Eden Espinosa on Lempicka Troubles

[macbeth]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:34pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Eden-Espinosa-Reflects-on-Emotional-LEMPICKA-Run-I-Was-Afraid-to-Say-No-20250403

Why wouldn't she have been able to express concerns to the team, all of whom seemed to be loving each other throughout the process. Was it just too hard a sing? 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:38pm

That poor woman. Fight or flight in that situation? I believe it. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:43pm

Everything about the show was cursed. She truly gave it her all and then some. I'm glad she's out of that situation.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:51pm

None of us obviously have the full details, but it seems strange that (at least in these quotes) it seems like the only options in her mind were: "continue to do whatever they ask of me even though I know this role is no longer sustainable" -or- "leave the production entirely." 

she was involved in so much of the development process of this musical. Its shocking that she never once felt like she could have a simple conversation with anyone to say "the vocal demands are getting out of hand and I think we need to make a few adjustments if you want me to sing the hell out of this 8 shows a week."

And to macbeth, YES it was absolutely too hard a sing. Gould's score keeps her voice in a high belt nearly the entire time, and a majority of it is kept at or around the same vocal placement. Her voice doesnt get a break. CAN Eden sing the score? Sure, look at the flawless music video they did. When she was firing on all cylinders it was pretty thrilling. But sustaining this score for months is too much, and the many performances where she was cracking all through her big numbers is the result of that. In the wake of Wicked, so many composers thought "oh wow Defying Gravity is such a thrilling powerhouse, I'm going to have my leads absolutely SCRELT and SCREAM every damn number in my show." But this is 1. Not at all needed to have a dramatically compelling score and 2. shows zero respect for your actors, who are not machines, and need to be able to execute your music 8 times a week for months on end.

[binau]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:52pm

I thought I read somewhere that they offered less but she insisted 8? In any case, they had from all accounts a very talented understudy who was ready and able (and did) go on when required. Therefore, I can’t really see anything more insidious going on than simply Eden’s voice unfortunately not being up to the extremely difficult demands of the score. I think I heard Eden herself say on a podcast that she was planning to soon go down to 7 shows and then maybe even 6 after the Tonys. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 5:02pm

This is an important part/layer that should be noted:

"It's wild to me now that I've looked back and go, 'Oh my God,' just so many things with my journey of Lempicka, just not advocating for myself because this is it. There's not roles like this for women my age. I spent this many years developing this character – when's my next one gonna be? When I'm 60?"

After years of developing the role and two out-of-town tryouts before Broadway, Espinosa now looks back on the thought of possibly stepping away from the role as it continued to evolve.

"When something develops over time and you might not necessarily agree with the way that it's going, so fear of stepping away from it and going, 'I love you guys and I love this. I just don't think that this is the character that we originally signed on for and I wish you the best and I'm going to step away.' That takes a lot of balls and a lot of self-awareness and power. I want everybody to have that in their life.”

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 5:32pm

Among my friends in different shows, especially new ones, they are finding collectively that creatives are in the business of getting too precious about their material and are encouraged to think bigger - forgetting that the devil is in the details and even the biggest show could be picked apart by middling book and score.

As a result, they end up creating for themselves and not listening to the people who are there to develop and bring the pages to life. There is no communication. 

One of my friends in a current show out of town even mentioned that they’ve been shot down by creatives who balked when he mentioned the company did not feel ownership over their characters (supporting roles), all of whom are ethnic minorities, and that the development of said characters was pushed aside to focus on the main character and the near-savior complex he was given.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 5:40pm

Riding on the idea of Precious - she probably knew the composer would see it as nothing but betrayal and criticism if she’d brought up how she was feeling about the vocal demands. Almost less stressful to stay with things how they were than risk the fallout from a showdown, I imagine. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 6:01pm

The little I've seen of Gould it doesn't seem like he'd be too responsive to negative feedback...

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 8:41pm

if I can find it again I'll link but there's definitely a interview Eden did where she mentioned how they offered her an alt in the beginning and turned it down. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 9:44pm

We need to remember a few things:

— she is Monday morning quarterbacking now that she has 11 months’ distance from the show (which she admits to)

— it’s not just about the notes (which she did not hit on pitch the two times I saw it). It’s about sustaining everything else that’s being thrown at an actor. Which is a lot in previews, even for an actor who’s close enough with their composer to bring them as a Tony date. It is a lot harder to do 8 shows a week of an awful musical than it is to do 8 shows a week of a great and well-constructed musical.

