Gabrielle Mc Clinton in Pippin as the Leading Player- Page 2

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 10/28/13 at 3:33pm

"WTF? Is she 80?"

I think we both know that, that isn't true.

She's had quite a bit of success, and she's pretty young compared to others who have the same accomplishments. The parts that she's played have both been very demanding, and she hardly ever misses. That should be the norm, but sadly it's not.

"I think the comment about work ethic was intended to imply that she has a high level of work ethic for being so young (Patina is only what like 27)?"

Thank you for favoring a reasonable inference over snark.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/28/13 at 10:10pm

I want to share my friend's review of "Pippin" and I'd like to hear your opinion regarding his review:

Pippin – Music Box Theatre
Posted on July 26, 2013 by Angry Greg

God this is a difficult one for me. Having played Pippin in college (albeit in a pretty hedgy production and with less than two weeks rehearsal), this show is extraordinarily near and dear to my heart. Yes, the little pun was intended. So here we are with the first large scale Broadway revival of a show I adore, starring an actress I hate. Yes, hate is a strong word – and after tonight I hate her even more. Patina Miller is now on my boycott list – I will never subject myself to her over the top disconnected antics again. Flame away. Beyond her, I was really enjoying most of the show until the finale. Which just didn’t hit for me in the slightest. But really the only way I can talk about this circus-themed revival is to go scene by scene. All of the below is based off of the assumption that you are already familiar with this musical. If you are not, spoilers can abound.

* Magic To Do begins and I realize that my fears of the undeserving tony award for best actress are not unfounded, from the first ‘Join Us’ I am pulling faces…thankfully from standing room. Luckily once the curtain comes down I am able to enjoy the rest of the number – the circus stunts are fun.

* Pippin commands the stage with the first verse of Corner of the Sky. And this is NOT a good thing. I find myself wondering if I will hate this production completely and utterly. I am shivering in my shoes. It’s not that he’s ‘bad’ its just that… it’s supposed to be his FIRST TIME playing the role. As soon as the song is over and we move into the rest of the show I find that I actually quite like Matthew James Thomas – and I kind of think he deserved a Tony nomination.

* War Is A Science. Terrence Mann as Charlemagne milks every moment onstage with gusto. I adore him. He steals the show. And more importantly his interplay with Thomas is fantastic. Charlotte D’Amboise is also fine as Fastrada even if not necessarily a standout.

* Glory. Hurts me. And bores me. And then Patina thankfully leaves the stage and I get some nice knife juggling and circus-y stuff that is appropriately guiding Pippin through. We get our first major introduction to Catherine as a Clown who helps keep the Headless Soldier’s head propped up. It’s a nice unobtrusive way to establish the connection – and gives the whole sequence more purpose than usual. At this point I’m thinking ‘yay – so as long as she-who-will-no-longer-be-named isn’t onstage I’ll be a happy camper.

* But of course she is back to sing Simple Joys with such vibrato and unnecessary rifts that I don’t know why the song exists. The production is clever enough to cover this up with a lot of fun hoop and bouncy ball tricks, which serve no purpose other than allow me to survive this song.

* And Andrea Martin enters to save the show with her Tony Winning Berthe. The highlight of this scene for me was not the comedy nor the razzle dazzle of the trapeze. Rather it was her plaintive ‘I’m going to sing this last chorus to Pippin’. And she does. And it is touching. And in the back of my head I know she’s just leading him towards his finale. And I cry. And I am a very fulfilled Greg.

* I remain fulfilled as we head into With You and the orgy sequence. Thomas is hysterical in the song. It may be my favorite performance of this song ever. The cage is awesome. I am even able to ignore lady voldemort’s paste on grin.

* D’Amboise’s Spread a Little Sunshine sheds light on the frayed edges of the production – and the thing that bothers me most about this revival. I feel as though if I didn’t know the show I’d almost miss the fact that she organizes the confrontation between father and son. That said the magician’s act and her dance number were both lovely to watch. This was an example though of my fear that the show would lose the plot in its attempts to entertain.

* Morning Glow closes the first act. Everyone sounds great, although I think there were possibly a little bit more vocal stylings then necessary. But then she-who-will-not-be-named starts singing a weird little Magic To Do reprise bookend that I think just kills the moment. Although the finale intro after that bookend I thought worked more smoothly than it usually does when the intermission is put in this position.

* I find many of the jokes in the politics sequence to simply not play as funny as they could. But again, I’m really close to the show so this could be me. But it brings us to On The Right Track. This is the scene wherein Thomas really impressed me – because I was able to still enjoy the song thanks to his shenanigans despite half the stage being taken up by a mugging scenery chewer who has absolutely no real connection with their stage partner. Also the ‘I realized it wasn’t God who touched me’ – awesome line change.

* Rachel Bay Jones I actually quite enjoyed. With the exception of course that the Leading Player interplay wasn’t working for me — mainly because it didn’t really build, it was just as harsh at the missed entrance as the ‘Stick to the part’ line.

