"I know nothing about acting. I've had no training at all... I know nothing and I could not see good acting if you showed it to me... blah, blah, blah..."
I don't CARE how much training that you've had. Clearly, your ability to spot talent is impaired.
If your training taught you anything, you'd appreciate Tartaglia's perfect comedic timing, fully rehearsed motions and facial expressions, puppet manipulation (which is SO not easy, for the record), and amazing energy throughout a show that has him onstage for the majority of the time. Not to mention that his performance is still JUST as good as it was when the show first opened, which we obviously can't say for other performers...
EDIT:
THANK YOU, MUNKUSTRAP!
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
If a show wins for Best Score and Best Book, it has won for Best Score and Best Book. What people forget it that the awards for Best Score and Book ARE Best Score and Best Book-not necessarily Best Musical.
Best Musical take both of those into consideration as well as all of the other facets, including performaces. This is the reason that I believe TMM was deserving of Best Musical over URINETOWN.
RAGTIME, had, without a doubt, loftier ambitions. It had more depth. It had more meat. But it also had more holes. It was such an undertaking that things were left underdeveloped.
Best Musical is not about which show has the best concept. It's about which show best fulfills its intentions. RAGTIME, while soaring at times, was structurally flawed.
TLK, while arguably more trite, exceeded its ambitions and became a more complete show that RAGTIME-if only for the fact that RAGTIME tripped on it's own goals and expected more of itself than it was able to offer
See, if any was amateur and annoying in Wicked, I thought it was Chenoweth. Her choices seemed to scream for audience reaction more than characterize, which (in its own funny way) can work for the character a bit. But I found Idina's performance to be very realized and extremely well thought out in the sense that she really found the heart and psych of the character as though she had lived through that characters life, thus creating a more vivid and, most importantly, realistic person on stage. If you've seen Rent and The Wild Party, she does the same with two characters worlds away from Elphaba.
In "Wicked", Elphaba is victimized from the moment she steps onstage, and Menzel did not need to do ANYTHING stellar to get the audience to sympathize with her. The only time when I truly saw her 'acting' is after "No Good Deed". And even then, I felt that her character transition was completely underdeveloped.
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
well I thought Kristin went into her character well, Not That Girl reprise is very emotional, and so is the rest of act 2 for Kristin
"It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing."
"If your training taught you anything, you'd appreciate Tartaglia's perfect comedic timing, fully rehearsed motions and facial expressions, puppet manipulation (which is SO not easy, for the record), and amazing energy throughout a show that has him onstage for the majority of the time. Not to mention that his performance is still JUST as good as it was when the show first opened, which we obviously can't say for other performers..."
Wait a minute, kiddo. That's exactly what I don't like in acting.Planning out facial expressions and movements. Honestly, what the hell IS that? It's not acting, it's choreography. What acting is is doing your homework...reading into the script and figuring out what kind of life your character lived, putting together their emotional state, mental state, relationships, everything past and present and living off that in the moment. Having all this information, experiencing it, and living off it as if you were that character...and if every night you learn a little more and your reaction is slightly different, then so be it. That is acting my friend. Living off the character's past, and experiencing it in that present moment...maybe a little differently every night. It's not about pre-planning your every move. And if you DO chose to do that, the psychological justification all has to be there. But I always think it's best to discover new things with each performance..it's great to see actresses like Menzel to grow with their roles.
I think that KC should have been put in the slot for featured actress. Although she seemed to get more hype from the press, Elphaba is obviously the main character, the one the audience sympathizes with.
And then, do you know Monseiur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you.
♥♥♥
Overthemoon- if you don't think Kristin's character is under the "Leading Actress" at least consider her as a supporting character because she def. was not featured
"It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing."
You really shouldn't assume that I'm not a fan of Idina Menzel. And my post contained nothing about my thoughts on "Wicked", either.
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
it was directed to bsobw2's comment that the only people who hate wicked are those who have the the 12 year old fans taint their views and/or have jumped on some sort of bandwagon of trendy wicked haters
"Look at me, I think I am cool because I have only negative opinions about Wicked."
Ummm... actually, you were.
Damn this forum for not having a "quote" feature.
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
"Goodness is rewarded. Hope is guaranteed. Laughter builds strong bones. Right will intercede. Things you've said I often find I need, indeed. I see the world through your eyes. What's black and white is colorized. The knowledge you most dearly prized I'm eager to employ. You said that life has infinite joys."
magic8ball - No, of course it doesn't. But I think any script calls for a real good characterization of whoever you may be playing otherwise, it's bland and the audience just does not engage with the character so much. And just because it's not the same acting Menzel is doing and it probably would not have the same approach, I don't find planning out every step the best approach to that sort of thing. Maybe (I saw "Maybe because I have seen the show once and wouldn't know who plans out what and whatnot)that's why his performance simply did nothing for me...nothing felt "there." I don't think Tartaglia was exactly the shining one in that show...I found Stephanie D'Bruzzo much more "superb."