The Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part Four- Page 83

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 11:19am

TM: "How much did you looove being Charlie Fox?"

RE: "Oh, it's one of my favorite parts I've ever played. I gotta say that that show has some of the greatest lines I've ever said in my life. I miss it. I don't generally miss shows after I'm done, and I also don't generally remember shows after I'm done, like what the lines are, but this one I remember....a LOT."

Another video from the Drama Desk nominees press event, this one from TheaterMania. Raúl is at the very end, just after 7:45.
TheatreMania goes to the Drama Desks

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 11:43am

"What is she, a witch?"

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 12:04pm

And at Miscast, I sang 'The Man That Got Away.' I'm going to do the entire Judy-Liza oeuvre!

So I guess he's back out of the closet.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 12:31pm

I love that he tosses out a word like "oeuvre" as easily as he might say "potato".

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 12:46pm

I don't even know how to pronounce "oeuvre."

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 2:38pm

When I was little, I thought hors d'oeuvres was pronounced "whores de-vores". And that is why I took Spanish.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 5:27pm

LOL!! We used to call them "horsey durvies", which always led to lots of sophmoric jokes about what they were made of, cow patties and such. God, we were awful.

And here's your language lesson for the day:
How to pronounce

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 5:43pm

Hahaha. Good to know. If I tried to use that word in a sentence I'd sound like such a twit.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 5:53pm

From the Drama League Awards luncheon today:



And he's now two for two, in losing to Geoffrey Rush. Oh, well.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 7:48pm

Oi. The hair gel. Makes me think of the George Clooney character in Oh Brother Where Art Thou, who's obsessed with the pomade.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 8:19pm

Yeah, I don't really get the fixation. I mean, I know it's fashionable, but it's not like he doesn't have good hair that can stand on it's own. Ah, well, everybody has their little foibles, I guess...

[Hest882]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 10:20pm

Okay, why did none of you warn me about Dr. Sue's voice? Ouch!

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 10:25pm

Heh - I thought it was just me. So Raúl gets extra points for spending so much time with her and answering so beautifully.

So...who IS she?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/15/09 at 11:56pm

Ah, well, nothing to be sad about if you don't get your hopes up. If Rush is apparently so formidable (I haven't seen Exit the King yet, but I will), then there's little use in even assuming Raul has a shot. And frankly, it's just easier that way. Not to be misconstrued as saying that part of me isn't a little hopeful or that I wouldn't be happy, but, you know. I've been over this ad nauseum already.

Updated On: 5/15/09 at 11:56 PM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 12:22am

I certainly can't speak for Raul, but I think at this point the whole process is just kind of...gosh. I can't really think of how to describe it. I don't want to cheapen or lessen the prestige of a Tony award and nomination. I mean, it is most performers dream (including mine) somewhere deep down, cause it's sort of the ultimate recognition. But at the same time, by now, it's just kind of...monotonous. No, not that...i just can't think of the right word. I mean, people have been nominated, won, and barely worked again on Broadway. Patti LuPone said it best. The base of the Tony is plastic. It doesn't really prove you are a good actor. What's "good"? He is a work horse, and he's one of the best damn actors of his generation. He has actually worked himself from the bottom up, and proved himself over annd over. It's AMAZING that Speed The Plow didn't close when Pivert left. That says SO much about him, and his talent right there. In Company his name was above the marquee. For "Broadway" people, that's sort of unheard of nowadays.
Obviously we all know he's brilliant! :) Whether he wins or looses, that doesn't determine his "status" as an actor. He's already done that by working his ass off for years, and constantly surprising us. I saw Exit the King, and God of Carnage, and I thought Jeff Daniels was superb. For the performances this year, my favorite out of the three. BUT, if I were voting, I would still vote for Raul. Would that be fair, or right of me? No. But that's how it is.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:20am

Well, of course. Even as someone who could not be farther on the spectrum from a performer, I know that it would be absolutely futile and wrong to do it for the awards. It's an added bonus, an extra thing to strive for. But if you're doing it for the awards, you're in the wrong place. But, I don't doubt for a second that almost every performer out there, somewhere deep down, hopes for it some day. And so when you're nominated, even if you don't have your hopes up, even if you don't really even care anymore, there's going to be a little bit of hope there. That has nothing to do with being a performer. You don't need to be a performer to understand that. It's human nature.

