Brief Brooklyn Tour Review-ish--8/4/06

Returned from my 3rd time seeing the tour. This time, I wasn't sitting in the balcony though. I was sitting 3rd row (thanks to the lovely 50% off discount--which you all should take advantage of if you're in Dallas over the next 2 days!)

*Excuse me for the horrible review--it's not so much a review as much as little things I noticed.*

The cast--was amazing again tonight. Everybody was great, as usual. Diana sang "Once Upon A Time" the best I've heard it--EVER. She was even better than the first 2 times I saw it here. It was very weird getting to see the show up close. The actors and actresses all have great facial expressions. I love Diana's Little Brooklyn. I can't get over it--her Little Brooklyn voice...ah. Music to my ears :-P.

Julie has such a gorgeous voice--it's a shame she doesn't sing more.
Lee is a great actor and I love his voice most of the time--but sometimes, it seems like he's screaming a little too much. He has a very rock-ish voice, which I do like.
Melba was spunky as always. I loved all of her songs--but I'm wondering, can she sing Raven without getting that whole yelling thing going on (where her voice starts getting raspy towards the end)? She has a lovely voice, but I don't know if she's putting a character voice on or what. It kind of bothers me. She toned it down a little bit from opening night, I think. Another thing I noticed--when I saw the show last Friday, when she sang the word "bleed", she over-enunciated it, more like "Blee-duh". I'm guessing she got a note saying she needed to enunciate more, maybe. She didn't do the blee-duh again tonight. It was much subtler tonight.
Cleavant was great. I personally don't care for many of his songs--but this man has SO much soul in him. The entire cast does--but he truly shines. Great performance.

Now--on to some other stuff some of you wanted to know about...

-Went to the "talk back" tonight--she was the only cast member to come out. There were only about 10 people there (maybe less?) Hardly anybody knew about it, I think.
-I gave her flowers, and I was really nervous and giggly...and after I gave them to her (before she talked), I kinda skipped back to my seat and she started laughing.
-She talked about how she likes theatre, but her real passion is in recording (which we kind of knew already).
-She wouldn't mind returning to the tour next summer if her schedule will allow it.

On to the other...stuff:
-She was not at the Kelly Clarkson concert on Friday--she went home and slept.
-I told her I saw her in Hairspray in March--and we kind of had a moment. (I was kind of in shock--talking to her--wasn't able to come up with the words "I Can Hear The Bells" to tell her which scene I was talking about) I told her I was sitting front row and she looked at me and I started giggling and she kept a straight face.
-I took it a step further, you guys. I asked Diana DeGarmo...if she'd marry me. She said she WOULD! She told me I could be her Dallas husband. She's going to get a husband from each city, and I can be hers from Dallas. She then asked me my name...I told her "Parks"...and she said, "Parks...I'll have to remember that".

You guys,

my life...is...COMPLETE.

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Parks, you are awesome. Diana will definitely remember you now. She's got an amazing memory and even if you don't see her for another year, you can tell her "Hi, I'm your Dallas husband" and she'll know exactly who you are.
What kind of flowers did you get her?

Very nice, Parks!

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Ah! Awesome pics. I was wondering during the show where pics were. I know there aren't any on the brooklynthemusical.info site (or whatever it is). LOVE the costumes and set.

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Parks, that is awesome. Congratulations on the engagement! You and Diana look really cute together. I'm sure Diana will remember you after this for sure.

So what exactly is this "talk back" thing? I take it it was something done after the show, not at the stage door.

Parks -
You rock! Thank you so much for that! Congrats on the engagement, too! Love the pic! Glad you enjoyed!

Ooooo that's so great! Where are you two registered, Parks?

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Diana DeGarmo is a joke in the role compared to Eden Espinosa's performances in the role of Brooklyn, there's not even a close comparison. It's actually quite sad...

Then again she wasn't really even that good on American Idol, talk about people who got alot farther than they should have...

...would it be too much to say I plan on seeing the show again tomorrow (closing day)? :-P

Of course not! You have to go see your wife again before she leaves.

