Amy Spanger On Leave — Page 5

I saw the matinee and Cara was absolutely FANTASTIC. Since Spencer Liff left the show yesterday, Matt Allen was on for him, and Kevin Kern was on for Peter Kapetan. The show was absolutely PHENOMENAL. Everyone was perfect. You wouldn't have even known Cara, Kevin, or Matt were understudies. Being an especially large fan of Kevin's, I was particularly excited for him to be on. He was phenomenal as Priest, Bum, Robbie's Grandpa, and Ronald Reagan.

I have no complaints with the show. I thought the book was absolutely hilarious, loved the sets and choreography. It was a fun show to see. I loved it. Everything flowed really well.

And PS - Why is this thread now called 'Amy Spanger in Love'?

I saw Cara Cooper on Friday and thought she was great - every bit as good as Amy Spanger, really, and maybe even a better dancer.

The show is definitely improved from Seattle; its now kind of a guilty pleasure show, in that you realize some of what is on stage is absolutely terrible, but you smile and laugh despite your self.

I still maintain that Laura Benanti is fundamentally miscast, but she has found a way to be charming in spite of that. She and Lynch are adorable together. He for the record tries a little harder than he probably needs to (he's no Adam Sandler in the comedy department) but his vocals are outstanding.

Kevin Cahoon and Rita Gardner are audience favorites and seem to be having a blast. My personal favorite in this show, however, is Felicia Finley who makes Linda into a true Heather Locklear from hell. This girl should be on SNL.

The score has grown on me, though I maintain "It's all about the Green" is one of the worst numbers I have ever seen in a Broadway musical, and I wish that the composing team hadn't included the tunes from the movie.

All in all, I think the show is fun. I wouldn't pay a hundred dollars for it, but I think it's a harmless crowd pleaser and anything that leaves you smiling can't be all bad

I disagree as well. Stephen is a comic GENIUS. His delivery on certain lines made them lines to remember. His comedy act is hilarious; the man knows what he's doing.

I actually like that Stephen Lynch is not Adam Sandler-esque, because I feel that Adam Sandler can get too over the top, and it's hard to make that work on-stage.

Glad to hear that Amy's back and fit.

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I don't know, I saw it on Saturday night, and maybe we're the only ones, but my family and I were really underwhelmed by Cara Cooper's singing. Her dancing/acting were great, we thought. After listening to Amy on the soundtrack a lot and having heard her sing some of my fave songs of the show like "Right in Front of Your Eyes" and "Saturday Night in the City," I was very unimpressed with Cara's voice control. Even my mom who had never heard the music from the show before felt the same way. I'm not trying to knock Cara, she was very nice at the stage door and is real talented, but I really found myself missing Amy and wishing she'd be back for good.

I also saw the show Sat. night (7/1) with the same cast as the matinee . . . for some reason, Matt Allen was on for Harold, but then did his track after that, and Michael McGurk did the rest of Spencer's track. It was my second time this week . . . I also saw it Tuesday. This was my first time seeing Felicia, and I thought she was CRAZY good . . . Nicolette was wonderful too though in her debut. Cara was great, and I think I would have loved her if I didn't see Amy. I thought her dancing was better than Amy's in parts, but Amy's vocals FAR surpassed Cara's. She's still really worthy of the understudy slot, and provided a fulfilling performance. It was kind of odd to see Kevin as all of the old men without wigs (except for Grandpa and the bum), but he was great, and did the most he could with those roles.

She might have had a personal issue that prevented her from being at the show on those particular days last week. But she has been sick a lot during the run of the show, and the fact that she has water dumped on her every night can't be very helpful. She rarely missed when she was in Kiss Me Kate.

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This makes me want to see all of the understudies now. It sounds like they are great.

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i loooove cara