Natascia Diaz Front Page... Why?

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 3:16am

Maybe I'm feeling quite a bit bitchy. But why is this a front page material? Choreography looks atrocious. And the quality of the video is even worse.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 4:26am

For reference, Alfie is talking about the home page of BWW right now.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 5:40am

Maybe? Natascia is a talented person who tried her best to win the role of Cassie in the recent revival of "A Chorus Line". There's nothing atrocious about the choreography. But then I'll defer to you, since you're an expert on choreography. from RC in Austin, Texas

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 7:16am

We get regional news on the main page all the time. Natascia Diaz is quite the performer, I can't remember whether I was rooting for her or Charlotte in the film, but I am glad to see her take on the role now. I would hardly call the choreography atrocious.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 7:40am

I watched the clip earlier and wondered why her Music and the MIrror looks like a bootleg---with her dancing right out of the shot a couple of times. It was weird.

And also the choreography is seriously watered down! I kept thinking I was remembering wrong---was she really up for Cassie in the revival? From this clip (alone), I would say she could never have danced it.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 8:12am

Yes, she was up for Cassie in the revival. It actually came down to just her and d'Amboise.

And if you ask me, they made the wrong choice.

[julesboogie]

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

The choreo isnt watered down, its original. It costs to do original Chorus Line choreo. Most stock theatres do not want to pay for the rights to recreate it.

The quality of the video is probably so because Diaz more than likely put it all together herself as a form of self promotion. Pretty darn smart if you ask me, cause we all watched.

And i was rooting for her in the Docu. She was the best singer out of the three, and danced it aptly imo. This vid feels a bit forced tho.

[best12bars]

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

It doesn't come off as original choreography here, because it's too similar to the original staging. This looks like "simplified Bennett", not like a new dance. If she's a talented enough dancer, why not give her something more challenging?

[evic]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 10:52am

5 years is a long time in a dancers life since she first auditioned for the revival. I don't know how old she is, but not everyone is Donna or Chita...she looked really pooped by the end as most Cassie's are but this looked like a simplified version of the dance...the dress and wig did her no favors. I've seen her in other shows and she does have a great voice- good for her for finally getting to do the role.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 10:59am

Natascia just turned 41. Charlotte was 42 when she began playing Cassie in the revival. I agree that the wig they chose for her wasn't terribly flattering. But I have no doubt she could still execute the original choreography brilliantly. Some might flame me for this, but I've always considered d'Amboise a dancer first, a singer distantly second, and an actress an even more distant third. I've never bought her as any of the characters I've seen her do on stage (Cassie, Charity, Roxie). Diaz is a triple threat, with the balance perhaps tipped in favor of acting and singing, but definitely a more than competent dancer. I think if she played Cassie you'd not only get a finely danced performance but a very well-acted one as well.

As I mentioned on a previous thread, I'm a very big fan of Natascia's work and I know her personally. Perhaps there is a bit of bias in my opinion. But I really think she'd make a smashing Cassie and I'd love to see her full performance.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 11:00am

I can definitely see how much it means to her, and she's very passionate about it (almost to a fault in this video).

Yeah, the wig and dress ... She looked more like she was going to a pool party than an audition. I didn't understand the "red sundress" look.

Updated On: 8/8/11 at 11:00 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 11:08am

AC126748---I totally agree with you about Charlotte being a dancer first and how her "star power" there over-shines her "serviceable" talents as a singer and actress.

But for me, Cassie is a dancer, first and foremost. I do want a performer in this case who can do all three, and Donna was the perfect balance of nailing all three "threats" in the original. And she's never been topped and set the bar for everyone who followed.

My biggest problem with Diaz is that dancing seems to be her weakest link. She doesn't dance like a dancing star. And while I don't like to see anyone tackle this part if they can't sing it well or act it well ... if they can't blow me away with the dance, I don't think they should be playing the part.

I would love to see Diaz do the original choreography, so it's not a fair comparison in the video. And I understand the issue with licensing ... although if you're going to do a new dance, DO A NEW DANCE, and don't give us watered-down Bennett.

I can see she has talent. I just wish it had been showcased in a better light ... and costume and wig!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 11:24am

Ok, first off it's not "Simplified Bennett." It's not even "Simplified McKechnie" (She was the one who actually choreographed it). The easiest part of the dance is the cross down the line and back at the end and beyond something that looked vaugely like it was used briefly. And if anyone knows this choreography, it's me and there is very little even remotely similar to the actual choreography. (No offense to you B12B)

The costume and hair were all wrong, like B12B says, she looks like she's going to a pool party.

95% of all stock theatres will do the Bennett choreography. In all the bootleg footage I've seen on YouTube, in all of the productions I've seen, it's typically schools that opt out of it. The fact that Lyric of OKC didn't kinda boggles my mind. And, if I remember correctly, it's very difficult for anyone beyond a school or theatre-in-the-round (which usually does a modified version of the choreography) to get the rights without doing the Bennett choreography.

I'm a little surprised that I'm saying this, especially given how much I had disliked her in 2006, but the more Cassies I see, the better I liked Charlotte d'Amboise. Is she the best singer? No. Is she the best actress? No. Is she even the best one to dance it? No. (We all know that's Donna McKechnie) But Charlotte was actually very right for the role in terms of casting, performance and the time period of the show.

