From August to Wicked

“At about 10:30 in the morning, I got a text message from Jane Grey, the stage manager at August: Osage County, that said, ‘Liz is out sick. Come play with us for the last day,’” Rondi Reed begins. Elizabeth Ashley, who had been playing Mattie Fae opposite Phylicia Rashad as matriarch Violet Weston, had been under the weather for several days and would be unable to do the final show of Tracy Letts’ three-and-a-half-hour epic family drama. A skeptical Reed called Wicked producer David Stone. “I said, ‘I’m so sorry to bother you on Sunday morning, I know this sounds crazy but…’ There was a pause, and David said, ‘I think that would be fine! Go do August, and then come doWicked for the Actors’ Fund.”

With Stone’s blessing, Reed called Grey back and said, “I have to know that this is okay with Phylicia and the standby for the role. I have nothing but respect for Ms. Rashad, and I don’t want to have a novelty [casting] thing turn into something bad for the show. “This is what I love and adore about Broadway: Everyone is a consummate professional. InWicked, I’ve seen something happen and they send the next girl on and it goes off like silk. That’s a tribute to the level of expertise in the way these shows are run by the cast and crew and management.” But Reed admits, her two-show day on June 28, 2009, “felt pretty special. Now that I’ve woken up and walked my dog, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, that really didhappen!’”
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Posted in Uncategorized on June 30, 2009

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