Word: miscasts
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...play remains the best of Shaw's early stage works. Lynn Redgrave as Vivie owns the current production with her crisp delivery and blowtorch shows of anger. As Mrs. Warren, Ruth Gordon is badly miscast. Her accent, when speaking of "the high-pocrisy of society," and her brassy manner belong less to the "manager" of a string of high-class brothels in Brussels and Vienna than to a Dodge City madam on the back lot at Universal Pictures...
ROGER O'BRIEN is miscast as Dick, the would-be stud who steals Kathy away from Bob. He should be a visual foil to Bob--both bigger and better looking, but though O'Brien speaks and moves smoothly, he doesn't have the physical presence to do justice to the part. In contrast, Tony Horowitz as Norman and Diane Sherlock as Shelley are marvelously convincing caricatures. Ethan Dmitrovsky plays Willis the landlord Archie Bunker-style; his dream monologue is the most haunting moment of the play...
...overpowers the singers at times, but this seems to be the fault of the cast--even when they were given ample room by the orchestra, many singers fail to take advantage of it. Katisha (Marcia Ragonetti) had one of the best voices in the company, but she was miscast if she wasn't willing to put aside some of the beauty of her voice and simply bellow out her lines. And Yum-Yum (Deborah Shaw) was clearly inadequate in places--she sang sweetly, but without sufficient strength. Most of the others were better suited to their roles--Ko-Ko (Dennis...
...flavor. Caron was a kind of wistful gamine, and that made her interpretation equally engaging in a different way. The current Gigi, Karin Wolfe, is a Barbie doll who has been programmed to sing, dance and fall in love with a chilling absence of presence Daniel Massey is also miscast as her suitor Gaston, a rich Parisian play-boy-about-town who discovers that little girl he used to pat on the head has grown into a young woman with a fierce hold on his heart. Massey displays about as much heart as the hero of a Restoration comedy...
RAQUEL WELCH is the only miscast member of the company. She is asked to play a good actress, but Sheila is her opportunity to prove that she is not. The two scenes in which she is called upon to act, and not merely pose in a bikini on the sundeck, are painful to watch...