GHETTO VON TUSSLE; or, Haylie duffs Hairspray and other assorted notes..

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:37am

Just returned from seeing the 'spray with BWW's favorite fag-hag Mistress for the umpteenth time. I am sure that she will post her own commentary, so I will stick to MY thoughts on this lately act. We were sitting in our favorite choice location, lottery seats 111-112.. center section, located on teh house right aisle.

First, I must give mention to other recent additions to the Hairspray family at the Neil Simon who really bring something good to the show.

Lisa Jolley is the new Female Authority (Prudy et al). She is wonderful in the role, bringing a very fresh new take to everything that she does and NAILING every comic oportunity.. most notably the butch gym teacher (NO question is left about what happens in THOSE showers!) and her entrance for the finale. If you pay close attention, you can see thats he takes her inspiration for Prudy from Carol Burnette... and she makes it very obvious if you watch closely enough! I look forward to seeing her as Velma sometime.

Next up, new Link Larkin, AAron Tveit. I had seen Aaron as Link on the national tour at Thanksgiving this past year, so it was great to see him slip in with this company. I must confess, I am still VERY sad that Andrew Rannells is no longer with the Broadway company. He is, without a doubt, one of the best Links that the show has had. Seeing the show tonight left me feeling very empty not seeing him on stage. My favorite LINKs though, in no particular order, are Andrew Rannells, Tyler Hanes, Bryan West, Adam Fleming, and Aaron Tveit, so I am glad that if someone had to come it, it was Aaron. I look forward to seeing the new understudy, Daniel Robinson sometime soon. Aaron is a great addition to the show. WELCOME TO BROADWAY, MR. TVEIT!

NOW... onto the BIG stuff...... Haylie Duff as Amber Von Tussle....

the theatre was packed tonight with a VERY visble presence of children.. including one whiny little brat sitting directly behind me who was playing with a plastic bag the entire time and discussing the show with her sister with load comments of "OH HELLZ NO! every three seconds. The audience was VERY responsive tonight from the moment the lights dimmed (and something I had never heard happen before in the Neil Simon happened.. an audio announcement of a cast change! No insert for Willis White.)

I was expecting, from that initial reaction, that the audience would love every moment of the show and the cast could do no wrong....

Shannon Durig hits Good Morning baltimore out of the park.... the ensemble races on for Nicest Kids.. including Ms Duff...

the first reaction to her presence came from the man seated next me... "She DOES look like a horse!"... then the shrill screechs of prepubescents yelling "We love you Haylie" over the music... after seeing the show, I can tell you.. i DON'T.

Nicest Kids in town IS a difficult dance for stamina and you HAVE to precise on the choreography. Haylie though, didn't know the choreography. It was like watchinga ten year old copying a Britney Spears video in her living room.. She was not at all with the cast, doing BLATANTLY wrong choreography.. it was horrid.

It only got worse.

She is NOT an actress by any stretch. Apparently stage management has not informer her that the show takes place in 1962 and that Amber was NOT raised in the ghetto. She spent the entire show attenpting to "Mizz thAng".. and she fell flat on her face at every turn. She didn't land a SINGLE joke. The audience, who gave her such a vocal welcome was responding to every joke in the show with cheers and laughter.. but not for Haylie. You could have heard crickets after each of her punchlines... I didn't care for her at all, but I was suprised that the response to her during the show was so tepid.

She should also make an effort to read the script.. because I don't think she knows it that well... she flubbed many lines and adlibbed quite a bit.. I don't think many noticed it.. but the fact remains... I also noticed that during group numbers, she hardly sang a note.. the full cast would be singing.. except for Haylie. Was she directed to do such a thing?

a MAJOR faux paux that she made tonight..... granted, she WAS at the SIDE of the stage, but in plain view, Amber Von Tussle was flossing her teeth with her fingernailsAmber is trashy, but she isn't that trashy. The fold out mirrors on the proscenium are for use in the scenes.. and it was NOT being used for this scene.. not for pulling chicken from between your teeth.

One pleasant thing I noticed though was her finale costume. It's brand new. same design, but with better execution. Not an inch of fabric is printless, frill less, or without a ruffle. It's trashy, over the top, and simply goreous in a trashy Versailles-Von Tussle way... it's the best excuted version of that costume that I have seen.
Updated On: 7/29/06 at 12:37 AM

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:46am

Thanks for the review!

"trashy Versailles-Von Tussle way" made me laugh.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 1:38am

They were screaming " I love you Haylie?" They certainly don't know theater ettiquitte(sp?).

