#1
Posted: 6/13/07 at 10:08am
Alright, so I've watched the show 1 er 3 times while it has been in Dallas. The show currently stars Lisa Rinna (who is coming to Broadway after the Dallas stop).
I've been watching the show from the back rows of the 2nd orchestra of the music hall--which is really far away--except for last night when I made my way up to the 3rd row to watch act 1.
Now, from far away--Lisa is about THE most boring/lifeless person I had ever seen on stage. The music hall is a HUGE theater--horrible, really. Sitting 3rd row felt like sitting about 20 rows back in a normal theater. There is a HUGE orchestra pit which the actors do not even play on. The orchestra pit is pretty useless for this show, as the orchestra plays BEHIND the actors.
Alright--so--the cast.
Lisa Rinna is playing Roxie, of course. When I watched the show for the first 2 times, I was sitting very far away. Lisa...needs some acting lessons, I think. Well, when playing in the music hall, she needs to act a LOT bigger. She's very subtle, and it just does not work well in the theater. So, maybe I'm just very used to Renee Z's version of Funny Honey, but Lisa's rendition nearly put me to sleep. She needs to learn to use inflections--she didn't seem like she was truly mad or trying to keep Amos silent when he was "ratting" on her. She gets better throughout the show--and after having watched her 3 times since last Friday, I can say that I've already seen some improvements--but she still has a long way to go. She is a pretty good dancer--I'll give her that. Her singing is...decent, but when she and the girl playing Velma (can't remember her name, sadly) sang together--they almost always went flat. Lisa does much better in Act 2 than act 1. She will get better with time, but until then--somebody teach her that she doesn't HAVE to sing ALL the notes/rhythms as they are written. Some inflections would make her much more interesting to watch/listen to. If she doesn't improve a lot, she will be eaten up on Broadway.
Velma (Aaahhh, can't remember her name!)--This girl is FIERCE. She's not the best singer, but she is definitely an incredible dancer, and she's a good actress. She is fun to watch and she's very funny. I've heard one man even compare her to Chita.
Carol Woods--all I can say is...my god, the woman has PIPES. Watching her last night (after her night off Monday), her voice was even MORE amazing than the first 2 times. Her When You're Good To Mama always gives me goosebumps.
Tom Wopat--alright, I know Tom from my Annie Get Your Gun recording--which I love him on. Seeing him live was a real treat. The man's voice...is like buttah. Also--he stands out in the lobby before the show, during intermission and after the show signing anything (including his CD). This man is incredible--he's such a nice guy and great on stage. Hopefully he will return to Broadway soon. He deserves it!
R. Bean--I've heard R. Bean before and thought she was very annoying, but this time around--R. Bean just made me laugh. Mary Sunshine is a hilarious part, unless if you go wrong with it, which you can very easily. R. Bean (after having played Mary Sunshine for 7497234 years) has really done a great job with the role. I've now fallen in love with this part.
The ensemble girls--they're all funny, but one of the things I loved about the girls on Broadway was that they were all very unique and they all had very EXTREME DIFFERENT characters. All of these girls almost seem like they are playing an EXTREME character--but all of them are playing the same character. The character is a...stupid, crazy valley girl. Cell Block Tango was very good still, but the monologues were lacking, in my opinion.
As I've said many times before, I'm not a great writer--so these are just kind of my thoughts in a very unorganized form. Hopefully this is clear.
I've been watching the show from the back rows of the 2nd orchestra of the music hall--which is really far away--except for last night when I made my way up to the 3rd row to watch act 1.
Now, from far away--Lisa is about THE most boring/lifeless person I had ever seen on stage. The music hall is a HUGE theater--horrible, really. Sitting 3rd row felt like sitting about 20 rows back in a normal theater. There is a HUGE orchestra pit which the actors do not even play on. The orchestra pit is pretty useless for this show, as the orchestra plays BEHIND the actors.
Alright--so--the cast.
Lisa Rinna is playing Roxie, of course. When I watched the show for the first 2 times, I was sitting very far away. Lisa...needs some acting lessons, I think. Well, when playing in the music hall, she needs to act a LOT bigger. She's very subtle, and it just does not work well in the theater. So, maybe I'm just very used to Renee Z's version of Funny Honey, but Lisa's rendition nearly put me to sleep. She needs to learn to use inflections--she didn't seem like she was truly mad or trying to keep Amos silent when he was "ratting" on her. She gets better throughout the show--and after having watched her 3 times since last Friday, I can say that I've already seen some improvements--but she still has a long way to go. She is a pretty good dancer--I'll give her that. Her singing is...decent, but when she and the girl playing Velma (can't remember her name, sadly) sang together--they almost always went flat. Lisa does much better in Act 2 than act 1. She will get better with time, but until then--somebody teach her that she doesn't HAVE to sing ALL the notes/rhythms as they are written. Some inflections would make her much more interesting to watch/listen to. If she doesn't improve a lot, she will be eaten up on Broadway.
Velma (Aaahhh, can't remember her name!)--This girl is FIERCE. She's not the best singer, but she is definitely an incredible dancer, and she's a good actress. She is fun to watch and she's very funny. I've heard one man even compare her to Chita.
Carol Woods--all I can say is...my god, the woman has PIPES. Watching her last night (after her night off Monday), her voice was even MORE amazing than the first 2 times. Her When You're Good To Mama always gives me goosebumps.
Tom Wopat--alright, I know Tom from my Annie Get Your Gun recording--which I love him on. Seeing him live was a real treat. The man's voice...is like buttah. Also--he stands out in the lobby before the show, during intermission and after the show signing anything (including his CD). This man is incredible--he's such a nice guy and great on stage. Hopefully he will return to Broadway soon. He deserves it!
R. Bean--I've heard R. Bean before and thought she was very annoying, but this time around--R. Bean just made me laugh. Mary Sunshine is a hilarious part, unless if you go wrong with it, which you can very easily. R. Bean (after having played Mary Sunshine for 7497234 years) has really done a great job with the role. I've now fallen in love with this part.
The ensemble girls--they're all funny, but one of the things I loved about the girls on Broadway was that they were all very unique and they all had very EXTREME DIFFERENT characters. All of these girls almost seem like they are playing an EXTREME character--but all of them are playing the same character. The character is a...stupid, crazy valley girl. Cell Block Tango was very good still, but the monologues were lacking, in my opinion.
As I've said many times before, I'm not a great writer--so these are just kind of my thoughts in a very unorganized form. Hopefully this is clear.
"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA
