Did anyone see LaChanz as Sarah in "Ragtime"?

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:04am

How was she? How was her voice compared to Audra McDonald's?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:07am

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.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:08am

Who does though?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:09am

Alice Ripley.

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:10am

It's not about the power of your voice, but how you use it.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:10am

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

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:14am

Alice Ripley IMO is nowhere near Audra...

Audra has power and always has 1000% control over her voice

She can honestly do things with her voice even Dawn Upshaw would want to mimmick (which is why Audra prolly appears on one of her CDs)

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:15am

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

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:15am

I had the pleasure of seeing Audra, La Chanze and Darlesia as Sarah in Ragtime. Audra and La Chanze are very different in the vocal department, but I liked both their portrayals. Though I thought the ring that La Chanze had in her voice in Ragtime is missing in The Color Purple (though the songs she sings really don't showcase her voice).

The only one I didn't care for was Kenita Miller at Papermill (she was too pitchy).

Updated On: 2/12/06 at 01:15 AM

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:18am

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

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:20am

Alice tans really, really easily.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:26am

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

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:27am

Well, she also wore brown contacts and that helped a lot.

[rKrispyt]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:35am

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.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:38am

WOW! Are there any pics of Alice as Sarah!?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 1:59am

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.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 2:01am

By the way, FosseBoi, I think they were kidding about Alice Ripley

[Trailer Trash Jones]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 2:07am

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.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 2:10am

haha...

Alice as Sarah...

I would have KILLED to have seen Ethel Merman in the early workshops of DREAMGIRLS as Effie...

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 2:55am

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

[iliketheater]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 3:08am

ummm... purple eyeshadow?

are you being serious?

[iliketheater]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 3:10am

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

[rKrispyt]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 3:12am

lol, no...

the purple eyeshadow thing was in reference to when I was a boylan sister in Annie: I'm half puerto rican, pale as hell with veery dark brown hair. the director threw me in a blond wig and told me every day "use purple eyeshadow - it'll make it look completely natural"

yeah, he lied.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 6:37am

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.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/12/06 at 7:40am

Yes, but the role of Sarah was considerably smaller when Alice was involved with it. I read somewhere that when they brought Audra in, she had just won the Tony, so they wanted to give her more to do. One of the things they added just for her was "Your Daddy's Son."

Updated On: 2/12/06 at 07:40 AM