Profile for lillebjorn

Just looked again at my previous message and I realized my comment sounded more demeaning to Stephen Boyer than I intended. It was more a response to those who felt that Alex Sharp's performance was aided by the technical creation of Christopher's mind and world. I should have added my 5 cents worth to that conversation by saying that, in my opinion, Boyer's excellent performance was aided by the puppet. It's hard to imagine how the performances without the technical brilliance of CI or the p...

It's a close thing but I'm rooting for Alex Sharp. Stephen Boyer is great but, to those who applaud his ability to switch between characters and have them be so well delineated, it may surprise you to know that is much easier to do this with a puppet - I used to be a puppeteer. It gets so the puppet character resides in the puppet and not the actor. This means the actor can make the switch between the human character and the puppet almost instantaneously which looks impressive. Mr Boyer is do...

I've been lucky enough to see both actors do the role and both of the performances are excellent, different from the other, and their choices are equally valid for the part. You won't be short-changed by seeing either.

The "simple fact" is North Carolina has for some years been, and still is, a purple state. The current Senate race is evenly poised. Yes, 61% of voters on the day voted for amendment 1. It should be noted that the day chosen by the NC Republican state leadership for the vote was Primary day in May 2012. Voter turnout for Primaries is dreadful everywhere and only the most motivated voters turn out. It would seem logical that more Republicans would turn out on Primary day as they were also choo...

I think, from the conversation I mentioned, that they still are using the same British with R's and will remain so. I asked my friend about the upcoming tour and they hadn't heard whether it will be the same dialect concept as NY or fully American. I hope not. I agree that Tim Minchin's lyrics and Dennis Kelly's book are so British that it could be a train-wreck just making it American.

I agree with AdamGreer. She deserves it!

By coincidence, I asked a friend in the show about this a few weeks ago and, apparently, it was a decision by the producers to change the Matildas' accent but not to change anyone else in the cast. I think the original decision was to Americanize them to a Mid-Atlantic accent! The reason given for the change was that the audience couldn't understand them. Halfway through the NewTilda rehearsals, the producers decided they sounded too American (!) and the coach shifted the accent to being pret...

It is on the East side of the building (furthest side from Waterloo Bridge).

I haven't seen it since the '80s (!) so the Gussie number must have been added after that. Clare Foster's accent was one of the 'awful' ones. And as for the actress who played Beth's mother... The accents were not good but I've heard worse in a major production this year. Merrily didn't list a dialect coach in the credits and it sounded like it.

I saw this production in London. The book made much more sense than in the version I saw previously though, for myself, I didn't like the addition of an nightclub in Paris/Cyd Charisse-esque number for Gussie. I'm racking my brain for the film that it reminded me of. There is more story and a clearer reverse (?) through line in the Menier show. The characters are more rounded and the actors in the main roles did a great job. If you're a Merrily fan, I think it's worth seeing. One caveat, but ...

The comments about diction in many threads were to do with not understanding lyrics during songs. The consensus seemed to be that it was more down to two things - bad sound and complex lyrics - and not the diction or the accent. I doubt the Matilda people would have sent the girls without having them work on the minimal lines.

Mattbrain, thanks for posting. CBS - what were you thinking? It's a disgraceful decision. It's so obvious - the V/O is older than the actress playing Matilda and is very poorly done. Mind you, they subtitled Princes William and Harry in a interview for CBS news so they have "previous" as my London friends say.

I'm not if producers are allowed to send a copy of the CR to Tony voters - though it could make sense - but I don't think the KB recording helps them in the Best Score fight. Some of the songs which worked well in the production don't do so well in audio only. I'm thinking especially of "History of Wrong Guys." Ms Ashford is channeling a lot of people, including Cyndi (I think) and as a consequence, to me at least, it sounds all over the place. As some have mentioned in the thread, the accent...

KathyNYC2 and Ohjustjake. I agree with you in that the sound on Matilda is poor and affects the clarity on some songs. I'm very happy that Matilda wasn't nominated for best sound. The accents aren't part of the problem, though. The consensus amongst professionals that I know - casting, actors, directors, producers... - is that the accents on Matilda are very good. Sorme even said excellent. On listening to the OCR, the kids are singing loud at the top of their ranges and that, when aggravated...

My choice would be Ebert over Chase. I like both performances and both actors but I would go for Ebert. I love the physical precision of his performance as much as I enjoyed the physical commitment in "One Man Two Guvners." What makes Ebert's work Tony worthy, for me, is the emotional depth he found in his performance of what could have been a two dimensional character. I don't know that it is to everyone's taste though...

Are you a triple threat in terms of singing, acting and dance? If your dance isn't really strong already and you want to do Musical Theatre, it may be worth considering acting programs who have a good singing component and a lot of movement. MT programs just don't have enough time to do everything well and acting is sometimes the strand that suffers. Juilliard has some greats actors who sing: Kevin Kline, Greg Jbara (Tony winner Billy Elliot), Gabe Ebert (Tony nominee Matilda). UNCSA has Wesl...

i didn't find much in the score when I saw the show but something in it made me get it and, for me, it grows with each listen. Which isn't something I think will happen with the Kinky Boots score. I agree with the reviewers who felt the kids songs suffered from too much treble and the kids singing at the top of their voices, both volume and pitch. The sound was bad when I saw it, though I hear it's got better, at least in the Matilda story parts.

I saw him with David Kelly in a wonderful Sunshine Boys at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. As the Irish say, a lovely man.

According to a british friend of mine, you can a tell when a Brit is singing American because they can't do their R's in the same way we do. And vice versa.