#1
Posted: 11/29/09 at 8:24pm
My friend won the next to normal lotto this afternoon, and I agreed to accompany her. Shortly after, we found out Jessica Phillips would be on as Diana. If anyone here has followed my posts, you know that I'd seen her go on the night after the Tonys and absolutely hated her. At the time, I felt I was justified in using words like "disaster", "horrendous", and "train wreck" to describe her performance.
So, I went in to the matinee today with a lot of trepidation. However, after watching her performance this afternoon, I am pleased to do almost a 180 on her. I thought she was, for the most part, spectacular today.
Gone is the silly British accent, the smiling during I Miss the Mountains, the weird head bobbing during I Am the One. She's toned down the goofiness, and is now giving a really fantastic performance.
Her act 2 is absolutely flawless. From the moment she says, "And who are you?", I was with her. Just incredibly touching all the way through the second act. She knocks the music box scene out of the park. She brought a lot of depth and emotion to that scene, and actually looked she understood what was happening, as opposed to staring blankly like she did last time. To say that I was blown away by her in act 2 would be an understatement. She was just fantastic.
I still don't like a few of the choices she makes in act 1. I'm not sold on her rendition of I Miss the Mountains, which has too many "aahhs" for my taste, and she still overacts during Didn't I See this Movie. But, in the grand scheme of things, these are both minor quibbles. She's excellent during I Am The One, since she's no longer bobbing her head back and forth.
Her voice is, as I've always said, very strong. I really enjoyed the way she sang You Don't Know, I Dreamed a Dance, and Maybe.
Act 2 was definitely her stronger act. Like I said, she was flawless in the second act. I'm glad I got to see her again, if for no other reason than to erase the memory I had of her previously.
A friend reminded me of a comment I had made back when I saw her in June. I said that if Jessica Phillips ever improved to the point where I enjoyed her, I would make a $100 donation to Broadway Cares. So, because I'm a man of my word, I wrote the check just a short while ago:
So, I went in to the matinee today with a lot of trepidation. However, after watching her performance this afternoon, I am pleased to do almost a 180 on her. I thought she was, for the most part, spectacular today.
Gone is the silly British accent, the smiling during I Miss the Mountains, the weird head bobbing during I Am the One. She's toned down the goofiness, and is now giving a really fantastic performance.
Her act 2 is absolutely flawless. From the moment she says, "And who are you?", I was with her. Just incredibly touching all the way through the second act. She knocks the music box scene out of the park. She brought a lot of depth and emotion to that scene, and actually looked she understood what was happening, as opposed to staring blankly like she did last time. To say that I was blown away by her in act 2 would be an understatement. She was just fantastic.
I still don't like a few of the choices she makes in act 1. I'm not sold on her rendition of I Miss the Mountains, which has too many "aahhs" for my taste, and she still overacts during Didn't I See this Movie. But, in the grand scheme of things, these are both minor quibbles. She's excellent during I Am The One, since she's no longer bobbing her head back and forth.
Her voice is, as I've always said, very strong. I really enjoyed the way she sang You Don't Know, I Dreamed a Dance, and Maybe.
Act 2 was definitely her stronger act. Like I said, she was flawless in the second act. I'm glad I got to see her again, if for no other reason than to erase the memory I had of her previously.
A friend reminded me of a comment I had made back when I saw her in June. I said that if Jessica Phillips ever improved to the point where I enjoyed her, I would make a $100 donation to Broadway Cares. So, because I'm a man of my word, I wrote the check just a short while ago:
Updated On: 11/29/09 at 08:24 PM
Amazing. I want to see to her now.
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