When watching Charlotte live (and then recently re-watching the bootleg) I was really surprised at the levels she found in Cassie. Her Cassie wasn't the desperate Cassie that many tend to play. Hers was a Cassie who wanted a second chance, knew she was going in with everything against her and was resigned to that. With Charlotte, there wasn't any "I must have this or I will die" it was an "I screwed up, I need to work, give me the chance." I never once felt that her Cassie was there wanting to get back with Zach. When she tells him, "Yes, I'll take chorus...if you'll take me." It isn't her way of saying "Take me back, Zach" she's saying that she wants to work and that she can do it but she can't and won't force him to.

I wish they would have posted more of Diaz's acting scenes, but on what I know of Diaz, I have a feeling she was very pushy. The other thing that bothers me, if you watch the first part of the video series, she says that she isn't sure how she would have gotten through 8 performances (Lyric does 6 only) of the show...and that's on the much simpler (and to me, less interesting) choreography...the one designed by Donna McKechnie is a thousand times harder. B12B has said several times that he knew women who auditioned and either threw up or simply stopped mid-way through it.

I really don't quite know how to conclude this, so I'm just gonna leave it here...

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 11:29am

Yeah that choreography did her no favors. I mean, the traveling steps that start at 3:11 don't even travel. I'll pin all that on the choreographer. The wig and dress have already been discussed. If I were her director, I'd let her know that she's doing some great work reinterpreting the vocals, but the rubato/back phrasing in the beginning of her solo was a bit indulgent. But whatevs, congrats to her!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 11:47am

I'll add the choreography is rather bland & boring. i would like to see other parts of the show just to compare.

If you watch the first part of Diaz' interview she clearly says the role would be too much for her to do it full time, 8 shows each. But I do like her passion in her interview, it just doesn't show up in M&TM.

[AC126748]

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

Just for argument's sake, how long was it before Charlotte d'Amboise--a classically trained dancer--conceded that she couldn't do the original choreography and got an alternate? A few months? It's a beast of a role for anyone to do eight times a week, whether you're using Bennett's choreography or McKechnie's. Chances are that if Diaz was cast in the revival and had to do the original choreography, she'd have needed an alternate as well.

Having only seen the two short clips, I'm not sure what the rest of the choreography entailed.

Updated On: 8/8/11 at 11:56 AM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 12:06pm

d'Amboise didn't get an alternate until a year into the show.

[best12bars]

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

"B12B has said several times that he knew women who auditioned and either threw up or simply stopped mid-way through it."

Just to clarify that anecdote ... I had a friend who played Maggie in an early touring company of the show (she's since gone on to five major Broadway shows as a dancer and singer).

After about a year, they needed a new Cassie. So my friend and three other girls already in the tour were auditioned for the part. Of the four who auditioned, my friend was the only one who made it through the scene, song, full dance, and the short dialog after the dance, so she got the part (and played Cassie for another six months on the road before she left the tour to join "Cats" when it opened in NY). One of the other girls fainted, one threw up, and one just couldn't make it through to the end because she was so winded. And these were girls already in the show, doing it on the road. That's how difficult it is to do that full scene/song/dance, as originally conceived.

Updated On: 8/8/11 at 12:12 PM

[Brick]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 1:43pm

She's a lovely singer and actress, and I'm sure a lovely lady, but the dancing in that clip was pretty all over the place. I remember thinking while watching the documentary she'd have been great, but for whatever reason this video made me this they made the right choice.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 2:38pm

And Charlotte didn't take an alternate because she had trouble performing it. If that were the case, she wouldn't have taken Tues and Thurs night off, she would have taken matinees off. The producers wanted her to stay and she wanted to spend time with her family, so they compromised.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 3:19pm

She had a week of rehearsal for a very short run - she did fantastically, everything considered.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 3:53pm

The truth is that the role of the revival was not Charlotte vs. Natascia. It was "Is there anyone close to McKechnie around?" And there wasn't, and there isn't.
Donna Mckechnie was a force of nature and Broadway does not currently have a performer who can do the role to her standards. The bar was set too high, I can't even think of someone who could come close to her.

Of course Charlotte wasn't compared to the trillion replacements that Donna had. She was compared to the original and she could never pull that off. I'm sure if Natascia had been cast, this would have been more noticeable.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 4:00pm

I haven't watched the new video, but I watched the first one...don't they put the entire show up in a week or so?

Damn right it's going to be simplified choreography, at least if it's a Cassie who hasn't done the role before.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 4:29pm

I think if we are to believe that documentary, there were at least two other actresses at the final callback for Cassie, though certainly the film focused most on D'Amboise and Diaz...


And PS - there are MANY Cassies who have learnt the role in 2 weeks and performed the original choreography in stock. Diaz had of course already learned the dance when she was up for the role on Broadway. My guess is that the choreographer in this production simply decided to use his own steps over the original staging and Diaz was doing what she was taught.

Updated On: 8/8/11 at 04:29 PM

[jovie27]

Posted: 8/8/11 at 4:44pm

"Natascia Diaz Front Page... Why?"

ummmmmmm...why not?