Alice Ripley: Her Voice- Page 2

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:14am

I disagree with your disagreement (heh) about Idina. I think her voice is shot from years of improper belting. I think she smokes, too?

As for Alice Ripley, I definitely noticed a deterioration from her Side Show vocal performance while listening to N2N. There's also a video of her performing "Meadowlark" on the forbidden site and I don't think she sounds that great in it, either--not at all what I had been expecting.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 4:37am

Say what you will about her voice, but nobody and I mean NOBODY acts a song the way that she does. And to me that's most important. You have to watch her live. It's an experience.

[JoeGillis]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 7:34am

I agree that Ripley displays an incredible range of emotion when she sings. No doubt about it she's got acting chops to boot!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:27am

Is it not possible that these changes are intentional? That entering middle age, she doesn't want to blast away as she did as Violet (or the mother in TOMMY, when I first saw her; she understudied and went on to fabulous effect).

I've seen all of her Broadway appearances, several times in SIDESHOW. But don't you recall how many people disliked the SIDESHOW sound? I recall even fans of belting saying the two women sounded like they were "yelling..." The SIDESHOW vocals, discussed here as her golden moment, were strikingly theatrical and unique -- designed to serve the Krieger blend of pastiche (the period 'performance' duets) and pop power ballads, which took the roof off the 46th Street. Many people felt the pop-rock influence actually damaged SIDESHOW's credibiliy as story, that the Daisy and Violet of the 1920s had been given an early Lloyd Webber treatment when they deserved, say, Irving Berlin. I disagreed, the goal was to explore their sexuality and yearning, but it's possible that Ripley doesn't want to be boxed in as a screechy pop-belter, particularly in the IDOL era of post-Whitney, post Maria. SIDESHOW was over a decade ago.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:45am

Well, I've seen that Meadowlark video and know what you are talking about. But I also saw that show live at Papermill, and her performance was REMARKABLE! I also saw the Raw at Town Hall concert and it just seemed to me that she didn't have the stamina anymore to belt for 2 hours. Most of the concert was incredible, but the last few songs seemed to be difficult for her to get through. It really didn't seem like her voice was damaged, but just that she was "out of shape." I'm seeing N2N on April 21st, and I CAN'T WAIT! I LOVE Alice and I'm expecting to be blown away.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:49am

it just seemed to me that she didn't have the stamina anymore to belt for 2 hours. Most of the concert was incredible, but the last few songs seemed to be difficult for her to get through.

Well, something's improved since Raw was recorded then, because her last solo song at the Kennedy Center concert last April was "You Have To Be There" and she belted the HELL out of it.

I adore Alice's voice ~ it's not cookie cutter, and I love that!

Updated On: 4/13/09 at 08:49 AM

[Imaginethis]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 10:40am

Theater Artist or Machine? Ten years ago. Whether theater practicioner or fan, all posters and readers are invited to count backwards and vision themselves. Who and what were you then? Ten years younger. Ten years less experience. Ten years less life under your BELT? Do you approach things the same way now? Employ the same techniques now that you did then? Is your context the same for your life and work? Hmmmm. Is the mark of an artist, the goal of an artist to remain static in their choice, approach, and delivery of their work? To always do what they do, exactly as they have done, year after year? Become an archive of themselves? Or is that the job of video, audio recordings, and photographs? While that unmentionable video site serves a purpose, it is also a beast to our brains. More often than not, due to the vast amount of bootleg material, it merely captures information, rarely, the breadth or soul of either a live or planned performance. Remember, authentic film making, studio recordings, and professional photographs, are just that, images and sounds that are crafted. On another point, now, let?s all be honest. How many people actually sit and listen to Merman or even LuPone for repeat, long stretches of time? And even if you do, don?t they absolutely wear your earbones raw? Is theirs, a delicious, desirable sound? Yes and No! The sound melds in your brain, conjuring snippets of performances that you?ve actually seen or can imagine. Imagination friends. True artists and their work are about the imagination. Unlike all the electronics we are fed or hunger towards today, that do all the work for us, live performance, of any type, is still and always will be the ?realest? and consequentially, the RAWEST of deals, good, bad, or otherwise. OBCR are meant to evoke characters, story, and the experience, the essence of the live performance, not be a flat archive. Seth Rudetsky is witty to a point with his deconstructions. But I do get his enthusiasm, his appreciation for artists. What?s he doing? He?s making a living identifying the unique qualities of performers, the choices they make and execute, given the material at hand and their abilities, to deliver the goods. Enjoy, and learn something from him. Experience live theater. Experience paintings. Experience books. Live, look and listen like artists!