— on a new musical there needs to be ONE singular driving force. That person is ideally the director, backed by the producer. On this show the director’s vision did not seem to HELP the show. I don’t know if everyone was on the same page or not, but it doesn’t really matter: the show didn’t work.

— We’ve all been in situations where we bite off more than we can chew. Such as being offered a reduced schedule months before rehearsals started and turning it down because you WANT to prove to yourself and others that you can handle the demands. And, nobody wants to be in a situation where people are saying “the alternate is better.” Originating a starting role on broadway is a vulnerable thing.

Updated On: 4/3/25 at 09:44 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 10:06pm

Someone on her team needed to tell her “If you don’t give some shows to an alternate, you’re going to end up voiceless and giving some shows to an understudy.”

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 10:13pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Someone on her team needed to tell her “If you don’t give some shows to an alternate, you’re going to end up voiceless and giving some shows to an understudy.”"

I mean, by the time they opened the show already had its sign on the door and formally announced closing less than 3 weeks later so having an alternate is kind of a moot point given that they wouldn't have likely started alternating until after opening anyway. Maybe if it ran longer it'd be a real discussion, but the trajectory Lempicka had from the first preview said that it wouldn't last long enough for an Alternate to even be relevant. In the end Eden only missed a small handful of performances anyway. 

[VanillaIceCream2]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 10:37pm

From what Eden said in this podcast and in other interviews about Lempicka, it seems like she kept saying yes to difficult elements that individually she didn't want to say no to, but everything together was unsustainable -- for any actress. Might someone else have sung the score more technically precise than Eden did? Sure, but the fact remains that the role was too heavy to be performed regularly. 

I often think of Patti LuPone describing the experience of singing Evita -- that it was written by a man who hates women. Which is not to say that Matt Gould does, but he certainly didn't think about the longevity of his lead actor's voice.

I loved Lempicka despite all its many faults, but I'm not surprised that Eden had frustrations with the show as it developed. When it arrived on Broadway, it was overstuffed and unfocused.

FWIW, Eden has said (I believe in a SiriusXM interview with Seth Rudetsky) that the role was so difficult to sing not because it was so high, but because it was so rangy and she had to keep placing her voice differently song to song. She planned to switch to seven shows a week after the Tonys and then have a conversation about doing six shows a week, but it ended up not mattering in the end.

[FolliesCabaret]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:15pm

I don't say this at all to be snarky or shady, but it seems like any show she does, no matter the length of the run, she has vocal issues like this. There is a certain point where I have to stop and ask myself if the issue is the way a role is written, or the inherent stamina of the person performing it. I will always adore her, and liked her performance in Lempicka, but I think she should choose her projects more wisely if this is always going to be the outcome for her. Art should heal, not hurt.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:49pm

Did Eden struggle with Brooklyn, Falsettos, and RENT? I don’t recall that being the case, but open to being corrected on that.

She was a bit pitchy and not as riff-tastic in the last two years of her Elphaba run (when she did LA & SF) but same goes for a lot of the green girls in the early years (Idina, Shoshana, Julia, etc). 

[binau]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 2:42am

"if I can find it again I'll link but there's definitely a interview Eden did where she mentioned how they offered her an alt in the beginning and turned it down. "

EXACTLY. Sorry but this new interview sounds like revisionist history - the fact that she was offered an alternative (which she turned down) by her own admission AND that she herself said there was a plan to reduce performances means that there were people in the production trying to take care of her vocal health. This latest reading of the situation makes it sound like she was forced to do 8 performances a week against her will.

I accept that the role is almost impossible to do - but I've heard many audios of Eden from various incarnations of the show and she has almost always had issues singing it no matter what presentation of the show was made.  It feels like Eden is trying to find someone to blame for her inability to sing the score (I also accept that she did not cast herself so you could also ask why she was not replaced because I'm pretty sure they COULD find someone in New York who would be able to perform this role regularly as written with an alternate - and she isn't a name. So why would they choose someone with no box office value who doesn't have the talent?). 

The role is an incredible gift - I know I'm in the true minority but I believe the Lempicka score and role is one of the best we've heard in years. It feels a bit of a backstab of Eden for her to throw the creative team/production under the bus for giving her this gift. 

To me, it's now clear that she was just the wrong person for the role......I hope she can appreciate that she is the lucky privileged one who got to be on the recording at the very least. It seems to me that Eden is one of the many things that they should have changed about the production to help it succeed on Broadway because the word of mouth around her vocals was not good. 

