City Center Encores! 2023-24 season: PAL JOEY • ONCE UPON A MATTRESS • JELLY'S LAST JAM • TITANIC — Page 11

Someone told me tonight that Mary Rogers wrote a juicy autobiography. Has anyone read it?

OhHiii said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "I’m also shocked by the lack of true belting on “Shy”. It feels a role tailor-made for Sutton. I did see her with a mask on during some of the rehearsal footage, so I do wonder if she’s not 100%. She’s also working on the SWEENEY score simultaneously."

The Sweeney score as far as Lovett goes isn't very vocally demanding.

But as long as critics eat her up, even when it's obvious her vocals aren't hitting the mark, she will continue to get roles not meant for her (Winnifred seems to be right for her in all other ways than the fact she isn't interpreting her big number properly, to be fair). That she ever stepped foot into Queenie in Wild Party is still one of the more egregious examples I can think of."

While it’s definitely a different style, there are plenty of ways in which Lovett is an demanding vocal role. Just because we’ve heard some people (Imelda Staunton, IMO) scream their way through doesn’t mean it isn’t.

I have to admit that I’ve listened … CB is the crown .

IdinaBellFoster said: "I’m also shocked by the lack of true belting on “Shy”. It feels a role tailor-made for Sutton. I did see her with a mask on during some of the rehearsal footage, so I do wonder if she’s not 100%. She’s also working on the SWEENEY score simultaneously."

I have loved Sutton in everything I have seen her perform. Maybe her singing isn't as unique and strong as -- (icons) Lupone and Peters. Lupone and Peters don't dance, do they?

As I read these posts, I was wondering whether she simply held back a little, due to presumed ST rehearsals. I could imagine her saying to herself 'I am not going to stress my voice over a 10 performance run of a mediocre musical (albeit one with a good role for me) when I am going to be appearing in ST imminently. I need to rest my voice as much as possible, and prove the naysayers wrong.'

Any and all trepidation I felt regarding Sutton based on that video was immediately put to rest before she even started to sing her first song today. As I said to my friend afterwards, it feels like every so often Sutton Foster does something just to remind everyone of how damn funny she really is and this is, I honestly feel, some of the funniest work she’s ever done.


Now, I love this show - let’s get that out of the way. I have a true soft spot in my heart for and since well done productions are so few and far between, I’ve been anxiously waiting for this since the day it was announced. News of book rewrites scared me but every added line/bit was all hilarious and made me love this show even more.


The rest of the cast was absolute perfection, with Urie matching Foster in her silliness and never being overshadowed which would have been easy to be done with a less skilled comedic actor in the role. I was so adamant that the only person I wanted as the Queen (as if I had any say in it) was Donna Murphy but I’ll be damned if now I can’t imagine anyone other than Harriet Harris in the role. Nikki and Cheyenne made the absolute most out of Harry and Larkin and made me laugh and smile the whole time they were onstage.


This was such a delight from start to finish. I’m counting the hours down already until I see it again.

My friend who works at City Center says that the show has tightened considerably since the invited dress which she says is usually the case due to the short rehearsal process. She said it is selling very well. She said that some people have commented on Sutton’s age and the age difference between her and Michael. That did not particularly bother me.


Ghee didn’t work for me either. He was tripping over lines the night I saw it.

It will be interesting to see how the next Encore show sells. Especially since it is running two weeks.

I need to buy another pair of tkts for Jelly's Last Jam for the second week and the sales look really bad. To the point I am going to hold off and see if they offer another discount other than the 20% off.

Foster and Urie are only five years apart in age and both read incredibly youthful. Who could be bothered by their age difference?

UWS10023 said: "My friend who works at City Center says that the show has tightened considerably since the invited dress which she says is usually the case due to the short rehearsal process. She said it is selling very well. She said that some people have commented on Sutton’s age and the age difference between her and Michael. That did not particularly bother me.

The five year age difference between 40-somethings Michael Urie and Sutton Foster didn't register for me yesterday. Thought they were both charming in this sweet, thin vehicle, a snack turned awfully close to a meal by a cast of top-notch hams and pros. A treat to also see Harriet Harris sparkling furiously, and J. Harrison Ghee just simply sparking, including in his non-plot-advancing soft shoe with a lovely duet partner whose name I'd like to know. Great to see and hear Cheyenne Jackson and Nikki Renée Daniels - and David Patrick Kelly, who I knew first from the 70's flick The Warriors, now a master of the twinkling older codger roles.


"

Updated On: 1/29/24 at 09:48 AM

City Center is teasing a Titanic casting announcement tomorrow.

Mary Rogers recounts in her memoir how Once Upon a Mattress was originally written for a theater camp. Thus the emphasis on a large ensemble. It's great to have extraneous roles when you're directing a school play. But their material is dull in a professional production. Winnifred's the only character I'm interested in.

Sutton's always struck me as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I've yet to be truly wowed by her work.