE thing to see in New York THIS Summer, and the Delacorte will be THE place to be!!!!!!!!!!!! Theater Queens of all shapes, sizes, and ages, heed me well--you better stake out your waiting spot NOW, because, no matter who they cast in it, (and I am sure there will be some interesting casting choices, as every actor worth his/her salt in NYC is going to want to audition or be submitted for it!!!!!) this is going to be the HOTTEST ticket of the Summer, and the HARDEST thing in the city to get into!!!!!!!! SO, you better start calling in your favors, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
As for me, I just don't know where to begin. I am dying to audition for this--but as what????? My coworker Steve would make a perfect Baker (the Chip Zien role), and, while I can still do, verbatim, the Witch's Rap, I have always had my eye on the role of Jack, because I know I could do a heartrending rendition of "Giants In The Sky." That's right, you bitches; at my STILL professional age of 24, and with the dark, natural and unnatural lighting as only can be provided by Summer at the Delacorte, you know damn well I would make a first rate male ingenue!!!!! I would even love to do Red Riding Hood, because I LOVE her song; there are so many decisions to be made. But the decision to do this show is one of the smartest moves the Delacorte has made in recent memory, because, next to "A Little Night Music," this is the Sondheim show that would be perfection if staged outdoors!!!!!!!!!!
Naturally, I am doing my vocal warm ups, just for that important audition, but I am also calling in my connections, because if I am not IN it, I have at least got to SEE it!!!!!!!!!!
Now, some of us remember how fabulous Bernadette Peters was as the Witch, morphing from a crone to a glamour queen. I can just visualize the Beautiful Witch played by Blythe Danner, but how do you get her to look ugly???????? It is just impossible!!!!!!!! Not that Bernadette was easy--she wasn't--but Blythe?????????
Dare we dream of Martha Plimpton as the Baker's Wife?????????? At an earlier point in her career, Martha would have nailed Red Riding Hood, but I think she is ready now for the Baker's Wife.
What about Meryl??????????? She could certainly do the Witch, but would she also be willing to do a sort of cameo as Jack's Mother, the Barbara Bryne role???????
How about the Princes????????? They have to be hunky and can sing!!!!!!! Who do we have that can encompass both???????? And how about Cinderella--dare we hope for Sutton Foster???????? And how about Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsisters--honey, I would be willing to play a bitch in drag!!!!!!!!! I do one out of drag, all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or even better, how about some of the top Drag Queens in town-_Charles Busch, Hedda Lettuce, Brini Maxwell--stepping into those roles??????????
But what a coup for the 50th Anniversary Summer!!!!!!!
"Look at your nails, look at your dress, people will laugh at you, nevertheless, you
still want to go to the Festival?"
Darlings, you BETTER believe it!!!!!!!!!! See you all there!!!!!!!!
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