Some comments from reddit:

".Did anyone else feel like Eden Espinosa's pitch was pretty bad? Just saw the show tonight (in previews). I'm not familiar with her much, I'll admit, but it was so hard to listen to her. Almost EVERY note she sang was flat. She belted everything HARD and it made the pitch even worse. Her belting tone was so strident and wide. Often she would hit notes flat, then engage her vibrato which kiiiiind of wobbled the pitch up to the right note. It was especially noticeable in duets, where the other singers would be very in tune and she would be flat, messing up the harmonies. I appreciated her performance prowess and power in her voice.... but it was hard to hear the pitch problems."

"I've been hearing that complaint often."

" saw the show last night. At that performance, I’d say she was flat nearly 50% of the time. I’ve never seen her live and thought maybe she was sick, but a friend of mine at the show said he heard her in Gardens of Anuncia last year and noticed the same pitch problems. I found this thread by searching for “edin espinosa lempicka flat pitch” on Google"

"From the very opening scene, I said something is off with the lead actress’s performance from a vocal perspective. If she wasn’t flat, she was screaming. when the play ended my wife asked me what I thought. Ok so I wasn’t crazy about the story line, but I will try to look for some redeeming value. since Eden Espinosa was pretty much front and center, because she was the lead, I often cringed in my seat nearly every time she opened her mouth. "

"Yes and it was the same for Lempicka in La Jolla and Falsettos on tour."

"Her pitch was bad when I saw the show on Monday… but oddly I noticed it more in Act 1 on some of the sustained straight tone lower notes, not the high belty ones."

"Eden Espinosa I noticed has had very inconsistent performances since the days of Wicked. Some days she’s on and others leave a lot to be desired."

"Saw it last night and I have to think that she has vocal nodes. It was great acting and horrible vocals. "

"YES YES YES! Girl, she got the Idina Menzel nodes!! Years of straining her voice has caught up to her. The act 1 finale song was so hard to listen to. It was a great song, but needs to be sung by literally anyone else."

Updated On: 4/4/25 at 02:42 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 9:57am

This honestly all just makes me want a comprehensive oral history of Lempicka, if for no other purpose than to document how such a promising show can go so wrong over so many years.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 9:57am

This honestly all just makes me want a comprehensive oral history of Lempicka, if for no other purpose than to document how such a promising show can go so wrong over so many years.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 10:13am

Kad said: "This honestly all just makes me want a comprehensive oral history of Lempicka, if for no other purpose than to document how such a promising show can go so wrong over so many years."

Me too.

But give it a few more years so they have some perspective and maybe another production under their belt.

[magicfingers]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 10:19am

With all due respect, writers can’t worry about the ensemble feeling ownership of their roles when their only focus should be the clarity of the story. If that means that ensemble characters need more development, fine, but generally most musicals can only focus on a few leading roles to develop as being concise is the main goal of a book musical. 
 

Book of Mormon focuses on three main characters and then a few  secondary characters. If the writes worried about making sure the ensemble felt ownership of their roles the show would have easily become muddled. That’s one example.

 

especially today where audiences attention is much shorter and musicals in general have gotten shorter writers can’t be worrying about ensemble memebers feelings. It’s not a democracy. They are there to serve the piece. 
 

 

[binau]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 10:26am

Reddit Brutal take on Lempicka

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 10:32am

Evita and Wicked happened and composers thought storytelling now means- loud

When actors say it’s not vocally sustainable, they’re telling the truth. 

There has always been belting but the trend of the musical theatre show having nonstop unhealthy extremely high belt is taxing. 8 shows a week for a year you’re asking someone to be a machine.

And Lempicka was taxing sonically for the audience too. There’s a missing link right now with these new shows about what BEST tells the story you’re trying to tell.

 

 

[binau]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 10:43am

I agree with you but to be 100% clear according to Eden herself no one asked her to do 8 shows a week, she chose to do 8 shows a week and refused an alternate offered to her. That's an important distinction. She chose this for herself.

[dan94]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 1:40pm

She absolutely chose this for herself, but you noted in an earlier post she had some vocal problems in earlier runs of the show. It makes sense to me that if you know you've had some problems pop up, or have been made to feel insecure by the creative team over the course of development, you'd take the exact approach she did. Get the show opened and then broach the alt. Don't give them the easy out of discovering they like the alt more than you, and then get fired by opening night.

While there was certainly whining over Lempicka (which I actually liked a lot), I don't find this interview whiny. Just honest. They probably should have cast someone else in the part, but that's not Eden's fault. And the score, though often brilliant, is unsustainable for anyone. There needed to be modifications regardless of who was cast, and regardless of whether or not they had an alt.