BREAKING NEWS: "American Idol" Jordin Sparks to join In the Heights Aug. 19- Page 2

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 3:47pm

"It's too bad her second album has not performed very well."

Exactly why she is scrambling into a Broadway show. She needs the work.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:00pm

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:49pm

Anyone else think the slow de-Latinification of "Heights" is odd?

And on a side note, I always cringe thinking of an "evangelical Christian who wears a purity ring" taking a Broadway role away from a sane person.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:54pm

I think Jordin is Latina somewhere.

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:56pm

Perhaps... Wikipedia just says "Caucasian" mother and "Africa-American" father. (checked before making my catty comment) :)

[ABoyLikeThat]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:58pm

^I'm pretty sure she's half African-American, half Caucasian. Just like Corbin though, she wouldn't look out of place with the cast so that's not my concern. Jordin's not the greatest singer ever but she should be able to do well with the vocals in this role. I don't know about the acting but she might be ok. This is a good "get" for ITH. Jordin's had a number of pop hits so she should have a decent effect on the box office.

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:27pm

Aboy...: agreed, appearance wise. And I'm usually not too sensitive to stuff like this, but listening to the OBCR just reminded me how much the characters' ethnicities and countries of birth play a part in the story.

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:46pm

"I always cringe thinking of an "evangelical Christian who wears a purity ring" taking a Broadway role away from a sane person."

Oh... you must be one of those "tolerant of everybody" liberals. Smart kiddo

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:55pm

Yeah & you're an "evangelical Christian who wears a purity ring."

[ActingIsLovee]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 6:09pm

In theory she could sing the score well, but doing it 8 times a week, I'm not so sure...
Updated On: 5/3/10 at 06:09 PM

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 7:54pm

"Kiddo": I'm a gay atheist living in the buckle of the Bible Belt. Someone going beyond "Christian" and self-identifying as an "evangelical Christian" scares the hell out of me.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 8:29pm

I saw Jordin Sparks open for Britney Spears at Madison Square Garden last year. She sounded terrible, and she has been sidelined at various times from tours for the past several years because of vocal injury. How in the world is she going to do eight shows a week on Broadway?

We were wrong about Corbin Bleu though, so I'm willing to give the In the Heights people the benefit of the doubt.

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 8:33pm

I really like Jordin. I think she has a very nice voice. I look forward to seeing her in the show.

I forgot when Corbin leaves, but will they be in the show at the same time?

No. Unless Corbin extends again, they will not be in the show together. Corbin's last show is July 25, 2010. Jordin starts August 19, 2010.
Updated On: 5/3/10 at 08:33 PM

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 9:13pm

Obviously ITH is turning into a disney tween musical, but I'll give Jordan the benefit of the doubt this time. Countdown till they start getting rid of the curse words in the show and make the show revolve around a young latina girl with big dreams and a crush on a hunky guy and get rid of that boring Usnavi character.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 9:48pm

Anyone else think the slow de-Latinification of "Heights" is odd?

Yes. I said as much when Corbin Bleu was cast. Now Usnavi, Vanessa and Nina will all be half-black, half-white, no Hispanic and singing in Spanish about their hardships as first-generation Americans in the barrio. Great.


Countdown till they start getting rid of the curse words in the show and make the show revolve around a young latina girl with big dreams and a crush on a hunky guy and get rid of that boring Usnavi character.

No, it will revolve around a young girl with big dreams and a crush on a hunky guy. Latina is already cut.

[Parks]

Posted: 5/6/10 at 6:40pm

How did I miss this news?! Jordin is terrific! Battlefield (album) is one of my favorite CDs in my iTunes. I hope I get to catch her in this! Who cares about her personal beliefs? She is talented and she won't be talking about her purity ring on stage. Let it go.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 4:03pm

Jordin Sparks - Breathe on the Battlefield Tour

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 7:51pm

Doesn't seem like her technique has improved--listen to her voice flutter. She's going to blow out her voice.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 8:38pm

Although that may be true, I think if she's still singing after belting out those very, very high pop/R&B songs like Battlefield and No Air on tour for months, singing Es and popping the occasional F as Nina won't be too bad. Having vocal issues for screaming really high songs over the screeching of thousands of teenagers, I think, is a little different than singing a challenging, but highly singable score. (which I think is one of ITH's score's biggest strengths - everything is very challenging, but not evil to its actors' voices.)

Sure, she's not perfect, but who is? I think she sounds fine and is great casting. In theory, she may be my favorite Nina thus far, as she has the harshness to her voice that Mandy Gonzales has, but actually looks 16, like Arielle Jacobs on tour (who, while incredible, I think is a just a tad mix-heavy for the score)

[siny]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 8:46pm

She is 5'11". She will tower over most of the cast.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 8:49pm

it's true that she's a giant, but at least she looks like a kid giant! : )

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 9:44pm

Well she can sing the song, but I don't like how she sings it...

[BwayTday]

Posted: 6/29/10 at 9:52pm

Me either. It doesn't sound strong enough to me.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 6/30/10 at 11:45pm

I think she sounds fantastic and I'm really excited. Nina is 19 not 16.

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 7/1/10 at 12:12am

Is Chris Jackson sticking around still? I find it incredibly awkward to see Jordan who looks like a 16 yr old hook up with a dude who is around 40 years old.