Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
#1Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 8:04pm
I've been on a "ALNM" kick this past week, listening to the different cast albums and recordings - some on CD, some on YouTube. I did see the revival with Bernadette Peters, which I enjoyed tremendously, but still think it needs a better revival. So my question - who is the best Desiree, judging from the cast recording?
For me, it's the London version with Jean Simmons. No one - and I mean no one ! - beats her "Send In The Clowns", or her "Glamorous Life". The rest of the cast is spectacular as well. How I wish they captured this cast on film.
Next would be the Broadway cast recording with Glynnis Johns. Not quite as good as Jean Simmons, she takes on the role (at least in the recording) with a lighter flair.
Next would be Judi Dench from 1995's Royal National Theater - very pleasant to listen to.
I think fourth best for me is - ready? - the movie soundtrack with Liz Taylor. Taylor isn't as horrible as I thought she would be, and Diana Rigg saves the day. (Too bad she didn't star as Deirdre). Taylor gives an interesting take on the character, as well as the song interpretations.
Last would be Catherine Zeta Jones. For me, she completely ruins the character and the score, as she sings with no feeling. (Not fond of Lansbury in this, either). The one true standout is Alexander Hanson - a definitive Fredrik for me.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#2Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 8:18pm
Judi Dench is my favorite. I saw her over in London and was absolutely floored by her performance. I'm not sure if I've ever seen such a nuanced and brilliant musical theatre performance since. I also quite liked Bernadette Peters as Desiree.
I loathed Catherine Zeta-Jones. I was skeptical going in, but her crazed, manical performance did not win me over. I saw it a second time for Lansbury, who was lovely, and Catherine's performance was less bat-sh*t insane, but still wasn't very good or interesting. Peters was a HUGE upgrade. Also, the production was cheap as hell and a total embarrassment, but I won't even get into that.
As for a revival, yes please. I'd love to see Rudin or LCT bring it back with big production values and the original orchestrations. I've seen it mentioned before, but I'd love to see Cate Blanchett and Julie Andrews take on the material.
#3Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 8:24pm
The whole cast recording of ALNM with CZJ and Angela Lansbury comes across as more angry (especially "Liasons" and "Send in the Clowns"
in tone than sentimental. It's an odd pairing, to say the least.
The more I listen to Judi Dench, the more she grows on me.
GOD, does this need a revival - or movie redo. I love the Blanchett / Andrews pairing!
#4Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 8:40pm
I don't know about my opinions on Desiree's - I'll have to think on that - but how good was Erin Davie as Charlotte? She is a masterful Sondheim interpreter.
They/them.
"Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#6Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 9:06pm
CindersGolightly said: "I don't know about my opinions on Desiree's - I'll have to think on that - but how good was Erin Davie as Charlotte? She is a masterful Sondheim interpreter."
Yes, Erin was wonderful I still remember her delivery of the line "happy birthday to me."
I think that CZJ was much better as Desiree than most here credit (She did win the Tony, but that's not the point). Other than her performance at the Tony awards themselves, which has been much discussed, I did not find her performance maniacal at all. Her Send in the Clowns was excellent, as Sondheim himself as said, as was the rest of her singing.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
#7Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 9:18pm
CZJ was a wonderful Desiree - as was Bernadette Peters. Both completely different.
Although I never saw it, Roundabout did do that special performance of "Night Music" with Natasha Richardson as Desiree, and I would imagine that she was brilliant. Her performance in "Cabaret" was absolute, sheer perfection.
bwayboy22
Broadway Star Joined: 5/9/12
#8Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 9:22pm
I need to see a Blanchette-Andrews revival now, ugh, Scott Rudin please get on this!
#9Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 9:59pm
Chicago, IL., 1974.
The Shubert Theater.
Jean Simmons; costarring with Margaret Hamilton.
Magnificent on both accounts.
#10Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 10:53pm
It would be nice if someday CZJ’s performance WASN’T tainted by that Tony performance. Those who saw her live can tell you she wasn’t manic like that unfortunate television performance. She was glamorous, sexy, cool, and never overdid Clowns in the theater. She was personally offered the role by Sondheim, and I think she did it justice.
Jake01
Chorus Member Joined: 11/9/10
#11Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 10:56pm
I ADORE this score so much! Not sure about "definitive", but while my go-to is the 1973 original, I recently re-listened to the 2009 revival for the first time in years, and found I enjoyed it quite a bit: the completeness; the addition of select dialogue; the performances of Alexander Hansen, Angela Lansbury, Aaron Lazar, and, yes, Catherine Zeta-Jones; and even the orchestrations, which I appreciated for what they were and thought were nonetheless still effective and beautiful.
beaemma
Featured Actor Joined: 11/24/09
#12Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 10:58pm
I liked quite a bit about the most recent Broadway revival, especially Angela Lansbury, whom I thought the best of the many I've seen in the role. I saw that production several times. Early in the run, Catherine Zeta-Jones was not bad at all as Desiree, although I disliked her approach to "Clowns." Late in the run, I thought her performances became erratic and inconsistent. I considered Bernadette Peters better in the role, but wasn't crazy about all the crying she did in "Clowns," largely because it distorted her voice. My favorite Desiree remains Glynis Johns, whom I saw in the role three times.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#13Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:12pm
ljay889 said: "It would be nice if someday CZJ’s performance WASN’Ttainted by that Tony performance. Those who saw her live can tell you she wasn’t manic like that unfortunate television performance. She was glamorous, sexy, cool, and never overdid Clowns in the theater. She was personally offered the role by Sondheim, and I think she did it justice."
