This afternoon was actually my 10th time seeing the show since 2020.
I need to applaud every single understudy on that stage. These enormously talented people are heros, and the show couldn’t have gone on without them.
The energy was a little off for me throughout, but I think it’s because I’m so accustomed to the original cast. These marvelous actors were working their butts off, and you would have no idea so many understudies were performing if you didn’t know.
Tally Sessions and Kathryn Allison were quite the pair, and the audience was roaring with laughter. Tally has a lovely voice, and “Sorry Grateful” was more soaring with his powerful voice, whereas Sieber sings it a little more restrained.
This was my second time seeing Allison as Sarah and she was even better. This rising star is one to keep your eye on, she is truly a gifted performer and comedienne.
Matt Wall and Britney Coleman were a great pairing. Matt turned the role into his own, while he was less goofy than Fitzgerald, he was very funny.
Javier Ignacio and Jeff Kready were fantastic together, completely believable as a couple. Javier’s take was a little more masculine than we’ve seen, and he portrays less anxiety than Doyle, but it was a very admirable interpretation. You could tell he doesn’t have the full stamina to perform NGM, as there were a few breath issues, but he sounded great.
Kready’s take was similar to Etai’s, equally as lovable and caring. I believe this was his first time on in a principal role, and he nailed it. I loved seeing his interactions with Nikki.
Nikki was a great Bobbie, as others have said, I imagine closer to Rosalie Craig’s lovable girl next door interpretation. She is a classically trained vocalist with a stunning voice, and at times she dips into that operatic sound, but mostly avoids it.
Katrina is more of a traditional Sondheim singer, and I’ve grown to love her vocals in the role, even if they’ve been a little rough around the edges at times. Katrina is also a trained singer and musician, but I adore how every note and lyric she sings is driven by the character, even if it’s not as “pretty” sounding as some would like.
Nikki and Elder had great chemistry in act two, and Elder has gotten even funnier in the role.
Patti’s performance keeps evolving, no two performances are ever the same. She knows how to keep it fresh, and LWL was as show stopping as ever this afternoon.
She and Nikki worked well together in the club scene, while it was less intense than what Patti and Katrina do, it was still effective.
The very dashing Rodriguez was excellent as Larry, and I could see him playing the role full time.
As someone else mentioned, Nikki’s “Being Alive” Doesn’t have the modulation like Katrina’s, which I’d imagine is to keep her out of that operatic territory.
She also doesn’t get on her knees during the song, and performs it all standing. She sounded absolutely lovely, and brought a ton of emotion, but for me it wasn’t the cathartic experience of Lenk’s which brings me to tears.
I think with more experience playing the role, Nikki could reach the emotional heights and intensity that Lenk has found as Bobbie.
This new alternate staging of AHP was lackluster but they made it work out of necessity, and Conte was able to maintain more vocal stamina this way.
The show ended at 4:45, almost ten minutes faster than normal, which I find interesting, but it did begin right after 2pm.
One of my favorite moments was after Patti took her bow at curtain call and she said “great job!” to Kready with a thumbs up. She truly is the leader of this company.
I am so glad I got to see so many amazing understudies today. Special shout-out to Anisha as the sole New Yorker, she had a very funny bow at curtain call.
It was a great afternoon, and you won’t be disappointed with these terrific understudies.
Updated On: 4/3/22 at 05:53 PM
