I liked it a lot and I feel like she is probably who I saw on tour. It's very pretty and touching, I just didn't feel the emotion from the middle of the balcony here in Chicago. She's really quite good on camera though.
WOW! She is wonderful! That's the first time I've ever been moved seeing that song performed. She has incredibly expressive eyes. I'll echo the fact that the camera loves her. It's probably great that she'll be performing in LA.
Saw her the first saturday of In the Heights in Los Angeles. Arielle is absolutely incredible. I met her at the stagedoor after the show and she was so sweet and gracious. I could see her having a successful career in anything she wanted to do because she has an amazing voice as well as incredible acting skills.
P.S. Aw, look at Lin. He's so into it. Which makes me even happier. :)
She's really incredible. I saw her on the national tour of High School Musical and was amazed at the truth and commitment she found in such terrible material.
I prefer the harshness of Gonzalez's voice, but it's clear that Jacobs is a hundred times more believable as Nina than the much older Mandy was.
"She has incredibly expressive eyes." --AMEN to that. particularly after she sings "so what do i say to these faces that i used to know...hey i'm home." (around 1:38 )
I never saw Mandy, but I really loved Arielle when I saw her. One thing I noticed after seeing her both in Chicago (December '09) and then in Austin (April '10), is that she seemed to become more comfortable singing this song the 2nd time I saw her. In chicago I felt like she seemed a bit reserved/nervous about hitting the notes during the "big" part of the song (from "when i was a child i stayed wide awake....on." But then when I saw her in April she really let loose and confidently belted the crap out of the ending, just as she did in this video.
And I echo mpd4165...she and Benny were the show highlights for me (and IMO, Natalie Toro and Sabrina Sloan, in particular, were fantastic as well).
As much as I love Mandy, I really prefer Arielle. Her voice is so clear and beautiful. She's so much less aggressive and more believable. She looks great on camera too. I think she'd be a good choice for the movie, even if she's not a "name".
"These rabid fans...possess the acting talent to portray the hooker...Linda Eder..." -The New York Times
I thought she was holding back a lot when I saw her in December '09 in Chicago. She was an awesome Nina. I saw Mandy Gonzalez in October '08 and she was great too. Arielle had the innocence that Mandy did not. But Mandy had the voice Arielle did not. I am so glad Arielle has settled into this role because that was one hell of a performance!! Just to comment on Natalie Toro, her "Enough" gave me chills and I felt like it brought down the house.
She has grown into the role vocally, which is good, considering she stank up the theatre when I saw it in March.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
For those in L.A., she will be singing Breathe on the KTLA morning news at the top of the 9am hour. I'm guessing there is a good chance it'll be uploaded to the KTLA site... either there or somewhere else, the Broadway/L.A. and Pantages facebook pages are pretty good at updating!
The cast did a cabaret benefit Monday night and she did an amazing rendition of Tori Amos' Silent All These Years.
She sounds fine on "Breathe," but I watched the clip of her in "When You're Home" and how awful! Is that suppose to be her acting? I am not impressed. She seems very amateurish to me. Me no likey.
"Somethin's comin', I don't know what it is but it is gonna be great!"
Arielle is a one-of-a-kind "Nina" and that is in no way meant to diminish Mandy Gonzalez' interpretation of the role but Arielle does make the role her own. She's beautiful.