Blind Items are Fun!

And, if they're about Follies, even more fun!

I confess I have a fascination with City Center Encores! as a whole. If it wasn't for them, people wouldn't hear of shows like Tenderloin and Purlie outside of my dad's basement office hutch.

Anyway, it's rare when they do Sondheim shows. And when it's a really well-known Sondheim show, like Follies, that's kind of cool. It's a terrible, dumb, poorly-conceived, "you people are seriously walking on hot coals" shit-type idea, and I can't stop reading up on rumors about it. I mean, the stuntcasting! The budget! The presumed clashing of egos not seen since the last time they did Follies at Lincoln Center and caught the whole thing on tape!

Here's what we do know. Victoria Clark is playing Sally Durant Plummer. Casey Nicholaw is directing, which probably means Mrs. Tottendale and Underling the Butler singing "Rain on the Roof" while doing a series of pointless spit-takes (I kid because I love).

If Sparky's right on, it means what I think: Cybill Shepherd is out as Carlotta Campion and Christine Baranski is in (this is the role Carol Burnett played last time, so it sounds totally unsurprising and weirdly good to me). Also, Donna Murphy and Michael McGrath, both of whom have Encores! credits up the ying-yang dating back to the Gold Rush days, are officially signed on as Phyllis Stone and Buddy Plummer.

And I honestly don't know how I feel about that. I thought McGrath's casting was wonderfully inevitable, to tell the truth, but more than some 'Chat-ters disagree with me.

And while I agree that he's not a "name" star - although he was nominated for a Tony Award, which sort of makes you a rock star in the theatre world and sort of doesn't - he really deserves to be cast as Buddy. It's a perfect role for him. It's in a perfect setting. All things considered, it's a happy coincidence that most of the roles he's played are already in Buddy's mold, only they don't have that underlying sense of desperation and dread. I don't know about you, but I'd like to see an all-around nice guy like McGrath toy around with his dark side.

I also confess I'm a bit biased because he plays Stephen Sondheim on the Forbidden Broadway CD. Incidentally, this isn't the one with "Buddy's Blues" on it. That was actually a different guy on a different Forbidden Broadway CD!

And "Sondheim's Blues" is still my favorite FB parody ever. Aside from "Grim Hotel" and "P.C. Show Boat," regardless.

Goddamn it, I love those CDs.

Anyway, that's three of the fabulously damaged four they have in the show, which leaves only one with a vacant spot to fill. That makes it open season:

There's an offer out to Ben. Not the actor previously rumored. They're aiming bigger.

The actor "previously rumored" was Tony nominee (and Tony nominating committee member) Stephen Bogardus. Which makes me think, good thing this isn't actually going to be on Broadway. If I was him, I'd nominate something like Times They are a'Changin' just to spite it.

Here are who I think "bigger" means (again, this is City Center Encores! Usually the "biggest" they can aim is Martin Short), as we're on the subject of "actors of a certain age" who can handle one Benjamin Stone:

Michael Cerveris - He's played just about every Sondheim-baritone role out there (Sweeney, Karl-Magnus) and playing Ben, who gets to have a nervous breakdown at the end of the show, would be a capper he so wonderfully deserves. Bonus points: He's done Encores! before (The Apple Tree), and he's worked with Clark (Titanic). Sondheim loves him, and he's about as "big" as star Broadway can get now. Also, Sweeney closed and he needs something to do, no matter how frivolous the commitment would be - about two weeks, tops. I wouldn't take his singing "The Road You Didn't Take" at Broadway Under the Stars this year as a minor hint.

Brian Stokes Mitchell - Cerveris' loss is Mitchell's gain: Whenever Encores! casts a well-known baritone in a lead role, and I ask my dad to guess, he always says Mitchell first. Also, the race-blind casting thing, in this show, would be considered pretty innovative for its time. I can't even think of the last time they used it. Maybe when Pearl Bailey was still alive?

Peter Gallagher - Assuming all of the episodes for this season of "The OC" are already filmed, he's usually the guy they call when they need a proven "name." Listen to his Pal Joey for any further proof. He's tops.

Malcolm Gets - Another name raided from the Encores! casting folder. He can fit the age and the type, but would anyone care?

James Naughton - The last time he starred in an Encores! show, it moved to Broadway, never stopped running, and he won a Tony Award for it.

Terrence Mann - He played Sheriff Earl Dodge in the Whorehouse benefit concert and hasn't exactly been hiding under a rock this whole time. He's also a two-time Tony nominee, and should at least get back to Broadway if his wife is already there.

Martin Short - See above.

Speculate about who's going to be a "Loveland" showgirl on the Comments board!