How Broadway Lost Its Voice to 'American Idol'- Page 3

[robbiej]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 2:36pm

Oh please...Sutton does not need saving!

And, in LW, she is being asked, like Menzel and Espinoza, to push her vocal talents to the limits to put across a generic ballad that would have no interest otherwise (OK...I like DEFYING GRAVITY...just don't tell anyone). I, too, think she's got the quirk about her, but I also feel she hasn't quite gotten to the point where she does it with ease. You see the thought and work going into the performance.

I also don't believe he's literally talking about AMERICAN IDOL. He uses AI as a reference point for where the American audience (if there is such a thing) is in terms of musical taste.

[bwayfan3]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 7:08pm

The big idea I took away after reading all three pages of this article is that Ben Brantley is IN COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOVE with Kristin Chenoweth!!

[MatureDignity]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 7:21pm

Well, that's not news. Check out his Wicked review. It's practically public masturbation...

[ShineOn]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 8:52pm

Rebecca Luker... personality? Quirky? All in the same sentence... what?!?!?

I have three words: Pretty voice... BLAND!

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 3/28/05 at 11:59pm

I feel like I have to spend some thread time defending Kristin Chenoweth. Ok there are obviously one or two people who didn't really read the article closely. Ben mentions Kristin in 1 paragraph (out of 3 pages) and that's while comparing her to Idina. So the focus on the article wasn't Kristin although interstingly many people have responded to his comments about HER alone.

Also, I don't think the role of Glinda or Kristin's performance was "one-note-cutesy" at all. Actually she had more of a journey than Idina did. Not becuase Kristin's a better actress, but because the parts are written that way. Elpheba's the underdog the entire time. Glinda' does an entire 360 during the show. It's kind of impossible to play that cutesy thing in towards the end of the show. At the matinee that I saw, Kristin was impeccable. I'm actually one of the people who prefer Kristin in the role so I don't know what popularity poll is being talked about here. I think JLT is wonderful, but not Kristin.

Kristin is an underrated actress. I think people forget A) how hard comedy is and how easy it looks and B) that Kristin keeps getting asked to do these roles. She didn't audition for Epic Proportions or Wicked. The creators said "Hey I wrote this, you're perfect, do it for me!" It's called type casting and it's sort of a bittersweet thing.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 12:10am

I am getting tired of hearing about "pop" voices in musical theatre. So what? the musicals of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc. all had "pop" voices. It is just that the pop of the past is different than that of today. What do you think HAIR is? I mean, get over it already....JEEZ!!!!

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 12:13am

This might be the only time I've actually wanted to kiss Mr Benjamin Brantley, Esq.


What good points he makes.

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 4/7/05 at 11:51am

Ben Brantley will be on Soundcheck on WNYC today at 2:00 PM to talk about his article

http://www.wnyc.org/

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/7/05 at 3:29pm

The thing that I find rather ridiculous about the whole idea of Broadway singer sounding like American Idol is that it seems sort of backwards. Broadway belters were around WAY before American Idol was even conceived. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with Broadway's desire to keep the style consistent with popular music. Nevertheless, I feel that it's more the result of Idol stealing Broadway styles and packaging them for TV.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 4/7/05 at 4:49pm

Simon spends every week telling people that they belong on Broadway, like its an insult, I DON'T GET IT. :)

But I want to hug Mr. Brantley ~*

[AndiV]

Posted: 4/8/05 at 1:06pm

i disagreed with Brantley until i heard him on the radio show. while i enjoy these 'American idol-esque' voices personally, he is referring to the always produced to perfection voices. he is calling for the not-always-pop-pristine voices that have character to return. not that i totally agree with him, but i see what he is getting at.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/8/05 at 2:51pm

I don't care about the style of singing if the writing and performances are of good quality. If it's meant to sound like pop, and it's good pop, and it's sung well, and the part is acted well, who the bleep cares? American Idol probably influenced the "sound" of Brooklyn, but it is not responsible for the awful book and score. American Idol probably influenced the injection of these teeny-bopper singers with no acting talent into Broadway shows to boost sales, but that is the fault of the producers, not AI. American Idol is nothing more than a cheesy teen talent show that tries to be edgy by showing Simon being mean to kids. If the contestants are truly talented, they will find their way in the industry, because as history has shown, just about ANYONE can have a singing career if they really want it.