Other Dean Jones/Larry Kert Situations

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Not exactly the same, but Barbara Cook was announced for the London workshop
(which I saw) and subsequent Broadway production of Carrie. Cook had the good
sense to quit the show and be replaced by Betty Buckley for the New York
opening/closing.

The only one I can think of offhand, was Judy Kaye replacing Madeline Kahn
in ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, and I'm not really sure of the reason. I seem
to remember hearing something about Madeline Kahn have trouble with her
voice and having to drop out.

I finally got my Company cast album DVD (I've had the VHS for years), and

was

thrilled by the commentary track, which cleared up once and for all what

really

happened with Dean Jones and Larry Kert. Nice to hear Pennebraker, Prince

and

Stritch, especially, say such nice things about Dean, after all the

malicious

gossip I've heard for three decades. My question is this--have there been
other high profile leading player replacements within the first couple of

weeks

of a Broadway run that you can name? And if so, what were the reasons for

the

replacement(s)?

Kahn had to take sick leave because the music was keyed to high for her, and she had vocal trouble. Thanks to some backstage sabotaging from Harold Prince and the producers, Kaye got rave reviews. Kahn asked them what they wanted her todo, and they said "to leave". In other words, she was FIRED>

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=Lainie Kazan was also replaced in THE WOMEN. (I saw her bubblebath
=though in the Philly tryout.) I understand that after the two firings
=she put a version of "I'm Still Here" with specialty lyrics into her
=nightclub act. ("I got through Michael Bennett?")
How many actresses were cast as Mabel Normand in "Mack & Mable" before
Bernadette Peters? I remember Kelly Garrett (whatever happened to her?)
complaining that she was promised an acting coach but never got one. She
just got fired for not acting the role well enough.
+===================================================================+
Frank Miller, 10086 Sunset Blvd., FABville
frnklin at mindspring dot com (please note correct email address, albeit spelled out)
Atlanta, GA
"Hey, guys, what's the big deal? We sing to the gorilla, and then we move on." --Rachel Davis Matthews Clark Frame Cory Cory Cory Hutchins, final episode, ANOTHER WORLD
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Marcia Lewis was hired after Garret, and was fired for some unknown reason (the story is that Gower Champion gave her the wrng rehersal call time, thus setting up a reason to fire her). Peters replaced lewis.

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How many actresses were cast as Mabel Normand in "Mack & Mable" before
Bernadette Peters? I remember Kelly Garrett (whatever happened to her?)
complaining that she was promised an acting coach but never got one. She
just got fired for not acting the role well enough.

Then there was the famous two-part saga of NO, NO, NANETTE in which history
In the initial 1924 production, the original Nanette and Jimmy (Phyllis
Cleveland and Skeets Gallagher) were fired on the pre-Broadway tour.
In the 1971 revival, the original Nanette (Carole Demas) was fired during
rehearsals, and replaced with Susan Watson (Demas rebounded by originating the
role of Sandy in GREASE). The original Jimmy (Hiram Sherman) took ill when the
musical opened out of town, and left the show under doctors' orders. Veteran
character actor Frank McHugh was rushed into the part, then fired after only a
few performances...enter Jack Gilford.
And the revival's original "Flora from Frisco" (K.C. Townsend) was fired
shortly after the show opened on Broadway.

Kelley Garrett passed away in 2013.

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Wasn't Judy Kaye the original understudy? I seem to recall she did the show
several times before Kahn finally left, with her first appearance being so
noteworthy it landed her on the cover of the N.Y. Post. It would seem foolish
for someone who got that sort of notice (and around N.Y. at that time, everyone
was talking about Kaye) to be abandoned for a bigger name.
When Cullum was later asked about the situation he said something to the effect
that he tried to save Kahn's spot, but Kaye was just too good. For her part,
Kahn always maintained she left the show because it was too taxing on her
voice.

When Kay won her tony awards, I wanted to vomit. Both times.