Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE- Page 2
Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
TapTapTapioca
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/07
#25re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/25/07 at 9:50pmYankee- What were you planning on going to see?
I shave me Xanadu every morning!
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#26re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/25/07 at 9:50pm
Yes, Tap, I do.
This is probably one of my weaker threads....there are so many characters, I get them all confused.
#27re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/25/07 at 9:58pmThe new Bobby is Will Taylor. How was he? (Al is Kevin Worley)
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#28re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/25/07 at 10:08pm
Screw it, they were all good. Hard to single everyone out, especially in this show.
Tap - No idea. Whatever was on the TKTS line.
#29re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/25/07 at 10:12pm
Hah, fair enough. 
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
#30re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 1:46amWill Taylor was FABULOUS in The Producers. Great dancer. And a real nice guy. I can only imagine that he's nothing less than a perfect fit for ACL!
We were fated to be mated. We're Bialystock & Bloom!
#31re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 3:56pm
My brief thoughts. My fourth time seeing the revival...
Thank goodness for Jeffrey Schecter, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Deidre Goodwin, and understudy Michelle Aravena (a more successful Morales than Cortez.)
Charlotte...dear Charlotte, someone put that woman out of her misery. She was like a walking zombie onstage. Acting choices were great (she still keeps that Zach/Cassie scene afloat during "One"), but the singing and dancing = abysmal. Falling out of turns, no electricity in her arms and legs...
Katherine Tokarz and Kevin Worley fell flat with everything, n.p.i., in the Kristine/Al sequence; Melissa Lone (Maggie), unfortunately was under pitch and then cracked on her money note; Nick Adams (Larry) had flames spewing off of him, but what a dancer, what a body.
Of the replacements, the strongest were Krysta Rodriguez (a lovely, vivid Bebe), and veteran Michael Gruber (who nailed Greg to a T.)
It was only the first week for the replacements, so there's obviously potential. It's just rather lifeless right now...
#32re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:02pm
I was there last night and it was my first time seeing ACL ever. I hadn't even seen the movie before. Maybe because I was a newbie and it was an evening follow-up to a matinee of Lisa and Harry in Chicago (um...), I thought ACL was just great. Being a newbie, I obviously don't know the ins and outs of the show, but I have listened to the OBC tons of times and I was completely satisfied except for the speeded-up tempo of At The Ballet. I'm sure this has been discussed before, but what was that about??
I don't know all the actor/character names, but I'll try. The standouts for me were the woman playing Diana (who was the understudy, I guess - Michelle Aravena); the woman playing Bebe; Deidre Goodwin; Michael Gruber; Jeffrey Schechter; and Jason Tam was *really* great.
I didn't imagine the Val part would be played so broadly for laughs and I didn't know if that's just the way the part is written or if it's Jessica Lee Goldyn's choice. Don't get me wrong, she was funny, and mostly I liked her, but it bordered on clowning.
I mostly didn't care for the two actors doing Sing, although I warmed up to Tokarz as the show went on.
The beefy guy who recounts driving the prostitue around -- I can't even figure out who he is from the program. He didn't move me so much.
I didn't really have a problem with D'Amboise. God knows I was looking for a problem after reading the ceasless trashing here and on ATC. I thought she was fine.
I missed the original production and stayed away from the movie on purpose, so this was a great night for me. At least getting to see the staging of the show and getting the energy of the performances. I know people complain about it being a tepid or lackluster production, but I didn't find it so. Maybe because there were new people and new energy or maybe because I've never seen the show and just don't know better. Or maybe I just really like it. Anyway, I'll definitely go again.
ETA: I think I left some people out that I liked. The guy who's from Buffalo. Is that Bobby/WIll Taylor? If so, I liked him too. Also, the textbook guy.
Updated On: 7/26/07 at 07:02 PM
#33re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:08pmVery smart move for avoiding the movie; it's a trainwreck and is nothing like the original show.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
#34re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:12pmWho's getting which day as Cassie? I know Charlotte is getting Thursdays and Sundays off, and the Nadine Issenger and Jessica Le aPatty are each getting one show.
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
#35re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:13pmI haven't figured out how exactly to quote someone on this board yet, but thanks Dottie. I remember when the movie came out and was pretty much panned. I thought better to wait for something better to come along.
munkustrap926
Understudy Joined: 6/5/07
#36re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:14pmAmen to that. The show was SO much better than the movie.
#37re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:15pmdancingthrulife-- according to the program, Isenegger is Thursdays and Patty is Sundays.
#38re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/26/07 at 7:16pmThanks!
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
COOOOLkid
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
#39re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 9:48pmThis is random, but is the Playbill in B&W or in color?
"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!"
-Family Guy
being.jeremiah
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
#40re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 9:54pmI saw someone with it yesterday, it was black and white. Or grayscale for that matter.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#41re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:19pm
"...J. Elaine Marcos as Connie (did they cut the "Always Wong never Wight" line?)"
Yankeefan, that line has never been in any Broadway version of ACL...only in, as Dotti has so aptly put it, that trainwreck of a movie (though if you're very bored sometime - this to ojohnny - you might try renting it for a laugh. It really is that bad).
I don't get the ceaseless D'amboise trashing, either, ojohnny. Some of these posters have been so vitriolic, it borders on personal vendetta.
The "beefy guy" you referred to is Don (played by Jason Patrick Sands), not one of the best-written characters, IMO.
ETA: And yes, you're right about Bobby/Will Taylor being the
buffalo guy.
Updated On: 7/29/07 at 10:19 PM
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#42re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:48pm
D'Amboise is attrocious as cassie. I loved her in Chicago.. despise her here.
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#43re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:57pm
So you keep saying, broadwayguy2...over and over and over. And now you're doing it in a thread talking about the new cast, while saying nothing at all about the new cast. Just pointlessly bashing her.
And using such over-the-top words like "despise" and "atrocious". I don't understand the need to do that.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#44re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/29/07 at 10:58pm
I don't understand the need to have resigned her.
Fine, I will comment, just as I did elsewhere, that almopst across the board, he new cast is a vast, vast improvement over the originals. They create REAl characters and not broad cartoons, which the originals did.. and is not he goal here.
#45re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/30/07 at 5:49amIf the new Kristine's portrayal is that opposed to Chryssie Whitehead's, I'm sure I'll like her.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#46re: Briefly on the New Cast of A CHORUS LINE
Posted: 7/30/07 at 11:21am
Eh, I don't think "atrocious" is an over-the-top description word for Charlotte's performance. I used "abysmal" and that pretty much covered my feelings. Seriously, it was a train wreck this past go-round; her mind was somewhere else, judging from her late cues and poor execution. Each consecutive visit, her performance spirals downward. She shouldn't be there, plain and simple.
This coming from a person who adored her often stellar work in CHICAGO and CONTACT, to name a few.
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