Fantasia to Announce Color Purple Stint on Idol Tonight- Page 3

[TooWicked]

Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:31pm

I thought she did a great job with "I'm Here" I'm sure it will be even better once she is singing it in character. If her acting holds up, I would be more than willing to make a return trip to see TCP. Since so many seem to have an unreasonable almost hatred of her, I find myself wanting her to succeed.

I hope whoever mentioned a cast recording with Fantasia is right. That is something I think I might like to have

[Testing1232]

Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:41pm

<< Her acting wasn't that wonderful either. >>

Not sure how you can judge her "acting" when she is simply singing one of the songs from the show.

And let's not forget that she is not taking the stage with the rest of the cast until April. She will have plenty of rehearsal time.

Personally, I thought she sang the heck out of the song !

I will reserve judgement on how she acts the part until I see her on stage as Celie.

(Hopefully, she will be doing the Sat Matinees, because thats what I have tix for)

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 3:24am

GAG GAG GAG GAG GAG. Oh my god I think someone just swallowed a frog on american idol. Oh sorry it was just Fantasia!!!!

She is completely wrong for this role. This will be like that instance with bombay dreams and will lead to the show closing in about a month after the american idiot... oh I mean idol takes over the role.
Keep the so called idols off of broadway.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 3:58am

hmm... i was actually impressed with her version if I'M HERE at the beginning... but then... as the song progressed... i just didn't care for her anymore... in fact she just got annoying and just looked like she was trying to show off instead of sing... but i'm going to own that up to the fact that this was a performance just for American Idol and not the actual version that is going to be in the broadway show... but still... here's that her acting is MUCH better then the Lifetime movie she starred as herself in

[DG]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 4:07am

This entire subject has crystalized for me why I HATE theatre bitches.

Good luck on your own projects - and may the trifecta of Musto, Perez and Isherwood SH*T on your parade.

PLEASE go back and re-read the crap pouring out of your keyboards - theatre lovers, indeed.

[HumATune]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 8:25am

Well the good news is that there will be no "yeah yeahs" in the Broadwway version.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 8:35am

Well they're already airing commercials featuring her. Is it just me, or is she wears braces??

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 8:52am

I must admit to NOT being a fan of hers, so I had a very negative attitude as she took the stage on Idol last night. However, and it pains me to say this, I thought her performance was pretty good. Looked like she might have been a little under-rehearsed, since she was looking back at the band a lot. Also, was she wearing braces, because her 's' sounds came out like 'sh'. Maybe she can do Hello Dolly after The Color Purple?

[alliez92092]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 9:02am

I think she did okay, and will do better in time. However, if she does that jumping around in the actual show I will not be happy.

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 9:10am

Agree about the jumping around, but we need to keep in mind that she was performing in the round, with the band behind her, probably limited rehearsals, and with no direction. She may just be able to pull this off...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 9:58am

I wish everyone wasn't so negative about this (or any form of stunt casting). I mean, can we at least give her a chance? Everyone was so negative about her joining and then posts about how fantastic her performance was...not that one vocal performance should be the judge on whether or not she will be good in the role but still, it doesn't hurt that she rocked "Im Here". Give her a chance, see her in the show, then judge her.

[Smartful Dodger]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 9:58am

She must have negotiated quite a deal. In the television spots airing on NBC here in New York during TODAY this morning, it appears that she scored "Starring, Fantasia" credit directly under the title and in the same font as (roughly 50% the size of) the title. My guess is that given the size of the theatre, the weekly nut, and what I know of the other top actresses in New York right now, she's likely scored a weekly contract of $50K+ for her run.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:27am

I bet she'll show up more than La Chanze.

[washu2002]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:30pm

Why, pray tell, is the "theatre community" so adamantly against The Color Purple? I'm very curious...

Also, it wouldn't make sense for Audra to be cast as Celie, who is dark-skinned.
_____________________________________
No need to worry sidjones09...

The producers don't like Audra so she won't be joining the cast any time soon. Besides, they almost enjoy the fact that the theatre community doesn't like their show even though it cost them at the Tonys. It puts them in a position of power for they feel this is in part due to racism. (Disclamer, I do not at all feel this is the case)

As for Fantasia, she may have a solid fan base but I don't think it is one partial to Broadway.

Updated On: 2/23/07 at 12:30 PM

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:34pm

did you just say Colored Purple?

[circusliz]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:34pm

I was mildly receptive to her interpretation of the song until she took a breath in the middle of the word "tallest." Big no-no, and something that bugs me to no end.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:02pm

Liz...that is a nono to anyone whose studied voice...that and putting H's in the middle of words to make it easier to change notes.


that said, I though she did a great job...She sounded great, and she wasnt performing the role of Celie, she was performing on AI...of course her interpretation should be different.
I never cared for her slouch or jumping around or her Yeah Yeahs, but she sang the song better than LaChanze, imo.

[circusliz]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:19pm

Doodle: I assume she worked with someone (voice coach, pianist, musical director) to learn the song, no? So even if she hasn't had any formal training, one of those individuals should have caught the "tallest" problem. And I certainly hope that whomever she works with to prepare for Broadway gets her to fix it.

I've actually never heard LaChanze's version in its entirety, so I can't compare the two. I just know that the "tallest" error, plus some other technical issues really turned me off. I have studied voice and can often be too critical when it comes to technique, but breathing in the middle of words is a giant pet peeve!

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 2:53pm

I thought she sang it okay, but it just didn't seem like a song with much of a through-line--I don't know the show so I was unfamiliar with the song--it just wasn't a very good song and she didn't even really get to SANG it until toward the end.

That said, I think she'll be fine--I think she'll be able to sell it.

[Marie2]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 3:00pm

She's going to get so much rehearsal between now and April 10th that there is no way she won't be decent. Oprah will not let this casting fail.
Where she's going to run into trouble is doing 8 shows per week for six months. With as out of breath as she seemed after one song, she's going to need to be in better shape to get through the whole show.

[Anakela]

Posted: 2/26/07 at 2:12am

Also, was she wearing braces, because her 's' sounds came out like 'sh'.

Thanks, I was wondering what that was! I finally saw her AI "I'm Here" performance tonight, and I couldn't figure out why every 's' had an 'sh' sound to it- if she had some kind of singing lisp, or it was a horrible overennunciation, or what. Braces totally explains it.

My friends say that she totally sang the hell out of "I'm Here" on AI, we all watched the same clip, but I just kept getting so distracted by all of the 'sh' sounds ('I've got my shishter...') that I can't decide if she sang the hell out of that song or not.
Updated On: 2/26/07 at 02:12 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/26/07 at 3:05pm

Lord knows I'm one of the first people that would seem to jump on the anti-Fantasia bandwagon, but her performance of "I'm Here" was absolutely fantastic.

I'm sure that she's not going to perform it like that in the show...it was a little more R&B due to the nature of the performance. The song was cut and sliced to sound like a single, rather than a musical number from a play.

It's too early to judge her acting talents or vocal capability, but from that clip, she is 100% capable and really knocked my socks off. If nothing else, they just sold one more ticket.