Profile for Mary_Poppins

Nick and Lea will perform at Miscast 26. Individually, it seems, i.e. not a duet.

April 27 at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Chess just finished recording.

Lea will be on Live with Kelly and Mark Thursday, Feb. 5

CATSNYrevival said:

"I’ll guessthe Friday before the Tonys."

I’ll guess that was a joke.

Pretty good interview with Nick:

https://playbill.com/article/nicholas-christopher-is-giving-a-star-making-performance-in-chess-on-broadway-hes-not-letting-it-get-to-his-head-though

GirlFromOz68 said: "In other news, a friend who still uses the hellsite aka X, told me that a few days ago the person running the Chess X account responded to someone asking for the cast album with good things come to those who wait. Hopefully this is a sign they might be recording it soon."

https://nitter.privacyredirect.com/mariabelle22/status/2007177691448172931#m

hope this access method works for everybody

mitchern said: "Any word if we're getting a cast recording?"

Post #176

Also, their ticket concierge hints at it when you ask for "recording".

You'd be much more credible if you didn't keep repeating this "constant high nasal belt" nonsense. For me that's the telltale sign.

It's worth noting that most of the top earners did 9 performances. Only Hamilton, MJ, Mamma Mia and Chess did not.

Not sure if it qualifies as a review but here's LMM's take after seeing Chess:

"I’m finding it impossible to describe @chessbway without sounding like Stefon or my boomer friends describing nights at Studio 54, but I’ll try:

This show has EVERYTHING: @aarontveit singing in his underwear and LEAPING into his pants, Russian chess champions, @leamichele living Rachel Berry’s wildest dreams and singing like an angel, @nikriz holding a note for about 45 minutes (between Nick and @joshuahenryofficial the Burr/Heights alums are EATING EVERYONE ELSE’S LUNCH this season), MVP @thisishannahcruz singing the sickest Act 2 reprise I’ve ever heard?, @thebrycecapades guiding us through the wildest mood swings with effortless humor and grace, Michael Mayer cranking the bass amp up to 11 (bravo @ianstagramiam and this band!), and the sexiest ensemble of super athletes anywhere.

I grew up on 80s musicals but somehow missed Chess entirely: forgive me, Sir Tim and Abba men, I was not familiar with your game. This score is ****ing insane and scratches an itch my geriatric millennial heart didn’t even realize needed scratching. It’s like if you grew up loving Pearl Jam and Soundgarden but had never heard Vedder and Cornell on Hunger Strike until just now. Or discovering The Voidz after a lifetime loving The Strokes. Am I even making sense anymore lol

Leave me ALONE I’m high aF on Chess and I don’t wanna come down

(Also Lea was nice enough to sign our Drama Book Shop copy of Brunette Ambition)"

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/lin_manuel/p/DSap_EElJrJ/?hl=en

Oh, of course, no dig at Idina. I consider it her signature sound, even though she doesn't always have it.

quizking101 said: "...going into a constant high nasal belt like Lea..."

"nasal" ?

So Idina gets lots of praise for her performance in that Chess concert. But Lea sounds "nasal"? What am I missing here?

FWIW, I asked the ticked concierge on the official Chess site: "recording"'

The answer:

"The official cast recording is not yet available. However, you can listen to three first listens from the cast:

[links to 3 demos]

"

Emphasis mine. They could chicken out of that but for now I consider that a weak confirmation that a cast recording will indeed happen sooner or later.

 

Lea's complete Christmas album on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mociXUUpdsOJ5TYi1y37BdkSqVtoRjGhY

Lea's channel with all 4 albums on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ8R1nNideivkrqDvvdMT-A

To my own surprise my favorite Christmas song from Lea is one that she wrote herself to a large extent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DudygHca9AY

very catchy tune with a 'classic' feel to it.

 

While Lea is a ridiculous Christmas fan let's not forget that she also has a Jewish side. Her father is Jewish and we may assume that she's currently out of Chess to celebrate Hanukkah with her husband's family in Philadelphia.

It's a little known fact that she once played the title role in a professional production of The Diary of Anne Frank in Washington, limited to a couple of month. Yes, the spoken word play, not a musical. Memory of this production has been slowly disappearing from the net but at the time she got quite favorable reviews of her performance from Jewish publications.

It's perhaps worth mentioning that, as a teenager, she worked in her father's Jewish deli and in a Bat Mitzvah shop.

What's better known is that she played Jewish kids in Fiddler On The Roof (during the pogroms) and the original production of Ragtime (just having escaped from the pogroms).

She played a Jewish girl in Glee and a Jewish woman in Funny Girl. The "Jewish nose" story line and other mentions in Glee were inspired by Lea's real life.

She went on Who Do You Think You Are to explore the Jewish part of her ancestry, only to find out that most of them were killed by the Nazis in Saloniki, Greece.

Apologies for my long winded way of explaining that even though Lea often refers to herself as Italian in public there's actually a lot of Jewishness in her.

Anti-Jewish terrorists have a habit of timing their atrocities to Jewish holidays. I hope Lea is still able to enjoy time with her family - and isn't asked too many questions by her son...

 

 

Dolly80 said: "I couldn’t make out a word he was singing when I saw this a couple of weeks ago. That whole number was so badly staged."

I understood at least 80% of the Bangkok bootleg and I'm not even a native speaker.

 

DramaTeach said: "Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness."

So this isn't sweet enough for you?

https://www.today.com/video/lea-michele-performs-heaven-help-my-heart-live-on-today-254231109942

In the video on Youtube that is sadly gone now she sings it even softer..

And regarding the loudness, there's also an audio on Tiktok of this song where you can hear various noises from the audience. Can't have been too loud.

 

Can you elaborate on that? I've always wondered why the League or individual shows have any interest to publish their numbers, especially when most of them do not recoup and they are usually reluctant to say much about the capitalization and running cost side of the equation.