Yesterday, Adam Feldman wrote on Facebook that "there is an alternate, better timeline in which Heather Headley is the dominant Broadway musical star of the twenty-first century." No one could argue with this. After Headley's barnstorming performance in "Aida," Headley sort of disappeared. Her few appearances--in "Dreamgirls," "The Color Purple," "Into the Woods"--have become the stuff of legend.
Headley has warned against the siren song of adulation. "If, when you're off the stage, you don't know who you are....you're in trouble." Headley spends most of her time in suburban Illinois.
Anyone who saw Headley as Sondheim's Witch can imagine how fiercely the director must have fought *against* the Patina Miller scenario. I'm sure Miller was fine. Heather Headley was earth-shaking.
The Witch is Sondheim's opportunity to revisit Madame Rose. Like Rose, the Witch is a weak leader. She is politically flawed. She cannot hear her subjects--so she cannot be a ruler. Even if she has worthwhile ideas, she sabotages herself with her obvious contempt.
I'm the hitch--
I'm what no one believes.
I'm the Witch.
You're all liars and thieves--
Like HIS father.
Like his son will be, too.
Oh, why bother?
You'll just do what you do....
Like Madame Rose, the Witch makes a surprising turn within her 11:00 number. Like Rose, the Witch addresses her *own* inadequate parent.
All right, Mother, when?
Lost the beans again.
Punish me the way you did then--
Give me claws and a hunch--
Just away from this bunch....
It's Sondheim's genius to catch us off guard. It is such a shock to hear the words: "All right, Mother, when?" It's a moment of insight. This Witch--so frightening--this Witch herself has been living in fear hour after hour after hour. She is just waiting for her next punishment from Mother.
Seeing Headley's Witch was a highlight of my theater "career."
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