* I was scared to death when Extraordinary started to turn into a big ensemble number but it worked for me in the end. And the rest of the Ordinary Life sequence worked quite well for me with the exceptions noted above.

But then we come to the finale…. and everything turned into a hot mess. It began promising enough with Pippin running around onstage alone unable to find anyone and I crossed my fingers that it was a sign of things to come. But then they do a little dance and there is no fire trick. When Pippin says ‘that’s the finale?’ I am thinking ‘yeah right’. Then there is a changed line that this is the ‘build’ up. The Player than goes on to explain that Pippin will leap into a pit of fire. And I’m like ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THIS SHOW?’. And here is why— we’ve been watching circus ‘tricks’ all night — how could you NOT show the ‘trick’ and then keep the line ‘but that was just a trick!’ ‘yeah when he does it, it’s a trick but when you do it it’ll be for real’. That line slams everything into an unexpected reality that was just not present. Then they sing about the Sun – even though they’re telling him to jump DOWN into a PIT – what kind of explosive finale would that be for the audience anyway? I found myself so completely disconnected that for the first time since I’ve done the show, I didn’t have a shred of emotion for the rest of it. Andrea Martin (bless her) ‘almost’ pulled me out of it when she had her moment with him during the sequence but it didn’t get me there. And the whole ‘I’m a Diva and you’re ruining My show’ brought it down even further — it was like the rest of the troupe didn’t care and wasn’t involved and…. ugh… now I’m rambling.

Suffice to say the show just fell apart for me at the end completely. But honestly – if you’re out for entertainment everything but the last 7 minutes will give it to you. I’m now going to go download the tracks that Pippin and the supporting characters sing and make that my Pippin Revival playlist. Then I’ll hack Ben Vereen’s versions into the gaps hehe.


http://www.angrygreg.com/2013/07/pippin-music-box-theatre/

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 12:31am

If this person("Angry Greg") hated Patina soooo much, why see Pippin then.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 6:37am

Everyone is allowed their opinion, but I'm pretty sure that nothing Ms Miller could have done to change his mind. Like you, he didn't want to enjoy her performance.

BTW....sounds like a petulant child wrote it. Wah, wah, wah (And he doesn't know the meaning of PUN.)

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 9:49am

Muscle has had an ax to grind with Patina Miller for years. Which is fine- there are performers I don't like, either, but this seems like an obsession. Especially now that we're linking to random peoples' blogs.

Honestly, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this "friend" is actually muscle himself.

Updated On: 10/29/13 at 09:49 AM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 12:55pm

Muscle, I have to ask... when "Angry Greg" was talking to you and realized if he hates Patina that much, he could have done exactly what you did and just waited to see the show until Patina was on vacation instead of subjecting himself to such unspeakable horror... did he turn into "Furious Greg", "Complete Meltdown Greg" or did the two of you just have a good laugh about what a schmuck he is?

Rumor has it though, Ben Brantley really likes Greg's style of writing reviews and plans to copy it going forward:

Scene 1: The actress whose name I won't mention was in the scene so it was Terrible Terible Terrible

Scene 2: She wasn't in the scene so it was great

Scene 3: Oh no, she's back again. Terrible Terrible Terrible.

Charles Isherwood may use it as well.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 3:47pm

adam, I didn't like Patina's performance in Sister Act and her voice isn't my favorite, but I don't hate her. I've never met her. So I don't hate her. Do I love her vibratto? Nope, but I also don't get why Britney Spears is a famous performer and she has achieved much more success internationally than any Broadway star for example. My friend's writing is very different than mine...also I didn't see half the shows he reviews on his blog and I have never seen Patina in Pippin. I saw Gabrielle and she was absolutely stunning, those youtube clips are not even close what she did on stage last Saturday. She was a treat. Too bad the ending of the show sucked, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself about an 85% of Pippin.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 3:49pm

I also felt the same way when I saw Evita with Christina DeCiccio, I thought she was much better than Elena Roger in the role. I don't have anything against anyone. I just state my opinion. That's all.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 7:15pm

"...when I was visiting New York and saw the show with my mom."

How was your mom in the role?

[MagicToDo]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 7:15am

I think poor "Angry Greg" needed a few Happy Pills prior to subjecting himself to the (LOVELY!) Patina! If I had been there, I'd have been the happiest lady there ever! (Sadly Im all the way over here in Los Angeles).

Regarding Gabrielle, I really like her. I also think Stephanie Pope would be amazing to replace Patina if (gasp!) she ever had to leave the show. I have yet to see Pippin and Im making it my goal to get there by beginning of May. I sure hope Patina is there but, if not, I would hope to see Steph or Gabrielle.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 9:46am

I'm not sure that Stephanie Pope might be a candidate to replace Patina Miller, at some point. After all, the talented Miss Pope was basically transferred from Pippin to Chicago, where she is one of the three Velma Kelly understudies. I'm thinking that the producers wanted someone closer to Patina's age, to be quite honest.