Original choice for Frederick
It says in the trivia section that the original choice for Frederick died before filming. Who was the original choice?
shareI'll check in my Sondheim book at home. I thought he was dismissed because Taylor felt they didn't have "chemistry" (i.e., she perceived he was rude to her in some way on their first day of filming)
shareThanks, cookie. I'd appreciate the info.
shareThey may have even gone through two Fredericks, now that you mention it....I know Len Carriou (sp?) was cast in a real hurry, practically overnight, because the production was all set to go overseas and he'd at least done the role onstage before.
shareOkay, sorry it took me A WEEK to take 1 stupid book off the shelf, but I looked at my book Sondheim & Co. (1989) and it says Peter Finch was first announced to do Frederick...but he quit early on because he didn't want to work with Liz Taylor again. (They did Elephant Walk together in 1954.)
Then Robert Stephens was cast, but fired during rehearsals because he was supposedly "rude" to Taylor. (The cast rehearsed for 3 weeks before filming began.) (Also, Stephens says in the book he has NO IDEA what the offending incident supposedly was.)
Then the producer wanted Cary Grant, but Hal Prince said that wouldn't work, and finally asked the original actor from the stage production to rescue them all and fly in right away.
Thank you!
shareYou're welcome.
As far as I know, Frederick #2 (Robert Stephens) was never a well-known actor in America. He's most famous for playing Teddy, the sexy art teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). He was married to his costar from that, Maggie Smith.
He was married to his costar from that, Maggie Smith
Who played Desiree later. share
TheGuyWIthTheFeet wrote of Maggie Smith that she "played Desiree later."
No, she did not.
Actually, she did. In regional in Boston. My first boyfriend told me that one of his best nights in the theatre was seeing Maggie Smith in "A Little Night Music" and being taken back stage afterward to meet her.
shareYour boyfriend, I'm sorry, is misremembering. She didn't. That did not happen. I don't know what he's thinking of, but it didn't. Ask him to show you the program.
share[deleted]
I'd have chosen Frank Sinatra.
sharefinally asked the original actor from the stage production to rescue them all and fly in right away.
I know Hollywood likes to cast actors that have marquee clout, but I'm a bit surprised Cariou wasn't signed for the role in the first place, since he was such a natural for it.
(I also wish wish wish there'd been a film made - even if it was just a filmed stage performance - of him playing Sweeney. Sorry for going off on a tangent!)
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment. share
puirt-a-beul wrote:
"(I also wish wish wish there'd been a film made - even if it was just a filmed stage performance - of him playing Sweeney. Sorry for going off on a tangent!)"
There was a video filmed for the Theatre on Film and Tape (TOFT) archive of the Library for the Performing Arts in New York. You may view it there.
There were also a couple of bootleg videos that circulate. Not great quality, but better than nothing. And, yes, Cariou was by far the greatest Sweeney. At least I've seen no one else who has even come close to the depth, humor, variety, terror and visionary qualities that Cariou brought to the role.
There was a video filmed for the Theatre on Film and Tape (TOFT) archive of the Library for the Performing Arts in New York. You may view it there.
Oh, good to know. Thanks for that, AlanScottG.
Not so easy for me to get to see it, since I live on the other side of the planet, but you never know!
As it happens, I gave the Burton film of Sweeney a re-run a couple of night ago, and ye gods it's 'orrible!
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment. share
Wow, Cary Grant and Liz Taylor, that would have been some casting !
" You ain't running this place, Bert, WILLIAMS is!" Sgt Harris
cookiela2001 wrote
"Okay, sorry it took me A WEEK to take 1 stupid book off the shelf, but I looked at my book Sondheim & Co. (1989) and it says Peter Finch was first announced to do Frederick...but he quit early on because he didn't want to work with Liz Taylor again. (They did Elephant Walk together in 1954.) "
My copy of Sondheim & Co. says that Finch quit but gives no reason why. Perhaps some other book gives a reason why he quit, but if it says that in Sondheim & Co., I don't see it on the page where the casting of Fredrik is discussed.