Anyway, I hope I didn't suggest that you need a Tony to be considered a good actor, that Raul needs one to maintain his 'status' or to prove his worth, I'd like to correct that assumption, because it's absolutely not true. But this discussion reminds me of one I got into on the Main Board not too long ago, about how it's not simply about whether one actor is deserving of an award or not -- year to year, it's almost MORE dependent on what else has been up there year and who they're going against than it is on the performance in isolation. Of COURSE I think Raul deserves a Tony. Of COURSE I think he is an award-worthy actor. And I don't think my saying I'm not going to get my hopes up this year should be taken to mean I think that any less. It's just about being reasonable.

Updated On: 5/16/09 at 01:20 AM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:40am

I know you were weren't suggesting he needs a Tony to be considered a good actor. I think we all believe he's brilliant.

I'm just trying to say that all though the recognition, or the actual award would be great, I just feel he's kind of-not really beyond or above it, but past it. I feel the Tony's are so much about the business part of the industry now, and less about the performance or artistic aspects.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 2:08am

The underlying problem is trying to find fairness in a contest that by it?s very design is unfair. For example, how do you decide which is the better performance ? someone who starts off with second rate work and manages to turn it into something spectacularly phenomenal, or someone who starts off with first rate work and takes off stratospherically from there? There?s just no way you (Tony voters) can be objective.

I think there?s a certain amount of desire for the award simply because it?s seen as a validation of your abilities, and actors, insecure creatures that they are, are always looking for more validation, no matter how much they already have. But I also think that within the rather rarified air that Tony nominees and winners exist in, it?s not as all-consuming as it is to the rest of us. I think the Tonys perhaps mean more to those of us on the outside than they do to the people on the inside, the people who are in direct competition for them. I?m not saying they aren?t fully appreciative of the honor, but I just think they have a different perspective on it, in the long run, than the rest of the public does. (and if any of the foregoing sounds rambling and/or incoherent, well, I probably shouldn't be posting at this hour ).

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 9:49am

I feel the Tony's are so much about the business part of the industry now, and less about the performance or artistic aspects.

Absolutely. They stopped being primarily about the art a long time ago. The idealist in me still wants them to be, and wants to think they are, but I know they're not really. And honestly, I think it's more politics than industry business, though the two go somewhat hand in hand.

[bestinshow2]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 11:38pm

Raúl finished the hat today. Whoa to the intensity when George/Raúl did actually finish the hat - we all knew it :)

He also did the opening song from SITPWG with Melissa Errico and another song in the first half that I missed.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 11:47pm

Finishing the Hat is my favorite Sondheim song from my all time favorite Broadway show and I LOVED the way he did the last line. It honestly took me by surprise, and I've heard that song sung by SO many amazing people.

The song he did in the first half was probably my favorite thing I've ever heard him sing to date. It used to be "I Don't Believe in Heroes Anymore", but his version of "Nobody's Heart" tonight could have made me cry if I were the crying sort. If they do a cd, that better be on it.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 11:54pm

FINISHING THE HAT FINISHING THE HAT FINISHING THE HAT OH MY GOD.

That is all.

[Hest882]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 1:49am

Ahhhhh. So much jealousy...Like Chrysanthemum, "Finishing the Hat" is my very favorite Sondheim song, as SITPWG is my favorite musical. I was not all that fond of some of the choices Raul made in the Kennedy Center production, but I still loved hearing him sing it, and wish I could have been there tonight.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 2:49am

I'm convinced Raul is the best. But I think as a whole, his vocals weren't there. His sound was very pushed, or forced. Raul is my favorite man on the planet, but his version of Finishing the Hat isn't. I'm sorta partial to Michael Cerveris singing this song. But Raul's delivery of the line "look I made a hat where there NEVER was a hat" practically knocked me out of my chair tonight.
I've always wanted to hear him sing Color and Light, though. I bet he can do that in record speed.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 3:11am

His version is not my favorite, vocally (I love Cerveris', too, but that's not it, either) -- however, he acted the HELL out of it, and I thought he sounded great tonight. Finishing the Hat is possibly my favorite showtune of all time; I had to restrain my glee when I flipped through the program and saw that he was singing it. I figured he'd do something from Company, and while I would have loved a few minutes to re-visit Bobby, this was even better.

Updated On: 5/17/09 at 03:11 AM