Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
#0Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 5:48pm
its true - brooke shields is really replacing Donna Murphy.
how long til this show closes now??
shields to replace murphy
~*~ Little Boys Who Play With Fire Get Their Fingers Burned ~*~ Tanya (Mamma Mia)
bronxboundexpress
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/15/04
#1re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 5:51pmWhy is this show still playing. Will it be gone in Nov? This is exactly what I thought when LITTLE SHOP announced Joey Fatone. Updated On: 8/20/04 at 05:51 PM
#3re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 5:51pm
she wasnt so terrible in cabaret, but that role pretty much requires mediocre singing
NYadgal
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
#4re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 6:13pmI honestly don't see her in the role....but that's just my opinion.
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
popcultureboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/23/03
#5re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 6:18pmI thought her Sally Bowles was TERRIBLY sung. Her Maybe This Time, the one number that needs to be sung well, was bellowed and was so far out of tune it was practically back in tune again.
Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#6re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 6:29pmThat's a great line, I'm stealing it as I type.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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Ruffian
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/04
#7re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 6:33pm
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Watching Brooke act is like watching a Cardboard cut-out give it a try
#8re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 6:41pm
Sorry, but this is REALLY sad news... 
I totally agree that they should just close this when Donna leaves... I thought it was a great production. But Donna brought a lot to the show...
Born2cthelightsofbway
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/30/04
#9re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 7:09pmi seriously think the show will close the day she opens
"You alone can make my song take flight, it's over now, the Music of the Night!!!!!"
#10re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 7:21pm
ok ok ENOUGH. This is ridiculous!
When are you guys going to learn to give an actor or a show a chance to even open before throwing the knives?? It's just plain nastiness. Get over yourselves.
You can give a respectful review once you have seen the performance, but until then--SHUT UP! You are just being rude and disrespectful.
It's show BUSINESS.
Ruffian
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/04
#11re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 7:28pm
jrb....I have seen Brooke do her thing....she just isnt very talented, although she is a very nice person, so I will give her points for that
However, her acting is stiff beyond belief
jonartdesigns
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
#12re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 7:30pmin the same vein i good deal of you were dreading jennifer lauyra thompson in wicked and now she seems universally liked. I've heard the original wonderful town recording- i think shields can't be half as bad
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#13re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 7:38pm
JRB-I agree with you.
Although I dislike Brooke's acting you should wait until you see her in the show in question before trashing her performance.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#14re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:02pm
i agree with jrb-
i'm a HUGE fan of Donna, and i am kinda
upset with the decision of putting Brooke
in her place.
but
quite frankly
it's just plain show business.
I am not myself, but i become a character in itself, to only hope that my transformation is not of me, but of whom i characterize myself to be..
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#15re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:09pm
For me, it has nothing to do with Shields' acting or singing abilities, and everything to do with not being sure whether the show makes any sense with someone so beautiful in the role. Ruth is supposed to be the older, frumpier, "unmarriageable" older sister who gets upstaged and ignored by men whenever her pretty sister Eileen is around. Does it make any sense that men would fall over themselves to get to Eileen and ignore Ruth if Shields is playing her? Wouldn't men go crazy over BOTH of them?
For that reason, Shields' casting makes no sense to me. Aren't there any less attractive 40-ish comediennes out there (with a big enough "name" to sell tickets) who could have been recruited to take over this role for a few months?
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 8/21/04 at 08:09 PM
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#16re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:32pmLadies and Gentlemen...Broadway is now officially dead. Updated On: 8/20/04 at 08:32 PM
#17re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:37pmmorosco-I wouldn't go that far.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#18re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:38pm
Whatever happened to Cyndi Lauper? I thought there was an article that she was going to play Ruth...or was she just in talks?
Yeah! I'm back. After a few days in Canada...
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
BwayTheatre11
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/03
#19re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:48pmThose were just rumors.
CCM '10!
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#20re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 8:51pmYes, Shields is too beautiful for the role. But on Suddenly Susan, she did have an antic, social misfit quality to her that might work well. Ruth has a lot of dry, acerbic humor which might be more of a challenge for her. But still, it will be interesting to see how she does...
"Gif me the cobra jool!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#21re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 9:03pmI've never seen the show, but that's really depressing.
#22re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 9:11pm
How is it that Brooke Shields is thought to be too beautiful to be Ruth?
Donna Murphy is gorgeous, and she's brilliant in the role.
I starred in a short film called Magnetic Personality. Check it out!
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#23re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 9:28pm
First and foremost, the role requires a gifted Commedienne. Brook may not be gifted, but comedy, certainly, has been the arena wherein she's done her better work. Her series, though indifferently written, wasn't a stinker. Ruth was written for Roz Russell, and never really required the vocal chops that Murphy brought to the role. So that isn't the issue. What Brooke lacks is that bigger than life cynical worldview/star presence--and perhaps being believable as the less marriageable older sis, as has been posted here. I'd rather see the role go back to a comic -- say Andrea Martin, who is more my taste in the part. Or Tracy Ullman, who has vocal and comedic chops. And if you want a TV star -- if she could sing ... Patricia Heaton, on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND seems more right that Brooke, no? She began in the NY theater.
Brooke will sell tix for the Weisslers, but since Donna has made her mark, wouldn't it be fun to see the show really ... re-invented? You know, maybe with a black Ruth and Eileen? Jackee? Who's out there? Think about a black Ruth landing on "Swing" in act two and taking off the roof. The show could stand an injection of something brande new.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#24re: Brooke is really replacing Donna in Wonderful Town
Posted: 8/20/04 at 9:59pmThis whole 'too beautiful to be passed by' thing reminds me of when the movie Fatal Attraction came out, and everyone screamed 'No one would give up Anne Archer to have an affair with Glenn Close!' I think I recall what the result of the film was, however.
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