My head hurts. Literally, but also because of all this.

[tenlittlebullets]

Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight.

-Ben Davis was fired because his voice was "too classical."
-Mandy Bruno was not fired, but left because of illness, vocal strain, and scheduling conflicts.
-Ann Harada is still there.
-Gary Beach is out on medical leave and will be temporarily replaced by Chip Zien.
-Ben Crawford is switching to the Brujon track and being made Valjean understudy because Victor Hawks is leaving.
-Drew Sarich is going to be playing Valjean for three months. God knows where Alex is going to be and whether he's coming back.
-Michael Minarik will be filling in as Grantaire for those three months.
-Robert Hunt is replacing Ben Davis as Javert.
-Megan McGinnis was going to replace Mandy as Eponine, then had the promotion yanked away from her, then got reinstated but fell ill and couldn't perform.
-Mandy Bruno, Ben Davis, Megan McGinnis, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and god knows who else have all been sick from the awful flu lurking in the theater that never goes away. This may or may not be surreptitiously tied to the fact that only one of them is in the show anymore.

The only possible conclusion is that there is some sort of radioactive mold growing in the dark recesses of the Broadhurst, which is making the actors sick and the casting team utterly fucking nuts. (It might also be responsible for Lea Salonga coming to musicals.net to chide us for spreading rumors. What dude, if you were a fan and you heard about all this cracked-out shit, wouldn't you be keeping a hawkeye on the rumor mill too?)

Comments

[alligatorandme.livejournal.com]

SO CRAZY. I swear no other show goes through this many cast changes.

Lea is good at the chiding. You should see some of her old posts on alt.fan.lea-salonga.

[prouvairesylvie.livejournal.com]

That is utterly insane. NO wonder you are headachey. Poor Ben Davis; fired for having too nice a voice. But Chip Zien? Isn't he the Baker in Into the Woods? I wonder what his Thenardier will be like.

[alligatorandme.livejournal.com]

That was him. He's a Sondheim darling.

[nowgoesquickly.livejournal.com]

Wow. So many Broadway performers have assistants to do their chiding for them. Lea Salonga follows through. I'm impressed.

[puddleduck3.livejournal.com]

Whaaaat? I haven't been keeping track at all but Salonga was on musicals.net?? What on earth did she say?

[mbs-bookworm.livejournal.com]

http://www.musicals.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=60034

[mmebahorel.livejournal.com]

You left out the rumour that John Owen Jones was coming over from London company. (whoever made that one up is the dumbest person alive)

I can start a new rumour! Hadley Fraser is taking over as Marius.

(seriously, i swear I saw Hadley walk in the stage door at the Broadhurst before the show yesterday and didn't see him come back out.)

Oh, another new rumour that I can start! Alex gave notice, and the reason Drew's contact is only three months is because the show is closing in October.

See, it's easy to spread rumours.

Is this also related to Aaron Lazar's illness issues? It was starting to sound similar but I wasn't really paying enough attention back in the day because much of my focus was on the pain and hilarity that was Daphne Rubin Vega as Fantine.

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Aaron was injured, not ill--but I heard from someone who was pretty close to the cast that TPTB treated him crappily for missing so many shows, and it might have contributed to him not renewing his contract; he was more-or-less better by the time he left, so I don't think he was leaving to recover. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that almost everyone in this production who's missed a lot of shows has left for one reason or another.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

I'm so sick of this! Jesus, Cammack, you fool.
Actually, hm... I'm a bit annoyed that Ben Crawford has switched tracks, as I'd love to see him as Javert whenever possible. I know he's got the range for Valjean, but he's just so good at what he's doing now!