Did anyone see LaChanz as Sarah in "Ragtime"?

I saw her do it in Los Angeles. She had a lovely wide eyed quality, but no, vocally, she doesn't have the power of Audra McDonald.

Alice Ripley.

hmm...I wonder why Alice wasn't considered for that role.

And I'm gonna throw this out there. Did anyone happen to see Heather Headley go on as Sarah in Toronto, when I beleive she understudied the role.

Akiva

Alice played the role in all the early workshops, but then they decided she was too tall.

Isn't Alice white? I thought that Sarah was supposed to be african american?...

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Yeah...Its ironic that there were complaints about Brian Stokes-Mitchell being "too white" for the role, but nobody saud a thing about Alice. She was just THAT good.

Akiva

I heard purple eyeshadow helps as well.

I got to see LaChanze on broadway in this role - it was the second broadway show I ever saw.

Perhaps it was because I built it up so much, but I was disappointed. I can't recall enough now (and probably didn't dare question the quality of a Broadway show at the time cause they were untouchable to me) to pinpoint exactly what it was that left me wanting more. All I remember thinking was that she was no Audra. Don't recall thinking anything she did was particularly bad. Although her voice was a bit light for the really powerful moments so the anger and heavier emotions didn't get portrayed as well vocally because of that.

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It was years ago that I saw LaChanz as Sarah, but I remember thinking that she was miscast. I really like her voice, but it's more of a pop/gospel type voice, and Sarah I think should be sung "legit" (like the way Audra sang it). Just my own two cents.

I saw LaChanze in LA & Audra in NYC. I have to say, I prefered LaChanze. Obviously, they can both sing it amazingly, but I loved the raw passion LaChanze brought to the role. I thought her acting was MUCH more powerful. I didn't buy that Audra's "Sarah" was uneducated and rough around the edges.

OMG!!! I am the BIGGEST dits! I feel SO STUPID right now. ::goes and hides::

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i'm not very familiar w/ 'youtube' & other video websites; are there any of these with Audra/Lachanze as Sarah on them?

LaChanze and Alton White performed Wheels of a Dream on the Today show when they regularly featured Broadway performances during the summer months. I know I taped it, it's just a matter of finding it.

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