Better/worse live than on the cast recording?

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Better/worse live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:00pm

Hey guys! I don't know if this has been discussed already (if it has, I'm sorry for making another thread). Are there any Broadway performers who you believe did better live than what you perceived from the cast recording to the show?

ETA: To make things interesting, are there any performers who found were worse than their performances on the cast recording?

Aaand discuss!

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Updated On: 12/22/08 at 04:00 PM

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:12pm

Hugh Panaro, definitely.

And to some extent, Laura Bell Bundy.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:23pm

Tyne Daly in Gypsy. Apparently she was sick during the recording of the cast recording. I think she was not vocally prepared to sing Rose at all, but the singing was marginally better in the theater than on the recording.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:27pm

Christina Applegate in SWEET CHARITY. Sensational live -- awkward on the cast recording. That was one voice the microphone didn't like.

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:45pm

Def. Kelli O'Hara on the new South Pacific recording.
Even though I still like this recording, she sounded millions of times better live.

<-----Bernadette Peters and Alexander Hanson in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

Send in the clowns...Send in the crowds!

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re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 4:48pm

I thought Orfeh was a lot better live than on the Legally Blonde recording

Eliseo Roman is better live too

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 5:00pm

Skylar Astin in SPRING AWAKENING. Not because he wasn't vocally great on the recording, just that his solo at the end of "Touch Me" was incredibly powerful live and it was just good on the recording.

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 5:02pm

I always get the impression Sherie René Scott holds back a little in the studio and must be totally awesome live.

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re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 5:33pm

Actually, I'm pretty sure every performer is better live. A cast recording just can't capture the magic of a live performance no matter how good it sounds. Though I will agree some people do fare better on recordings than others. But yeah, everyone is better live. I think a more interesting quesion would be if anyone has seen someone who they liked less after seeing live.

#10

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 5:37pm

I agree, MisterSnow. If a live performance is just-as-good-as a second hand "recorded" performance then Theatre becomes pointless and obsolete.

There is a MAJOR element that is missing from almost every cast recording:

THE AUDIENCE.

Without them, the performer is swimming with only one fin.

What great ones do the less will prattle of

Updated On: 12/22/08 at 05:37 PM

#11

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 6:37pm

from what i hear a lot of mainstream pop artists get some negative feedback. probably cause they had no talent to begin with.

But i do remember in Spamalot a while back, Sara R. and Tim Curry were not at there best game live at a performance. But the presence of Tim made up for it. It seemed Tim just wanted to get the show over with.

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Rose: "Of Course I know, I Watch Fox News"
-(modified)Gypsy
Broadway Schedule
December 5th- Hamilton, On Your Feet
December 19th- Noises Off, Edith Piaf Concert at Town Hall

#12

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 7:00pm

I heard Terrence Mann was really not good at all live. I am a huge fan of his voice, but I've never heard him perform live, so I can't say how I feel about that.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#13

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 7:37pm

I thought Matthew Broderick sounded really good live than on the cast recording of The Producers, in my opinion.

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Updated On: 12/22/08 at 07:37 PM

#14

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 7:55pm

I thought Chris Jackson was AMAZING live. Mandy Gonzalez and Carlos Gomez were better on the recording. I thought alot of the actors put more spice into their live performances. Which I am totally okay with.

#15

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/22/08 at 8:14pm

I've always wondered if Robert Cuccioli was sick during the recording of the J&H cast album, because frankly, he doesn't sound too good. But I saw him live twice and he was great. Also, in Kiss Me Kate, Brian Stokes Mitchell's voice was even better later in the run. His high notes were better than they are on the recording.

#16

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 3:17pm

Bob Cuccioli never sounds good, live or otherwise.

But, in general, I am rarely happy with a cast recording. There is an energy to live performance that seems to lift up performances - that incl musicians' performances, as well. Studio recordings are often too clean, if that makes sense.

#17

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 3:51pm

Lea Michele's voice was much more powerful and present live than on the cast recording.

Men don't even belt.

#18

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 5:21pm

Not exactly the same thing, but Randall Keith was incredible when he was doing Les Mis, but "Bring Him Home" on his solo album, the following year, was monotonous and boring. I was so disappointed! He gave one of the best performances I've ever seen in a show!

#19

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 5:45pm

I love the Spring Awakening recording. I saw it at the Atlantic before it was recorded and still the live performance just blew me away.

Stephanie Mills in The Wiz was another. I played the album 50 million times before I saw it and once I saw her live I couldn't believe that voice was just as strong live. I ended up seeing the show 3 times.

Linda Eder just always blows me away live. Again, I had the Jekyl & Hyde recording before I saw the show on its way to Broadway and when she did "Bring on the Men" my jaw kinda dropped! I couldn't believe she was that great live. I have seen her in the show and twice in concert.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#20

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 5:49pm

uncageg, my voice teacher and I went to see Linda Eder in concert, and we were both speechless. Recordings do not do her justice at all.

Men don't even belt.

#21

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 6:15pm

the Legally Blonde recording. Laura Bell Bundy sounded so...dull in the cast recording yet her voice is amazing live. in "so much better" her voice has no excitement like it does live. yet, i think the whole recording of Legally Blonde doesn't do anyone in the cast justice at all.

I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&. "Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."

#22

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 6:29pm

Idina Menzel is much better on the cast recording of Wicked than she is live. Her live performances sound like she has asthma. Kristin Chenoweth on the other hand sounds better in person (she still sounded great on the recording also)

#23

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 6:51pm

For the record, she does have asthma.

Men don't even belt.

#24

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 7:00pm

Yeah, Idina will probably always sound better on recordings because of her asthma, she just isn't able to breathe properly when she's belting...which is kind of crucial.

Not bashing her at all, she makes a heck of a go regardless.

For me, its nearly always better live than recording...apart from the obvious, it also strikes me as more 'real', i.e you never know whats been done to voices in studios these days...so you kind of want the actor to blow your socks off in person - no tricks.

#25

re: Better live than on the cast recording?

Posted: 12/23/08 at 7:13pm

I have asthma, and while it makes breathing difficult, not impossible. I would say the hardest part is concentrating on it when you're out of breath.

Totally OT.

Men don't even belt.

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