Posted: 7/29/06 at 1:40am

I like to think Im more forgiving than BG2 when it comes to performances in Hairspray. When Darlene Love first started performances, she couldnt get her lines right but her vocal styling allowed you to forgive and forget a flub or two. I also dont like to see people until theyve had a chance to settle in because sometimes you have to make adjustments based on what the audience reacts to. It is still early in her run and it is her first broadway show. That said...

I could forgive not knowing certain parts of the choreography because there are certainly lines that suggest that Amber is not the greatest dancer... "I guess Amber's pretty, but she cant dance", "Plastic little spastic", & "Amber, your dancing was atrocious today"

I could forgive her paraphrasing certain lines of the dialogue, because its not like she said something from left field and she got the general gist correct. Hopefully with time, she will say the lines as theyre written and she will get the laughs meant for the character.

Her singing was ok, not great. She didnt crack singing "watch me fly" as others have mentioned. There were certain ensemble scenes which required holding a note and she just appeared to stop singing.

Unfortunately I didnt find anything that really redeemed her overall unless I consider the fact that her joining the show has brought Hairspray to MTV audiences.

My biggest disappoint with Haylie was how she handled the "I Can Hear The Bells" scene where she was simply meant to sit still and not move for 3/4 of the song. To not be able to find a position you can hold for a grand total of 3 minutes at most just proved to me that she wasnt really trying.

It made me sad, I hope she improves.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 2:59am

She probably think's when it's not her moment to shine, it's rest time.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:00am

She shined like a rusted doorknob at the bottom of a trash heap in a landfill.

[Holliwoodblonde]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:11am

Becoz, that's exactly what she does. If she's not speaking, she melts into the backround to the point where you don't even notice her.

When I saw it (Wed. Night) she said a wrong line during "You can't stop the beat" and her face just fell and rather then just following through and pretending it didn't happen she just whispered the rest of the line. That just killed everything for me. Just as Mistress said, you could forgive the other things, but she was just so weak overall.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:21am

the worst part... none of this matters bc that jump in ticket sales is enough to justify this casting choice to producers. its so depressing, yet eye-opening, to someone who's worked and worked and worked hoping to be on that stage some day and see someone else get there before them with less talent and skill, all bc of their ability to sell tickets. when did pure talent stop selling tickets?

[Holliwoodblonde]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:22am

When people began to ride their ever-so-slightly more talented sister's coattails?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:27am

Mamma Rose, Dainty June, and Gypsy Rose Lee.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 7:25am

Thanks BG2 and Mistress for your reviews. Does anyone know who long Haylie is contracted for?

[To The Stage!]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 8:43am

Thanks for the reviews.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:35am

Mz Thang will be ghettofying the Neil Simon through sometime in October.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:42am

Well, honestly...

What did we all expect?

How unfortunate for the wonderful Becky Gulsvig to be replaced by "the ugly Duff sister."

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:46am

"How unfortunate for the wonderful Becky Gulsvig to be replaced by "the ugly Duff sister." "

apparently, when she was an infant, she and Hillary were quite the unatractive children. According to Hillary in the current issue of instinct, as babies, Hillary was called Creature and Haylie was called Yoda....

insert your 'Yoda' jokes here ladies and gentlemen....

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:46am

What is her claim to fame anyways, besides being the other Duff's sister?

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:53am

Isn't Amber supposed to be hated? HA! So there you go...

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:53am

that's the big mystery.

didn't she have play someone on 7th heaven for a bit? (who knew that show was still running...)

and she was in napoleon dynamite for, i'd say, around 3 minutes.

oh, and then there's that sister thing. apparently that's fame enough to sell tickets

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:59am

"and something I had never heard happen before in the Neil Simon happened.. an audio announcement of a cast change!"

No WAY! Oh, man, I wish I coulda been there to hear that.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:59am

Why couldn't they have hired a name who could perform the part? Mandy Moore, Kristen Bell, Erika Christensen, hell, even Bijou Philipps. I know a couple of them are busy, but I'm sure one of them would've been interested in doing it.

Updated On: 7/29/06 at 11:59 AM

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:08pm

Bijou Philipps would be a LOT of fun!! and she did Hedwig in LA

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:13pm

I know someone who bought a Hillary Duff album. Can I star in a Broadway show?

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:27pm

I'm calling Michelle Kittrell.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:30pm

that would be a GOOD thing. We loves the Kittrell. Hopefully Kittrell has thrown the script at Haylie's head already. I loved watching teh MTV rehearsal video because Kitty was giving horsey NO breaks

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:31pm

She is good at beating people up! I'm just sayin'...