- Jon Hamm and Matt Bomer as the Princes.
- Kiernan Shipka (if she can sing), Anna Kendrick, or Amanda Seyfried as Red Riding Hood (depending on how young they want to go with that part).
- Sutton Foster as Cinderella (they're going to go with more recognizable names for The Witch and The Baker's Wife, you have to assume, with Streep probably leading the wishlist for The Witch, despite her dodgy vocals).
- Allison Janney or Imelda Staunton as Jack's Mother.
Friday, June 22, 2012
WE MUST BEGIN THE JOURNEY: Kind of buried in Nikki Finke's blurb indicating that the remake of The Thin Man has been delayed is news that Rob Marshall, who was attached, is probably going to move on and go ahead with the long in-development Into The Woods, with a start date late this year, which, of course, resulted in several of us exchanging fantasy casting ideas on Twitter. Because of the year-end start, will be tricky for those with network TV gigs to take large parts (so NPH as the Baker seems unlikely), but a few suggestions we came up with:
I think we casterbated this a few months ago, at which time I went on the record wanting John Barrowman as a Prince and Chris Colfer as Jack.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's probably too far to go just for the sake of a pun, but I'd love to see Idina Menzel and Christine Chenoweth as the Wicked Stepsisters.
I think we casterbated it for the Park production this summer, but a film is a whole different story.
ReplyDeleteI agree that John Barrowman as a Prince is a great idea, but it depends on how young they skew the production. Of course, John Barrowman as Cinderella's prince with Sutton as Cinderella would make me incredibly happy. ("We're so happy you're so happy! Just as long as you stay happy, we'll stay happy.")
ReplyDeleteI'm still going with Morgan Freeman as the Narrator.
ReplyDeleteBarrowman and Hamm for the princes would make me so very very happy. (Does Hamm sing?) And Sutton for Cinderella is perfect (damn, I want to hear her "On the Steps of the Palace"). Or if they went young with Red, they could do Sutton as Baker's Wife (her Bunheads role is showing her non-ingenue side) and Anna Kendrick as Cinderella.
ReplyDeleteYes, Chris Colfer for Jack, but keep Lea Michele far far away from this production.
Could they go with Catherine Zeta-Jones as the Witch? (She was great in Chicago, but I was very disappointed in her last Sondheim work - her Little Night Music on the Tonys was dreadful.) Bebe Neuwirth could do it, though I'm not a huge fan of hers. Reese Witherspoon was good as June Carter, and I'd love to see her act the Baker's Wife, if her singing chops are good enough for Sondheim. And Penelope Cruz was reportedly good in Nine (which I really need to see), and could potentially do Baker's Wife (too young for the Witch).
Thinking about who did a good job with Sondheim in Company: Stephen Colbert could be in there somewhere without a major singing role, probably as the Steward, and Miranda Plimpton could be a stepsister. I honestly don't remember how Christina Hendricks did, but she's a big name (big enough for the movies?) and could potentially do the Baker's Wife.
Jeff Bridges for the Narrator/Mysterious Man, if he can handle Sondheim. Or Victor Garber. Christine Baranski for the Stepmother. Anika Noni Rose could do a stepsister, or possibly Red. And can we please get Judi Dench in there? Maybe as the Giantess, though she doesn't sing. Other possible Giantesses and/or Red's Grandmothers: Chita Rivera, Angela Lansbury.
Lin-Manuel Miranda as the Baker.
ReplyDeleteAnother option for the Princes (especially if Hamm can't sing) would be NPH and Hugh Jackman -- their "Anything You Can Host I Can Host Better" number at last year's Tony's is basically an audition piece for "Agony."
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of Anna Kendrick as Red Riding Hood and Chris Colfer as Jack.
I would guess that unless she fails in her performance in the Shakespeare in the Park performance that Amy Adams would be the go-to for Cinderella. Also very possible they could go to Anne Hathaway for that or possibly for Rapunel. Evan Rachel Wood also has a great voice, so could be a possibility for Red Riding Hood.
Baker's Wife and the Witch are the two most difficult casting choices IMO. I think Kristin Chenoweth could get Baker's Wife and be great.
Adams is doing Baker's Wife in the Park, not Cinderella. She's also got a rather full dance card in terms of projects she's attached to/rumored to be doing, so might be tricky.
ReplyDeleteJackman would be good fun as a Prince or The Baker, but has the Wolverine sequel slated to start then.
I see Sutton as the Baker's Wife, not Cinderella. Idina Menzel as the Witch.
ReplyDeleteThat's weird. I don't see her as a Baker's Wife type at all.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I also think Christian Borle has the comic timing for the Baker.
ReplyDeleteHugh Laurie is free now. He might be a fun narrator.
ReplyDeleteI suggested Sutton because her voice is perfect for "On the Steps of the Palace," the clearness of her tone would be great for Sondheim, & she's good at musical (& physical) comedy.
ReplyDeleteThey'd hold Woods for Hugh if he wanted to do it, I bet.
ReplyDeleteSutton is Baker's Wife, in my mind, though I bet Amy Adams now feels she owns the part. Again, my money's on Marshall holding production for certain cast "gets."
I bet they'll go young for Little Red - like the Kiernan Shipka idea.
The Princes' part (depending on how they double it and handle the Wolf) could be a very quick shoot, as well. Baker and Witch are the folks who have the biggest time commitment, along with Narrator, though that depends on how/if they double that.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the Narrator will survive as an "on-screen" character. I could see them going the voice-over route and getting rid of the Narrator interacting with the characters. Feels like more of a stage conceit than film.
ReplyDelete