Fantasia: Opening Up to Oprah Winfrey

[Eris0303]

Posted: 2/3/10 at 9:02am

I'm posting this here and not on the OT board because they discuss her time in the Color Purple.

On missed performances of The Color Purple
FANTASIA: And towards the end of The Color Purple I would get very tired. Not enough sleep. I would be pushing myself. And at times

OPRAH: Because it's hard to come down after the show, right.

FANTASIA: Well, the tumors were taking a lot out of me.

OPRAH: So you were singing with the tumors.

FANTASIA: Singing with the tumors. And if I wasn't on the stage, I was in the hospital getting an IV. But these are things that nobody would have ever known.

OPRAH: Why didn't you tell me?

FANTASIA: Well, I couldn't find you, Oprah. (Laughter.)

OPRAH: I'm a phone call away. I mean, really, why didn't you say -- if not me, why didn't you say to someone, look, I'm -- I'm going through this? Because we didn't know that.

Fantasia: Opening Up to Oprah Winfrey

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/3/10 at 9:50am

Why wouldn't you tell your boss you are at the hospital? Makes no sense.

She seems to always want people to feel pitty for her, either because she lost her 3 million dollar home because she can't balance her checkbook or because of this or that.

[paphillyguy]

Posted: 2/3/10 at 11:16am

I agree, if you are in the hospital your bosses would or should know. I don't beleive a word of it.

I think she realizes that she did damage in missing and she is trying to do damage control.

Not a fan.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/3/10 at 11:21am

This is so cruel. Fantasia can't read. She couldn't tell which number was Oprah's on her speed dial. A little sensitivity all around wouldn't hurt.

[veryownplanetz]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 1:50pm

Also, she said she was out of work for 6 weeks because she was unable to sing. When you have tumors or nodules on your vocal chords, you can't SPEAK for 6 weeks and then it takes at least another 6 weeks to be able to start singing again.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 2:09pm

She also explained that she couldn't say no to friends and family who asked her for things. Well, live and learn.

I like Fantasia, but this Oprah show seemed like an attempt to get back in the public eye in a positive way.As was mentioned, a sympathy visit. I noticed during her song, she used her backup singers an awful lot, and her voice was not the voice she once had. Maybe those nodules did take a toll.

[Kev]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 2:41pm

Maybe those nodules did take a toll.

Perhaps, but the girl knows how to give 110% and, I never saw anything less than that during her The Color Purple shows. The performance she gave this summer in D.C. was as excellent, if not better, than her stellar performance on Broadway.

[40oz2freedom]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 9:11pm

She is talented. That is that. She's brilliant, however a broadway performer--she is not. At least she hasn't proven it. She can give one hell of a performance, but if she got tumors on her vocal chords after only a few weeks in the role, she simply doesn't know how to use her voice. Also, in the interview she states exhaustion and grueling schedules that led to her sickness. This is just an excuse. Thousands of performers are tackling roles just as physically and emotionally demanding as hers 8 and even now 9 performances a week. There is no excuse for missing 50 performances citing exhaustion. Her nodes also would have been preventable if her vocal coach properly taught her how to sing. Evidence A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP122JqapE8
If she sang like this 8 times a week, no wonder her vocal chords developed nodes. Wonderful performance, in fact, stellar. But the truth is no performer would push themselves that much during a performance no matter how in the moment they are.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 9:26pm

i know many will disagree with me, but I think the raw, uneducated qualities that she projects would have made her an absolutely incredible Sarah in Ragtime. Every actress I've seen in that role (including Audra, whom I loved) has come across as too regal and polished.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 9:29pm

I can't believe that the phrase "Opening up to Oprah" hasn't elicited any responses yet... I thought this was BroadwayWorld!

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 10:46pm

When they'd pan to her family in the audience of Idol you could practically see the dollar signs in their eyes.

[Q]

Posted: 2/6/10 at 10:50pm

"Thousands of performers are tackling roles just as physically and emotionally demanding as hers 8 and even now 9 performances a week."

That might be just a BIT of an overstatement. Celie isn't just any 'run-of-the-mill' role.

[40oz2freedom]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 1:48am

well not thousands, but for sure the leading ladies and men of broadway. Look at the role of Diana played by Alice Ripley. Vocally more demanding and in my opinion emotionally draining. And what about Jeannette Bayardelle who went on tour with the production and rarely missed performances in Los Angeles? She has been with the show since 2007 and is still fine.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 1:55am

And what about Jeannette Bayardelle who went on tour with the production and rarely missed performances in Los Angeles? She has been with the show since 2007 and is still fine.

Ummm....Probably not the best example. Jeanette Bayardelle left the tour due to vocal issues. She was replaced by Kenita Miller. Bayardelle recently joined the Hair ensemble.

[40oz2freedom]

Posted: 2/7/10 at 4:53am

i believe that you made the same statement on this thread https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1010287&dt=26&boardid=1
and i too am having a hard time finding truth to your statement. yes, she did have vocal issues but never publicly left the show for them. For one i know they did not effect her performance, as ive seen her perform and have had friends see her perform when she allegedly had these nodes. but regardless, do you at least see where im coming from in my original statement?