Fantasia Is The New Celie In Purple — Page 4

I am a huge The Color Purple fan- repeat theatre goer, paid full price to be at LaChanze's last, own the cast recording and the memory book (along with, of course, Walker's novel), etc., and this casting news does nothing for me. I am not an Idol watcher- the only parts of Idol I ever see are if I tune in to watch House too early- so my knowledge of Fantasia is limited to her Lifetime movie, which I watched because my cousin (huge Idol fan) said "this is so bad you just have to watch it." Lifetime movies are always cheese, yes, but they're not usually cheese with such a high level of bad acting, especially from a lead who is playing HERSELF! Not even Joan and Melissa Rivers sucked so hard at portraying themselves.

Hopefully I'll be proven wrong, and Fantasia will get fabulous reviews and I'll be back on this board come Spring eating my words, but as of right now my first instinct upon hearing Fantasia is "pass- oh, but I wonder who they'll cast after she leaves?"


But Celie in 'The Color Purple'? If Gary Griffin can get her anywhere close to pulling this off they need to open up a new Tony category for Best Direction of a Doomed Replacement Lead in a Musical.

(/Karen Walker voice) Heh- it's funny cause it's true.

I dont know about her playing Celie, but there is NO WAY I can see her as Shug !!

I just can't see her as Celie though. Maybe Shug Avery. But not Celie.

Well, Elisabeth Withers-Mendes is the heart and soul of that production right now, and to pull her out to put Fantasia in would be an enormous mistake.

slightly o/t but wouldn't you love to see jennifer holiday as Sofia? (Sophia? Sophie?)

Holliday would have been a great Sofia years ago, but at 46 she is a tad too old for the role now.

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Updated On: 2/15/07 at 11:19 AM

If Fantasia is doing this she definitely isn't being casted in the color purple simply to sell tickets. As someone mentioned, her album sales are low right now. However, she doesn't have a hit single either and the first single tanked the album. There are lots of other great songs on her new album and that album is a critically acclaimed masterpiece, so, if it never sells another copy she has a critically acclaimed hit on her hands.

with that said, if she is doing the color purple, it is strictkly based on her talent. Plus, it can't be all bad to be hooked up to the most successful woman in show business. Fantasia is to be on Oprah real soon and hopefully she'll get to sing a few songs off her great album so people can go get it.

I can't wait to see the reviews of "the color purple" with fantasia as I think they will be excellent. Anyone judging a lifetime movie performance, shot in two weeks, while having to relive a very troubled young past is being very unfair. I think we are about to be shocked at how great she's about to be. I also hear that Aretha Franklin is interested in her playing a young Aretha.

Perhaps Oprah caught Fantasia on the UNCF Tribute to Aretha Franklin in which she tore that stage up. If she performs like that in the color purple, this is only going to help her career.

^^ When did Celie get a "look?" Last time I checked, Lachanze didn't look like Whoopi...lol.

I think Fantasia can pull this off. Anyone who's seen her perform live knows she can sell a song. With an acting coach, I think we're in for a treat.

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1. Ruben is the least succesful of the idol winners....thank you.
2. Jeanette Bayardelle was amazing and I'm sad her run is coming to an end
3. I'm not sure how hard it is to act the part of Celie is...well to act it beautifully is a challange but to play it convincingly is fairly easy...just acting really timid and getting the comedic timing down is about all you have to do in addition to selling a song which fantasia CAN do. Ok yes it's more complicated than that, but not so complicated that Fantasia couldn't do it. I think that with enough rehearsal she'll be wonderful, but vocally I can hear her more as shug.

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"(a) She is probably the least successful of all the winners, and is definitely less successful than some of the losers"

Since when does success equal talent? There are so many successful singers who couldn't perform live for anything in the world. This is broadway we're talking about, not being the president of the USA. All you need is some talent and apparently the people who matter feels she has talent.
If you don't like it, don't see it, but you should't get so worked up over something that when it is all said and done will mean nothing for you.

Not that it matters but out of the five winners in terms of commercial success she is #3, not #5. Taylor Hicks is the least successful winner.

She is also the youngest winner.

I was totally against this Color purple idea at first, but now that I see it is bothering so many haters , it must meant it's something HUGE, so I can't wait to see her do it so the haters can hang themselves when they read the great reviews.

Updated On: 2/15/07 at 02:26 PM

I really disliked Jeanette Bayardelle in the role. I saw her twice. The first time, she kept slipping in and out of her accent and whould limp in some scenes, but not others. The second time, she was hamming up comedic moments, even adding some in, but not giving any emotional depth. Her voice is great, but she can't pull off an epic role like this one. If Jeanette can't do this role, i can't see how Fantasia can.

I forget, is this the 4th or 5th sign of the apocalypse?

Why don't we making it really interesting and bring Jennifer Hudson in at the same time to play Sofia?

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Oy.

I actually tried to write a Church Ladies parody about this.

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Hey I just want to say that I love the Color Purple. I especially love the new Sophia...Natasha Williams. She is phenominal. I truly hope that Fantasia is given a chance. She will sell tickets and she just needs some acting lessons. I know a few coaches