Brooke Shields in "Wonderful Town" - How bad was she?- Page 2

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 4:40pm

lmao

like it matters

[bwayfan3]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 5:11pm

I saw Brooke and thought she did a great job. I also remember thinking this is not a role that a person would take on to show off their vocal prowess. It's just not vocally challenging enough that a really fabulous singer would need to be cast. So while I'm sure Donna was great, it had to be about something other than her singing.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 5:23pm

And not to beat a dead horse, but she's a performer who performs every single night, every single matinee, 8 times a week.

Well...you ARE beating a dead horse.
I find it absurd that people feel the need to put down a performance in explaining how good someone else's performance is.
Murphy earned some of the best reviews of her career in WONDERFUL TOWN, garnered basically every award she was eligible for except for the Tony (how Menzel ended up with the award is still hard to explain...and I am unabashedly beating a dead horse), and boasted a comedic performance that surprised everyone.
Shields proved to be the perfect replacement, someone who wasn't afraid to make the role her own, leave behind whatever Murphy had done with the role, and start from scratch making an equally effective Ruth.

[Singer-Moves Poorly]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 5:34pm

In answer to the question: No, I did not create a profile simply to watch people bash Brooke Shields. I don't have a hate-on for her. I simply wanted to know if what Forbidden Broadway said was really true. I know that Alessandrini and company can exaggerate when they lampoon, but I wasn't aware that they out and out lied about performers' abilities. Since I didn't see either performance and only had the two audio tracks to go on, I couldn't make the judgment for myself as to singing vs. character embodiment. My mistake. Same goes for Brooke's "Grease" track. She could have been the embodiment of Rizzo, but I couldn't tell that just by listening to that one song and I wasn't particularly impressed by her voice. Just my opinion.

So to sum it up, no, I didn't have a Brooke-bashing agenda. Mea culpa for asking an innocent question. Hopefully I won't be slapped with the "pathetic" label now that I've explained myself.
Updated On: 8/10/07 at 05:34 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 5:53pm

Brooke was fantastic.

If anything, she single-handedly saved that show for at least a good 6-7 months.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 8:13pm

I didn't see either in the role, but Murphy seems to me to be the better fit. I saw the non-equity tour, and it seems to me that Ruth is the character that is always overlooked because of her plain-Jane status and her younger, more attractive sister. Murphy can get away with this aspect of the character. She's in no way ugly, but she isn't a striking beauty like Shields is at first glance.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 8:55pm

I liked Brooke much better.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:02pm

I actually liked her a lot. The only time I saw the show was with her, so I couldn't compare, but she wasn't bad at all.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 11:05pm

Well, there are those performers who are wonderful in musicals, but who aren't the world's best singers. People like Marilyn Miller and Gertrude Lawrence. The important thing isn't so much what happens with them in a recording studio, but what happens with them when they are on a stage.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 2:37am

She was great in the role and as Robbie posted--she's a class act. I have great respect for her.

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 2:49am

She was good enough to record the songs herself...

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 3:43am

Sort of OT.

For those of you who got to see the rare Rosalind Russell Wonderful Town tv special clips or even Rosalind Russell live (the forbidden site used to have "100 Easy Ways" and "Swing"), would you say Rosalind was the definitive Ruth or would you give that distinction to Donna Murphy?

I adore my Wonderful Town on TV CD(I bought the TV special CD thinking it was the OBCR) and despite the fact that Rosalind Russell wasn't the best singer, I loved what she did with the material, even more so when I saw the clips on the forbidden site. I wish the clips were still there.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:27am

I saw Murphy and Shields, and just IN MY OPINION, Murphy's comedy felt forced. It came so naturally to Shields. I'm well-aware that Murphy received raves for her performance, as did Shields.

I really hope that someone gives Shields the opportunity to originate a role in a musical comedy one of these days. She really is a gem and is completely underrated.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:33am

I'm sure if musicals weren't so risky as they are now, someone would've written a musical around Brooke Shield's vocal range and comedic talent.

Sigh.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:45am

All this "Brooke love" has made me wonder... When is she coming back to Broadway? I think she's developed a solid fan base over the years, and has also proven that she can carry a Broadway show on her own. It would have to be the right vehicle, of course, but that's true for most performers.

I, for one, hope she finds something soon. She would be a welcome addition to any season.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 9:37am

Just to answer the Roz question, I would definitely say there is no comparison (now I never saw Brooks). I did not like Murphy's performance at all, but out of all the numbers I really liked her "Swing." But, when I went to listen to Roz do it it was just so much better. Roz was a true comedian and it is in Roz's nature to just get laughs with a look or a walk. With Donna if she walked a certain way, maybe to get laughs, to me it was just embarrassing.

I'm kicking myself for missing Brook for I think the comedy might come more naturally to her.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 10:56am

From the clips I saw from the Tony Awards and Regis, I didn't understand why Donna decided to play Ruth as a cartoon.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:22am

Kathleen Marshall's direction, not to mention that Murphy received raves for her performance at Encores which is what led to the Broadway mounting.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:58am

Exactly, Foster and Scotty. I felt Murphy was playing it way too much like a cartoon. "Look how butch and awkward I am!" She forced the comedy way too much and it seemed like she was too knowing, if you see what I mean. With Brooke, it all came naturally.

[D2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:09pm

One other thought about Brooke's being too good-looking for the role - Rosalind Russell was no slouch in that department, either.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:10pm

EXACTLY. Ruth's not the "ugly sister". Ruth can't get a man because she's too smart, assertive and independent. The fact that Brooke is nearly 6 feet tall made her even more intimidating. Eileen gets the guys by flirting and playing "dumb and helpless". The show is set in the 1930's, remember.

Murphy not only mugged facially, she did so many vocal "tricks" that she managed to ruin her voice playing a role written for a non-singer.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:12pm

“Even after four years of my own series (Suddenly Susan), I’m still not taken seriously as an actress. But despite people’s and my own insecurities-and I’ve got a trunk load of them-I had to do this show (Wonderful Town). Yet the challenge of stepping into a role so artfully created by Donna Murphy scared me, but I knew it would grow me as an actress. So the pay isn’t great, but the reward of hearing some people laugh nightly is enormous and sometimes better than a big paycheck. Equally important, the work centers me. It gives me confidence, something I often have in short supply.”

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:14pm

“There wasn’t a lot of support from agents or friends to take this risk. The pay on Broadway is lousy, and if you bomb, the detonation is heard all the way to Hollywood. And people expect me to bomb. In their minds, I’m still the girl in the Calvin Klein jeans ad, the half-naked teen in Blue Lagoon or Endless Love”.

-Brooke Shields-

[kellybean2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:18pm

I love Brooke, but really, the only people who would think Broadway star pay is "lousy" are movie/tv stars who are used to making ridiculous money. That lack of real-world perspective is always astounding to me, though I suppose it shouldn't be.
Updated On: 8/11/07 at 12:18 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:32pm

It's true what you say, but also if you're used to make a certain amount of money, and then you make a 5% of it, for a lot more work, it's kinda understandable.
But you're right, if I made 4 K's a month(being part of the ensemble), and Im sure she made a lot more than that, I'd be very happy.