[jewishboy]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 11:28am

I recently saw Next to Normal and I thought her voice was EXCELLENT! Her "I Miss the Mountains" was probably the vocal highlight of the evening, along with Tveit's "I'm Alive." Her voice might have lowered since her Side Show days, but I really don't understand the complaints...

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 11:34am

Maybe she was just having an off night when it was recorded, then. I did love her "Where's the Warmth," also on the same site.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 11:39am

I do have to say, though, that as much as she belted in "Side Show," she also displayed quite a glorious head voice-- and I think she actually sang more in head voice than belt.

[Imaginethis]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:11pm

Updated On: 4/13/09 at 12:11 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:16pm

Oh dear.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:19pm

you rang?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:20pm

Oh my gracious! It's like 2006 all over again!

[HunterK2]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:22pm

Her "Tell Me on a Sunday" in DC was 90 minutes of a nonstop mix of heavy belting and her gorgeous head voice. She held he own beautifully through that show and countless others. I do agree, her acting of a song is is strong suit. Just watching her, no matter what is coming out of her mouth, is worth the price of admission.

Just a brilliant performer all around!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:24pm

Zoney, you don't accept PMs

[jewishboy]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:25pm

"defines the new in ingenue." Wow, just wow.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:27pm

Try again.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:32pm

I didn't like her singing at all in Next to Normal, but her acting completely made up for it. She does sound significantly better on the cast recording than she did live, and it's usually the other way around.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 3:42pm

Well, she sang "You Have To Be There" on Raw and Town Hall, too and it was AMAZING. Thing was, you could tell when she was starting "I Will Never Leave You" that she just didn't quite have the gas to go. Even the song before it was just lacking in energy. You can hear in the Raw recording that "I Will Never Leave You" isn't as good as normal (I remember it being much more noticable live than on the CD).

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 3:54pm

Regardless of the reason for the suppsoed state of her voice now, I think it totally works for her character in NEXT TO NORMAL. For her to sound as she did in SIDE SHOW would have been inappropriate/incongruous.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 4:39pm

You should hear her sing "Not Getting Married" from Company. Knocked it OUT.

Her voice isnt what it was, we all know this- but it works for the character of Diana Goodman, so... its all good.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 4:47pm

Well, she sang "You Have To Be There" on Raw and Town Hall, too and it was AMAZING. Thing was, you could tell when she was starting "I Will Never Leave You" that she just didn't quite have the gas to go. Even the song before it was just lacking in energy. You can hear in the Raw recording that "I Will Never Leave You" isn't as good as normal (I remember it being much more noticable live than on the CD).

Hanna, my point was that last April at the Kennedy Center YHTBT was the next to last song of the concert and she sang the hell out of it with plenty of energy.

Were the others up to the level they were at Side Show in either case? No, but 10 years later I wouldn't expect them to be. Arrangements have been shifted and emotions enter the picture.

I'd still rather hear Alice than any number of other performers currently on Broadway in various shows currently.

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 6:15pm

it sounds to me like she has nodes.

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 6:23pm

I absolutely love her voice, its definitely not the same as it was, but who cares? Its so uniquely Alice, I just adore it.