We have another show tonight in our Broadway Across America season package. It is actually the second show of the new season, but the first one for us. We chose to skip the first one. I think it must have been a rough work week or something ... or it could have just been the show - Oliver.
While I am genetically inclined to worship musical theater ... when it involves child performers (especially in heavy doses) my interest level wanes significantly. And while I am sure the production of Oliver was wonderful... it just seem more torture than I could bear. Annie? Pull my fingernails off. The Sound of Music? More than bearable, but just have to get past "So Long, Farewell." Les Miserables? I have seen it at least 7 times and it is one of my all-time faves, but I would just as well see little Cosette be eaten by the Thenardiers before she gets around to squeaking out "Castle on a Cloud"...
But alas I digress... tonight's show (if you haven't figured it out by the title) is The Graduate. I am a slightly concerned. I am a big fan of the movie, but have not heard terribly kind things about the stage production. So have you guessed who is playing Mrs. Robinson? Well, you NY-ers get Kathleen Turner...here in AZ we get Morgan Fairchild! Yes, Morgan Fairchild of the 80s soaps Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest...and more recent appearances as Chandler Bing's mother on Friends (ironically Kathleen Turner played his father!) and those pesky Old Navy commercials. Now don't get me wrong... Fairchild is a fun and campy choice for the role... but it is also pretty typical of the B-list (C?) celebrities that tend to populate touring productions.
Other actresses who have played Mrs. Robinson in touring productions include Jerry Hall, Linda Gray, Kelly McGillis, and Lorraine Bracco. So I think we lucked out just fine. Hall has always struck me as incredibly dull. Gray, like Fairchild, would have been a nice throwback to 80s primetime soap TV... and didn't Sue Ellen have a romance with a young stud back in Dallas? McGillis would have been another blast from the past... but I'd rather see Tom Cruise's body circa the Top Gun days. Being a Sopranos fan, Bracco probably would have been my top choice... she seems like she would evoke that same smoky quality of Anne Bancroft and Kathleen Turner... though she is a bit wooden (though I am probably too accustomed to her as Dr. Melfi).
Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me?
Would you like me to seduce you?
Well Morgan give it your best shot!
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