How are Lisa and Harry in CHICAGO?

They start tomorrow.

Updated On: 6/20/07 at 09:05 PM

I saw Lisa twice on the National tour just a couple of weeks ago. She was not good at all. I hope she inproves with time, but WOW it was bad.

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Smooches to ya Thesbijean!

Well I certainly wish them luck, but i wonder what we're supposed to expect when a woman who's "never been on stage in her life" lands a lead role on Broadway.

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expect to be pleasantly surprised because she naturally has spunk and charisma and it reads on stage and she knows how to use what she has!!
She got as far as she did with dancing with the stars because she knew how to work with her abilities, she does the same here.

Some Dallas press

"Answering the big question: Yes, soap diva Rinna is a credible song-and-dance performer. She warms to the Fosse dance numbers while bringing a fey, girlish quality to Roxie Hart, the aspiring nightclub singer jailed in 1920s Chicago for slaying her unfaithful boyfriend."

So the big question is: How did Lisa Rinna do? Honestly, I went in with a lot of cynicism, but I really got used to her style by the end. She plays most of the humor directly for the audience with very stagy one-liners, which makes it campy. Her character lives in her own world, and Rinna stays true to this. She even is able to have a heartfelt moment towards the end of the show. And her “Dancing with the Stars” training really paid off and made her numbers spectacular, especially “Roxie” and “Me and My Baby.”

And that was only after one week of shows...

I can tell you this much, she may have a store bought chest, but christ is it fantastic. That being said, does it really matter if they are any good or not? Not even horrible acting can saly the undead beast that is this revival.

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I saw her in Dallas and at first I didn't really care for her, but then I was able to move up to the front row after intermission and I liked her much more up close. She was pretty good......though I've never seen another Roxie Hart on stage before :)

"Reba McEntire didn't seem to have disappointed any with her now-legendary run in the Broadway revival of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN."


BrodyFosse123, in talkinbroady.com's review of Fantasia, it includes

"No change so complete has occurred in my theatregoing experience, never has a show that started as at best a lumbering bore become an energetic, vivifying tribute to life and theatricality just by obtaining a new star. Some will point Jonathan Pryce’s recent stint in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, still others to country star Reba McEntire’s replacing Bernadette Peters in the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun. But neither was well served: Pryce was suave but out of control, and McEntire was out of her element, singing twangily but bearing at best rudimentary acting skills."

I disagree with him though.

I watched Lisa several times in Dallas--

the first night I watched her, I thought she was about the worst thing to ever hit the stage, but after watching her several more times, I realized that she started to free up and get more comfortable with the role. She is getting better--and she's not horrible. She's not a great actress, but she will get better.

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I saw Wopat on the tour in March and I was disappointed as well.

His pronounciation annoyed the heck out of me, especially during "We Both Reached For The Gun."

"Where'd you come from?"
"Miss-a-syyyyiiipp-eeeeee...."
"And your parents?"
"Vurr-eeee Wealth-eeee..."

It's like he was trying to do a Richard Gere and just got it wrong.

I liked the show overall, though, and thought the rest of the cast, including the dancers, Terra C. MacLeod, Michelle DeJean, the INCREDIBLE Carol Woods, and R. Bean did a fantastic job. Interesting staging, too.

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Robyn Hurder is still there, but I THINK she leaves either next week or sometime early next month. There was a picture of her with Lisa and Harry though so she is definitely still there.

Lisa and Harry were on Regis and Kelly this morning and pronounced Amy Spanger's last name as Spangler, and said that the only other couple to perform on a Boradway stage together was Amy Spanger and Michael C. Hall. Umm, Orfeh and Andy, anyone? :)

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