MCC Theater’s 2020 “Miscast” gala is its first to happen online, but in a way it’s an easy pivot. For years, the theater has posted performances from the star-studded live event on YouTube, where they have attracted quite a following.
Here, in alphabetical order, is a highly subjective list of “Miscast” favorites to check out.
“Anything Goes” (from “Anything Goes”)
If you loved Jonathan Groff as the foppish King George in “Hamilton,” you will find him irresistibly adorable in this deliriously silly, tap-happy 2012 homage to Sutton Foster, which has Groff playing Reno Sweeney, surrounded by a flock of dancers.
“A Boy Like That” (from “West Side Story”)
In the musical, the song belongs to Anita and Maria, so having men sing it sounds like a recipe for camp. But Lin-Manuel Miranda and Raúl Esparza’s 2014 duet isn’t a sendup — and that’s the source of its loveliness.
“I Am What I Am” (from “La Cage Aux Folles”)
Jennifer Holliday as Albin, the slighted half of a gay male couple divided about living openly? It’s probably not in the casting cards. But this song is Albin’s assertion of dignity, and that’s a universal human notion. At the 2017 gala, Holliday makes it her own exquisitely powerful affirmation, quite movingly.
“If I Were a Rich Man” (from “Fiddler on the Roof”)
Katrina Lenk, who was in previews as Bobbie in the gender-flipped “Company” when Broadway shut down, takes on another male role here, fiddling her way through Tevye’s most famous song. The 2018 number was her idea, and it is almost guaranteed to make you want to see her do the show.
“The Impossible Dream” (from “Man of La Mancha”)
The only part of this 2016 video that you should disregard is in the introduction, when Keala Settle says she would never be able to do the show justice. Hoping to see her play Don Quixote in a full production might be tilting at windmills — but her singing his anthem is an unequivocal victory.
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