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Lol, why would I be bitter about American Idol? That's a really stupid thing to be bitter about. Plus either way it's not like she won anyway, and on top of that her first album tanked BIG time and her second album is going to probably do even worse, so really in reality there isn't anything to be bitter about.

As far as the performances go, yes I did see both Diana on the tour and I did see it on Broadway with Eden as well. Eden performing the role of BKLYN was absolute pure magic. I knew absolutely nothing about her or the show going into the theater when I went to New York, and I left speechless. She had just an amazing night the night we went. Diana on the other hand in my opinion first did not have the acting chops of Eden. Once Upon a Time was the big one for me, I just felt nothing expression wise while Diana was singing.

Now comparing singing is pointless. Eden Espinosa simply has one of the most stunning voices I've heard in years. Like I said I went into the show on Broadway not knowing a thing about Eden or BKLYN it was just an extra show we picked up tickets to very last minute, but I left the theater just completely amazed. I've made two trips since to see her in Wicked, and really she even adds a special magic to that musical that I thought after seeing Idina no one could equal, but Eden surpasses even her.

To me Diana was just a complete disappointment really. Her voice doesn't have the power Eden had, not to mention Diana's high range isn't as strong as Eden's is. To me I'm sure she's great as Penny in Hairspray, but her voice just wasn't cut out for the run in BKLYN. Sorry, it's just my opinion, and you can disagree or agree all you want, but like I said, as far as Brooklyn's go, there is just no comparsion between the two in my mind.

AberJ01, I too went into BKLYN on Broadway knowing nothing about Eden or the show. I too came out amazed with my jaw still on the floor. Eden is my hero, yet I can not wait to see Diana. From what I have heard online, Diana does have the chops to pull it off, and it looks like she is. I am seeing Diana 3 times (maybe 4) in San Jose next week and can not wait. About the record sales...this was before Diana turned into who she is today...he next record is going to be what she wants...her first was what her producers wanted.

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Kristy Cates?? Lol we must really have opposite opinions because I thought she was HORRIBLE as Elphaba, but that's just me I guess.

Like I said in my last post though, I think our experiences with BKLYN are just different. For me it was just one of those performances you cant put into words. I dunno, like seeing Bernadette Peters in Gyspy or something. Eden owned the role start to finish, and literally vocally Eden singing the role of Brooklyn still to this day is the most amazing thing I've ever heard live, period. Going into the tour, which I saw not too long ago, Diana had ALOT to live up to. Did she do things well? Yes. Did she sing flat and mess up everything? No. My opinion was just that merely Eden was FAR better than her in the role. Sure Diana pulled off the child's voice better than Eden, I'll give you that, but who cares? The magic that I felt throughout the entire show just wasn't there for the tour performance.

It seems though that you were a Diana fan before going into the show, and really I doubt you would have left the theater disappointed no matter what happened. That is frequently the case with alot of people. While I don't hate Diana DeGarmo, and I will say that she has improved since Idol, I on the same token do not think she is anything special either. Her voice is good, but there isn't anything that special to it. Trust me there are thousands of girls who sound just like her, I hear them all the time. Sure I wish her luck, I don't think her second album will sell that well, but that's me. Sure, her fans will rush to the store to buy it when it's released, but honestly she isn't a name.

Back to BKLYN though, when I saw the show on Broadway a year and a half ago and I came back and posted on here how much I loved the show, and everyone replied to my post by saying how horrible the show was. I even posted back on here that I had never seen a show so hated as BKLYN seemed to be. In all fairness I can see why alot of people didn't like BKLYN. In places the book/plot of the show is lacking majorly, but musically I think it did not get the credit it deserved by any means. People picked on the lyrics of the show while to me they had inspirational quality to them. It's a shame though, really once this tour is over I think we've seen the end of BKLYN

The Eden vs Diana issue is very valid, with some favoring Eden for understandable reasons and others favoring Diana for understandable reasons. I can't figure out why her second album is an issue as it's success or failure has nothing to do with her theater work.