Brandy joins CHICAGO

#1

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:12am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Welcome-to-the-Cell-Block-Grammy-Winner-Brandy-Will-Make-Broadway-Debut-in-CHICAGO-20150324

Not a big fan, but why not? Not a terrible choice. It would have been exciting to see her with Carly, not Amra, UGH.

Updated On: 3/24/15 at 11:12 AM

#2

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:17am

Meh. Also not a huge fan but she's fine.

I would have rather seen her as Velma.

---

....but the world goes 'round

#3

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:20am

But why now and not Cinderella?

#4

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 12:22pm

Brandy's pushing 40. A bit old for Cinderella.

---

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#5

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 12:51pm

I don't understand why they keep having Amra come back. Isn't it time to let someone else play the role, especially because many reports have stated that she's less than mediocre?

#6

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 12:54pm

She can sing her ass off. I'm so excited to hear the blue notes she'll dig up in that score. Her "Funny Honey" is gonna be brilliant.

---

"Girl, this cupcake is the jumpoff"- Adriane Lenox

Updated On: 3/24/15 at 12:54 PM

#7

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:08pm

Yeah, Brandy isn't a terrible casting decision at all!

#8

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:20pm

Carly Is leaving? Why? She usually sits on contracts

#9

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:27pm

For some reason they are bringing back the awful Amra. An African American Roxie and Velma would have been exciting.

#10

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:48pm

Chicago news that wasn't brought to us by Patti LuPone Fanatic? What's going on in the world?

#11

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:48pm

Chicago news that wasn't brought to us by Patti LuPone Fanatic? What's going on in the world?

#12

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:52pm

Hoping she doesn't kill anybody.

#13

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 2:12pm

Amra must have some really bad dirt on the Weisslers.

---

Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

#14

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 2:12pm

This is intriguing news. I vaguely remember her from Cinderella. I agree that it would have been a far better pairing of Carly and Brandy. Now, I'm excited to see Brandy as Roxie when I see the show on June 6th. To say that I'm underwhelmed at the prospect of another show with AFW as Velma is an understatement. Except for a few gaps here and there, AFW has been Velma since April 2011. WT__? AEM... I'm at work right now. Normally, I posts news when I'm at home at my desktop (yes, desktop). : ) I can still hope that an u/s will perform as Velma when I see the show. It can happen.

---

"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)

Updated On: 3/24/15 at 02:12 PM

#15

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 3:42pm

Interesting casting choice. I'm not entirely sure if I can see her in this role, but maybe she'll surprise everyone.

#16

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 4:32pm

Why not Cinderella? It would have been a treat to see her recreate her role. (I grew up with her version). But, still: good for her!

#17

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 8:55pm

I don't picture Her as Velma, but hey, good luck to Brandy.

---

"when I’m on stage I see the abyss and have to overcome it by telling myself it’s only a play." - Helen Mirren

#18

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 9:17pm

Brandy is 36 but she looks good for her age, it would have been charming to see her in Cinderella but she could be a good Roxie.

---

"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."

#19

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 10:26pm

I think she'd be a good Velma, too. But it is what it is. Congrats!!

---

A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.

#20

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:30pm

"Brandy's pushing 40. A bit old for Cinderella."

Is it wrong that I wouldn't have cared? While it doesn't hold up as much as an adult (oh, those "special" effects...) I loved that movie and it inspired me to see many productions of R&H's Cinderella. It was my favorite musical for a very long time. Besides, I saw Lea Salonga do Cinderella and she was around she same age.

She doesn't immediately strike me as the perfect fit for Roxie but I can't deny that I'm intrigued. I much prefer them choosing performers from different genres of music (Jennifer Nettles, Brandy) to the stunt casting of non-singers they were doing for years.

#21

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:25am

Oh, well, why not?

The Weisslers seem to like a steady Velma. For much of the last decade it was Brenda Braxton. Now it's been Amra. I have no issues why, with the exception of short stints, they feel the need to bring in the same old tired Velma. Hell, at this point, I'd rather they brought back that hideous Roxanne Carrasco over Amra again.

#22

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 4/18/15 at 10:36pm

I must say that Brandy's enthusiasm is infectious.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=980568#.VTMTeEIgKFY

#23

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 4/19/15 at 9:54am

She's so cute! And she looks fantastic!

#24

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 4/19/15 at 11:33am

Her excitement would make me want to see it.

#25

Brandy joins CHICAGO

Posted: 4/29/15 at 6:58am

Who went last night?