It depended on the night that you saw her. I saw her one night where she was like her Tony performance and another where she was just.... plain, I guess.
#14Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:18pm
Glynis Johns - as Pal Joey put No. Con. Test.
#15Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:18pm
Glynis Johns - as Pal Joey put No. Con. Test.
#16Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:26pm
Did those of you that say Zeta-Jones see her later in her run? I'm wondering if she started to get bigger as the run went on. I saw her early in her run and she gave a sophisticated, nuanced performance. Maybe she's just an inconsistent performer. Capable of giving a fine performance, but also prone to going over the top sometimes, too. Whatever the hell she did at the Tony Awards was certainly not the lovely "Send in the Clowns" I saw at The Kerr.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
Princeton2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/08
#17Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:02am
Considering CZJ suffers from Bi polar i think its a bit unfair to criticise her too harshly and it probably explains the differences in performances and why she hasnt been on stage since
#18Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:46am
^^^Um, do you really think CZJ is the first bipolar actor? She's certainly not the first to be criticized as erratic.
Do you think they refunded patrons' money on the nights CZJ's meds weren't working? The performance one sees is the performance one sees. (I'm not unsympathetic and one of my closest relatives struggles with bipolar disorder.)
Maybe they should have put an asterisk by CZJ's name on the show poster. The footnote below would have read, "*Bipolar. Some performances may be affected."
***
As for performances, for a few weeks I worked the national tour with Jean Simmons. She was lovely on stage and off, and certainly sang the triplets in "The Glamorous Life" better than Johns. But Glynis Johns on the recording sounds ideal, triplets or no.
#19Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 10:03am
ljay889 said: "It would be nice if someday CZJ’s performance WASN’Ttainted by that Tony performance. Those who saw her live can tell you she wasn’t manic like that unfortunate television performance. She was glamorous, sexy, cool, and never overdid Clowns in the theater. She was personally offered the role by Sondheim, and I think she did it justice."
Exactly. And the reviews she got were excellent. Davis Rooney in Variety wrote: The "luminous" Zeta Jones sings the production's most famous tune,Send In The Clowns, with "touching dignity." Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Her rendition of the oh-so-familiar Send in the Clowns is a revelation, and she handles the poignant and comic aspects of her character with equal aplomb". And Brantley wrote that she brought a "vulpine self possession" to the role.
Understand that I'm not suggesting that she was the best Desiree ever. I'm just saying that many here given her way too much ****, which I believe is based on her Tony performance and nothing else, but she was really, really good on the stage of the Walter Kerr.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Updated On: 9/25/17 at 10:03 AM
#20Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 11:52am
I love reading the BS in this board, CZJ turned this into a sold out hit. Then Bernadette replaced her and the show closed. Do the math. Catherine was a much sexier Desiree and was brilliant in this and delivered the lines with glamour and pizzazz. She is my favorite Desiree.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#21Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 12:56pm
GavestonPS said: "^^^Um, do you really think CZJ is the first bipolar actor? She's certainly not the first to be criticized as erratic.
Do you think they refunded patrons' money on the nights CZJ's meds weren't working?The performance one sees is the performance one sees.(I'm not unsympathetic and one of my closest relatives struggles with bipolar disorder.)
Maybe they should have put an asterisk by CZJ's name on the show poster. The footnote below would have read, "*Bipolar. Some performances may be affected."
***
As for performances, for a few weeks I worked the national tour with Jean Simmons. She was lovely on stage and off, and certainly sang the triplets in "The Glamorous Life" better than Johns. But Glynis Johns on the recording sounds ideal, triplets or no."
I agree with everything you have posted. If indeed CZJ was not feeling 'up to par' on some evenings, maybe it was best she let her understudy go on instead of giving a 'so-so' performance for the audience.
#22Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:06pm
I agree with everything you have posted. If indeed CZJ was not feeling 'up to par' on some evenings, maybe it was best she let her understudy go on instead of giving a 'so-so' performance for the audience."
Well, whether or not she gave a "so-so" performance on a particular night is pretty subjective and in the eyes of the beholder. It's not something we can accept as fact. And whether or not she was feeling "up to par" on some evenings is something only she would know. And as we all know, there's a pretty strong tradition in the theater of NOT calling out unless the circumstances are dire. (See: Andy Karl.) And in this particular case, calling out would have forced the producers to issue refunds. So I'm calling BS on all of this.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
#23Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:07pm
muscle23ftl said: "I love reading the BS in this board, CZJ turned this into a sold out hit. Then Bernadette replaced her and the show closed. Do the math. Catherine was a much sexier Desiree and was brilliant in this and delivered the lines with glamour and pizzazz. She is my favorite Desiree."
The night you saw it I'm sure she was great. She was great the night I saw it. But there have been many reports of her giving quite a different take on the role at some performances (and of course, the Tony Awards). Unless you saw her at every performance, it's not fair to call BS on people who saw her on an off day.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
#24Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:20pm
If we're keeping tally, CZJ was excellent on the night I saw her. Bernadette, not so much. This reminds me of peoples' reaction to Bernadette in Follies. The night I saw her she practically dropped to her knees crying and over emoting during Losing My Mind. Half the people I know saw the same thing at their performance, the other half saw something more subtle. We all saw what we saw. That's live theatre.
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
#25Best Desiree in 'A Little Night Music' ?
Posted: 9/25/17 at 1:35pm
I must add that I thought Emily Skinner, Prince of Broadway, nailed "Send in the Clowns." I know it is one song Desiree sings, but she was able to transform in the character and give a strong and beautiful interpretation.
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