And this is coming from one of the few people who loved the revival in the beginning!
Diana - Dena Degiciento (Natalie is on another job for a bit) Sheila - Jessica Lea Patty (Deidre is on vacation) Larry - E. Clayton Cornelius (Nick sprained his ankle) Val - Nadine Isenegger
Normally I like understudies, but these all disappointed. But I won't give details in case one or more of these people read the boards.
Jessica wasn't actually bad. I guess I am just used to Deidre's Sheila. She missed a few jokes, but her voice is definitely better!
Also, Melissa Lone could not hold her note in At the Ballet. I miss Mara I hope ACL doesn't stay at this amateur level. The audience was also empty (only 500 people) Updated On: 8/25/07 at 05:47 PM
I still think the show is thrilling. The dancing is mind-boggling, some of the individual performances were less than that unfortuantely. It won't keep me from going back. I'm hoping it was just the small audience that threw them off one night (though I know that shouldn't be an excuse)
"I mean, sitting side by side with another man watching Patti LuPone play Rose in GYPSY on Broadway is essentially the equivalent of having hardcore sex." -Wanna Be A Foster.
"Say 'Goody.' Say 'Bubbi.'" ... "That's it. Exactly as if it were 'Goody.' Now I know you're gonna sing 'Goody' this time, but nevertheless..."
I was there last night and have to agree. I brought friends and they were a little underwhelmed. It was disappointing to hear my friends be critical. Oh well. I have seen it twice and have yet to see Natalie so I guess I don't know what I'm missing.
The summer is winding down. Less people are going on vacation and students are going back to school. Once fall kicks in, perhaps they'll put some new promotions in place that will convince people to see the show.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
Dena's brand new, so that doesn't surprise me that she wasn't awesome. E Clayton as Larry is nothing exciting, but it's somewhat of a thankless role. Jessica was good as Sheila I hear, but didn't get a lot of the laughs cause she doesn't have Deidre's attitude. And I can't believe you feel like Nadine wasn't good. I thought she was excellent as Cassie.
EDIT: Also, WHY THE HELL is Charlotte out AGAIN? She has been out for a few days now, and she's only supposed to be doing 6 shows a week. I just don't get why she never shows up.
Updated On: 8/25/07 at 07:34 PM
EDIT: Also, WHY THE HELL is Charlotte out AGAIN? She has been out for a few days now, and she's only supposed to be doing 6 shows a week. I just don't get why she never shows up.
Charlotte wasn't out today...
I was at today's matinee as well. I enjoyed Dena DiGiacinto, but she didn't blow me away. There were pitch problems abound. I did like Jessica Lea Patty as Sheila, though. Her attitude was... understated, but I thought it worked.
I'm a little conflicted about Melissa Lone, I'm not sure what I thought about her as Maggie. She acted the part well, but her voice didn't do it for me. That's not to say she doesn't have a nice voice, but I don't think it really worked with Maggie's music.
http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!)
I chose, and my world was shaken- So what? The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not...
"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler
Oops. My bad. For some reason I read "Val" as "Cassie". LOL. Clearly I need to get my eyes fixed. I agree with the Melissa Lone assessment. Not a big fan of her as Maggie. What did you all think of Will Taylor as Bobby. Also, how was the new guy, Brian, as Paul?
I enjoyed Brian. He takes more time with his monologue, which makes it more emotional and makes it flow better. His voice is pretty good too. However, I think Jason Tam beats him in dance. Of all the replacements, Brian is one of few who does the part justice.
Will Taylor, in my opinion, misses the ball. He misses almost all his jokes, and have seen him three times now and I think he skips a lot of lines (IE he forgot astroturf on the furniture today).'
Also, has anyone noticed a few changes? I like how the cast has played around with some lines. For example, in the opening Don goes into formation too early and Zach screams "Don!"...
Also, in the tap combination when Larry is calling the dancers into groups he calls "Mark" but means Mike. Mike responds with annoyed "It's Mike!". I think these changes feed into developing each character. I am glad the show is starting to take its own shape while still managing to maintain many aspects of the original.
I saw the revival in S.F. It was mindblowingly amazing.
"Also, has anyone noticed a few changes? I like how the cast has played around with some lines. For example, in the opening Don goes into formation too early and Zach screams "Don!"..."
I saw a production recently and they had that.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
I thought Will was a decent Bobby. He wasn't as sarcastic sounding as Ken.
Did anyone else notice they cut his line "I was playing jacks when the car fell on my head."?
http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!)
I chose, and my world was shaken- So what? The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not...
"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler
awww I performed with Dena!!! She is freakin amazing and such a great girl. I am so happy she is finally making her Bway debut. She has worked so hard to get here.
Yeah, the audience was pretty bad. Most of the mezzanine was empty.
What did you think of Katherine Tokarz as Kristine? I actually really enjoyed her. She's not as off the wall as Chryssie Whitehead was (don't get me wrong - she was funny, but a little too much sometimes).
http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!)
I chose, and my world was shaken- So what? The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not...
"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler
I saw E Clayton as Richie in December with my family, and we all thought he was just spectacular in the role. Larry is a nothing role, so not really much material to compare with.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
"Also, in the tap combination when Larry is calling the dancers into groups he calls "Mark" but means Mike. Mike responds with annoyed "It's Mike!"."
This isn't new. They did that with the old cast as well. Though now that I think about it, they didn't do it every time. But I distinctly remember Tyler Hanes calling "Mark" and having Schecter snap at him.
I actually really enjoyed Katherine Tokarz. She's really dumb in the role and at the same time shy. She makes the part her own, and the audience loves her. I miss Chryssie and I liked how she was off the wall, but I am definitely not disappointed by her replacement. Katherine Tokarz, Kevin Worley, Krysta Rodriguez, J. Elaine Marcos and Brian Knowlton I think are the best replacements.
Jason Patrick Sands, Nick Adams, Michael Gruber, Will Taylor, and Melissa Lone are not there yet. I think they could have done better casting these roles
I liked Chryssie as well, she jsut seemed like she was on overload sometimes. she was funny, though.
I was NOT impressed with Michael Gruber. I found him to be almost boring. He got a few laughs, but that was it.
http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!)
I chose, and my world was shaken- So what? The choice may have been mistaken,
The choosing was not...
"Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler