Ben Platt at the Grammys

[theodora2]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:17am

What did you think of his performance?

I personally loved it very much, and thought it complemented his voice brilliantly.

[broadwaynerdnewbie]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:25am

I really liked it myself.

[Lot666]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:35am

Very nice.

[Cat Guy]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:40am

His interpretation of "Somewhere" was quite wonderful.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:56am

I thought it was fantastic, even if it was overshadowed by Patti’s performance. They were both great!

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:57am

He was excellent. I even wondered if he had Spielberg's upcoming project on his mind...

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:58am

His nervous energy and anxious delivery of the song was a turn off for me. It felt just like Evan again.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:11am

He certainly can sing! But I would have rather heard all the right notes that Lenny wrote.

I understand it's the Grammies and they would want a contemporary feel but Bernstein's music is timeless.

And was the stripped shirt an homage to DEAR EVAN or was his real outfit still in the cleaners?

He looked very underdressed to me.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:26am

Yeah I agree, it's a song that should be sung straight through and with no further embellishments, its great beauty lays in the simplicity of the melody. Not Platt' s fault tho

[darreyl102]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:27am

He sounded good to me- he didn't embody the song much, just sang it, but still good. Of course Patti overshadowed him- because she both acted AND sang the hell out of it.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:28am

It was rather "meh" to me.  The arrangement did him no favors- if we're honoring Leonard Bernstein, why would they have him sing a pop arrangement of the song? Why not let him sing it the way Lenny intended it?

It didn't really do much for me- in a lot of ways it felt like he was still playing Evan Hansen. He wasn't acting the song at all- appeared to just stand there and sing. Compare that to Patti, who both acted and sung the hell out of it, in the original key no less. I suppose Platt would have been fine enough were it not for Patti coming out immediately afterwards and delivering that knockout performance. 

Updated On: 1/29/18 at 11:28 AM

[ohhiccup 2]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:28am

I didn’t like the performance, but agree it wasn’t Platt’s fault it was what they would’ve told him to do. But the riffing just took away from how beautiful the song is to me. Maybe that’s just because I’m so not used to hearing it sung that way, it might grow on me.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:42am

I thought he sounded great, albeit a bit nervous. Considering that he's working on a solo album right now, which is supposed to feature original songs, having a contemporary arrangement of "Somewhere" was not surprising. I don't think the idea was to showcase Ben Platt the stage actor, but, instead, Ben Platt the recording artist.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:50am

I think thats the last of ben doing something theatre related for a long time. I think hes surfaced the music insusty enough that he probally wont come back.

[broadwaynerdnewbie]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:04pm

Bwayfan292 said: "I think thats the last of ben doing something theatre related for a long time. I think hes surfaced the music insusty enough that he probally wont come back."

He will def come back it might just be a few years. I think he wants to branch out and try new stuff for sure but I still think theater is his number one passion.

[denali.fire]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:11pm

It was his first song on a really national venue. Grammys might even be a bit national. .

He got a standing ovation.

I thought it was a truly passionate breakout performance

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:17pm

Everyone got a "standing" ovation.

 

 

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:45pm

pretty much agree with most people here.  He has a lovely voice but wished he would have sang the song the way it was written (damn American Idol for interjecting riffs throughout a song) especially since it was a tribute to Bernstein.  Don't blame him, I'm sure he was just directed to sing it that way.

Patti did demand that any changes to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" be done by the composer since they had to cut a minute from it.  Ben didn't have that luxury.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:52pm

denali.fire said: "It was his first song on a really national venue. Grammys might even be a bit national. .

He got a standing ovation.

I thought it was a truly passionate breakout performance

"

But did blue Ivey stand first? It only matters if blue Ivey was the first to stand.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:56pm

There have been countless threads on here over the years about how meaningless standing ovations are nowadays.  Are we really going to be hypocrites and use a standing ovation at the Grammy Awards as a barometer of greatness?

[JBC3]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:59pm

Given the iconic nature of Patti in Evita, comparing the two is not very useful. I liked his performance, particularly the accompaniment. His repeatedly truncated phrasing on "for us" was an interesting choice I probably would not have made.

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:08pm

denali.fire said: "It was his first song on a really national venue. Grammys might even be a bit national. .

He got a standing ovation.

I thought it was a truly passionate breakout performance

"

The Tony Awards and the various late night and morning shows he performed Waving Through A Window on weren't 'national venues?'

 

Like I said in the other thread, I like Ben Platt and his talent a lot but felt like he was really out of his element. It seemed like Evan Hansen trying to sing Bernstein. 

 

 

[ohhiccup 2]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:14pm

I think Ben is an amazing singer but prefer him when he’s actually in a show vs when he’s singing in a more concert like setting. It’s not just this performance where I’ve felt distracted from the actual meaning of the song he’s singing because of how much he’s riffing or doing vocal runs. That’s not to knock him and like I said he doesn’t do it when he’s actually playing a character. Just personal preference.

[Cfried]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:15pm

It seems I'm one of the few that didn't care for his performance. The clipped "...for us" was almost irritating and I felt I was watching Evan Hansen sing West Side. I also did not understand the contemporary arrangement when this was supposed to be a celebration of Leonard Bernstein. Ben is a very talented artist, but this was not the right song for him. He's not the leading man-Tony type, so the performance didn't work for me.  

Updated On: 1/29/18 at 03:15 PM

[bdn223]

Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:31pm

He has a great voice don’t get me wrong, but I hated his phrasing, it felt like he was still playing Evan. Its”there’s a place for us...breath...somewhere.....” and not “There’s a place....breath...forus SOMEWHERE”
You just felt his nervous energy for a song that should be and was likely chosen for its optimism in the face of adversity. If they were adamant about having Platt perform he should of done Something’s Coming or Maria.
If they wanted Somewhere to be sung they should of gone with other CBS family broadway stars like Jeremy Jordan, Patina Miller, or Christopher Jackson (another Grammy winner).

If anything they should of chosen New York, New York, as it would if been on the nose, and should of opened the show with a taped piece bringing in the Nominees at the various locations in the song, and then mixing it with Jay-Z’a Empire state and Billy Joel’sNew York state of mind. They were at Billy Joel’s home venue and didn’t even have him perform. thats an argument dor a different day though.

Updated On: 1/29/18 at 03:31 PM