alright, now i saw drs, norbert deserved his tony, he's great. but i'm going to say it... he sounded awful last night. just horrible. during both his opening ditty with john (john sounded so much better) and during great big stuff... he just sounded really horrible. now i know that he had rehearsals in the morning and then a matinee and then the tony's... but he really did not sound good.
The performance of Great Big Stuff at the Tonys did nothing to sell tickets. If anything, it makes me want to skip DRS when I come to NYC this Christmas.
what cracked me up, is they muffle out the words "ass" and "blow-job" from his performance, yet it is perfectly ok for the girls during the Sweet Charity number to "pop their corks" and thrust their pelvises forward, which is much more obvious..... this show is NOT for middle America, let the words FLOW!
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
I agree I was NOT impressed with DRS. I thought it was such a bad choice! Poor SRS
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
I'd still give DRS a shot but yes, I agree it was a weak performance. Was it restaged from how it is performed each night as it felt extremely under rehearsed-- I could only think he was uncomfortable as he wasn't familiar enough with the staging.
And as I remarked- I hope Gregory Jbarra's mom didn't stay home from something to watch him on the Tonys. He just stood there and watched it.
But he wasnt alone- Matthew Morrison had several seconds of screen time.
I loved that performance! My sister, who is not into Theatre as much as I am, said that the performance made her DEFINETELY want to see DRS next month, so I guess the performance did what it was supposed to. Norbie sounded great.
I got the impression Norbert was a bit nervous performing on the Tonys last night. I dunno ...
As for the musical numbers and just the whole Tonys broadcast as a whole, the only show I haven't seen (DRS being the sole one I have) that watching last night makes me wish I could see is Spelling Bee. I finally "got" why so many people are fans of that show.
Well, I thought he was sensational. The man simply oozes talent so if that was what you'd consider a bad performance, I can't wait to see him on a good night!
I performance was def. alot better in the show. But it must be hard to take such a song like that out of context and make have as much power as it usually does. I still thought it was great. I don't think Norbert's capable of doing a bad job.
"You won't fight without layers of armor
Suit on up and come brace my sword
You look back when the pieces are missing
Hollowed out hope that no time can restore."
Norbert Leo Butz quotes about John Lithgow: "He's really clumsy. One of the joys in life is to watch a great big huge man totally wipe out backstage. It takes John about three minutes to hit the floor. It's like watching a Great Sequoia falling gracelessly."
yep he and john sung the part of dirty rotten number together! norbie was so nervous, his voice was all shaky. but there were some points when he was trying hard not to laugh. i loved it! do you think he planned by himself the whole i want some really shhh- classy crap!
I was not impressed with his performance last night either. I saw the show on May 24th and was on the floor during this number. He also changed the word s**t to crap and left out the pimp my hactchback line after the Puff Diddy lines. He seemed to be nervous or something.
Norbert Leo Butz quotes about John Lithgow: "He's really clumsy. One of the joys in life is to watch a great big huge man totally wipe out backstage. It takes John about three minutes to hit the floor. It's like watching a Great Sequoia falling gracelessly."
The cuts in the song --such as the hatchback reference and "Gout"-- were purposely cut to save time. I agree, Norbs was probably a little nervous and we know he was tired (because he did the 8th of eight shows that afternoon and hasn't missed a show since opening in January). I think he settled into the performance as it went on--love the Guccione "robot" dance he does.
Another thing that was weird was the camera angles that they were using...they just made the number look weirder than it was. I dunno...I thought a lot of the camera stuff for the performances was just odd.
I think Spelling Bee's performance was the once that translated best onto TV, I know a lot of people who are now interested in Spelling Bee who weren't before.
-Anyone want to turn anarchist with me?"Bless you and all who know you, oh wise and penguined one." ~YouWantItWhen????