From the March 5, 1999 issue of Backstage
("Bits & Bites"), courtesy of Noah:
At the party following the premiere of "Bright
Lights, Big City," I did
congratulate Adam Pascal, the raspy-voiced
blond Tony-nominated for his "Rent"
debut, on the bride he took Dec. 18, Cybele
Pascal. She rhymes! And what
songwriting singer can resist that? They
know where their rent check will be
coming from: Director Robert Falls, who,
while he was in town launching a
magnificent revival of "Death of a Salesman"
with his left hand, anointed
Pascal with his right to be his new Radames
in the Elton John - Tim Rice
retooling of "Aida" for Disney.
He'll join Heather ("The Lion King") Headley
as Aida and Sherie ("Over and Over") Scott
as Amneris -- two of the few who've
survived the show's disastrous Atlanta
launching.
"For the longest
time, I've been rejecting the idea of doing another
Broadway show," Pascal admits. "Then one
day I thought, 'Well, I've already
had success there. Why not stay there?
People accept me there, and nobody's
accepting me anywhere else so I might
as well stay where I'm liked.' So I just
went in and auditioned, then went back
and auditioned again, and it just came
together." The production timetable calls
for five weeks of rehearsals
starting in September; after that, the
show heads for Falls' home turf --
Chicago -- where it will play the newly
renovated Palace for eight weeks (Nov.
5 - Jan. 2) and then proceed on to Broadway
where it will open Feb. 11, 2000.
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