Alexa Vega in Hairspray 02/16

[Chrismas42]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:12pm

Well... since everyone is DIEING to know how she does in the show I thought I'd post a little review...

I, note the I, thought she was SOOOOOO good. She may not be the best singer, though she DOES have some pipes, she MORE than makes up for it with her acting. While I never got to see Diana Degarmo live, only in clips, I like Alexa WAYYYYYY more as Penny specifically because she was soooo real AS Penny rather than "acting" like Penny.

As for her singing... She pretty much belted the whole show and I say pretty much because she probably backed off a little for the chorus numbers but... every solo was strong and great sounding.

Everyone else was really good too!!! Tevin Campbell, Ashley Parker Angel, Jon Vogt, Brynn O'Malley (LOVE HER!!!!)

I guess the person I was least impressed with was Shannon, who tried to sneak out the stage door with Jon by having the guard say that everyone had left already.. LOL
Not that she was bad...She was good... I was just left wanting a little more from her.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:20pm

Dying.

Paul Vogt.

[renthead333]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:21pm

You can't base Diana off of some videos. Diana as Penny is perfect to the T. I'm not saying that Alexa is better or worse, but since you haven't seen Diana, don't be saying she's more Penny than Diana.

[myManCape]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:21pm

This makes me very happy. I know different people have different opinions of each actor, but I really want her to succeed in the role. She seems so perfect for it.

[nannerz60]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:23pm

Thanks for your review. Any specifics you can tell us about Alexa's performance? How was Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now, Without Love and You Can't Stop The Beat? How was her dancing?

[Chrismas42]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:38pm

UGH!!!
I knew Dying was spelled with a Y... but it didn't come up on spell check in word.... hmmm.
And Paul.. I was thinking John Voigt. He doesn't do Broadway. oops. Thank you Yankee.

Anyway,
Until the very last number Vega appears to have no rhythm but she pulls it out in "You Can't Stop the Beat". She's not a bad dancer, which works for Penny. The only little mishap was when she got a little off the music at the beginning of her solo in that number.
As for the other numbers, she didn't add any vocal riffs or anything. She sang the Kerry Butler version from what I can remember... Scratch that sang. She BELTED the Kerry Butler version... lol. As soon as she opened her mouth to sing my friend and I looked at each other and just stared cause we were sooo surprised.

As for the Diana comment... I saw the clip of her performance when they didn't wear costumes, I think Today show or something. What I didn't like about Diana that I liked about Alexa was that Alexa was the PERFECT amount of Ditzy to me. Alexa WAS the part.. Diana, to me, looked like she was trying to hard. Maybe she had an off morning. As for her singing, Alexa probably can't compare but she's still great.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 8:39pm

Haha, I knew you were thing of John Voight.

[Maggie_May]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 11:04pm

I saw the show this afternoon and I thought Alexa did extremely well--I didnt expect her to have a good voice and she left me surprsied in a good way but she didnt come CLOSE to Diana. I loved Diana so so much and I didnt laugh as much with Alexa.

I did fall in love with Ashley's Link. He was perfect and boy can he dance! I also enjoyed Jere Burns so much. I remember him from Something So Right one of my favorite shows.

This cast is extremely talented and I will go again soon to check them all out

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 11:14pm

PLEASE do not base your opinions of Diana off a YouTube clip of "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" that was performed at Broadway on Broadway (I assume that's what you're talking about - Diana and the cast of 'Hairspray' never performed at the Today Show). Unless you saw her in the full show, you can't say she is better! It's just hard for me to hear that because I have heard Alex in the role, and she's just a wreck.

Yes, this is her first show on Broadway, but that doesn't cut it. I do wish her the best in the role and hope she gets better, but she has major shoes to fill and I don't think they ever will be filled!

[nannerz60]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 11:18pm

How does Alexa do with the Penny quirks?

I'm a fan of Ashley's music - good to hear he's settling into the role...

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 2/17/07 at 11:29pm

"It's just hard for me to hear that because I have heard Alex in the role, and she's just a wreck."

Aren't you doing exactly what you told Chrismas42 not to do?

[misto625]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:07am

I'm just glad someone finally mentioned Brynn O'Malley in a review! She's the only cast member that would make me want to see this show again.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:11am

As renthead333 said, you shouldn't base Diana off clips. I went in thinking she'd be a train wreck off a few clips and some pictures and was blown away.

I've heard Alexa's horrible. Here's to hoping she gets better.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:19am

"I'm just glad someone finally mentioned Brynn O'Malley in a review! She's the only cast member that would make me want to see this show again"

She was the BEST Amber, I've seen.
I've seen: Jordan, Haylie and Brynn
And by far Brynn was the BEST.
I mentioned her in my review.
LOVED her.

[ABoyLikeThat]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 1:28am

I really wouldn't knock Diana having not even see her performance (any clips you might have seen would not do her justice). I was blown away by her performance. Having said that, I'm glad to hear Alexa is doing well in the role.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 2:28am

Ya'll are crazy. Who cares who thinks who is better? What's it really matter? Judging Diana off a performance on Bway on Bway is perfectly okay. That's the point of the presentation, it's suppose to get ppl to see the show, and if her performance didn't do it for you, then too bad for the show. And if you liked someone, great. Art is subjective. Theater is subjective. It just gets old with all the "elphie" "hairspray" "legally blonde" screenames battling out who has the better riffs. It's not that big of a deal.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 12:23pm

JustChillin8908,

I agree with you, I did contradict myself, but I just find it hard for anyone to be completely satisified with her performance. Like I said before, I hope she improves and I wish her the best!

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 1:36pm

Going this week!

[Mrs.LinkLarkin2]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 1:50pm

Oh Gosh! Chrismas, I couldn't disagree with you more! I saw the show for the 5th time yesterday. My first time without Diana. I thought Alexa made the character blend in with the scenery. And Shannon is one of the only people who stand out to me now. I'm not going to go into it anymore because I'm going to write my own review of the show later. I LOVE Hairspray! But I've got some complaints about the new cast. I will not be complaining about Ashley though! OMG! He was the sweetest thing ever after the show! Look out for my thread later!

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 5:25pm

She looks just like a Penny, but vocal wise.
Eh, there is much to be left desired.

[Chrismas42]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 8:04pm

Yes... I agree that Alex's vocals are not as great as Diana.. That's to be expected...
I was just blown away that she sounded as good as she did!!!! Which was definitly more than mediocre. As for making her blend in... I think that's a good thing. I don't really ever think Penny should be stealing the show from the star, which is sounds like Diana did.
Anyway, I've seen worse people on Broadway.
As for Shannon, the only other time I've seen Hairspray was the tour that went out a little while age and there was an AMAZING Hawaiian girl who played Tracy. Basically, her pereformance BLEW Shannon out of the water... Where she is now I have no idea...

As for Brynn.. I LOVE her.. She graduated from U of M a year after some of my good friends so I got to see her in her senior showcase, and I've been waiting for her to be on Broadway SINCE!!

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 2/18/07 at 11:26pm

thanks so much for this thread!!! I have really been looking foward to hearing about vega!

[PUGILIST]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 3:59pm

"As for making her blend in... I think that's a good thing. I don't really ever think Penny should be stealing the show from the star, which is sounds like Diana did."

Diana may very well have stolen the show, but hey, can't knock a girl for having presence..
however I do think that Penny should stand out because she and Tracy are a comic duo and after seeing the show twice (w/ Diana in it) I realized that Tracy really is the "straight man" in it, and all the jokes go to Penny, so I guess there are just two ways of playing it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 4:31pm

C42, I believe you're thinking of Keala Settle.