I admit, I went into Wedding Singer on Tuesday ( 8/8 ) dreading what was to come without Laura Benanti. The moment Tina Maddigan spoke though, I was amazed. She is so incredibly charming in the role! Her vocals have grown so much since May. Her voice is a lot smoother, fluid, and accustomed to Julia. She is too cute and her chemistry with Robbie and Glen (u/s Matthew Stocke who was okay, but too old for the role) is so apparent. You could defintely see her lighten up with Stephen, but falter and become submissive with Matthew.
She tried a new twist with "Someday" on the second chorus that we called the Tina Turner riffing! She took a hairbrush or microphone and got down on her knees and riffed it out like a black woman. It was hilarious. She struggles with "If I Told You", but makes up in volumes everywhere else.
I met Tina backstage later on and praised her profusely. She was too kind and mentioned the Tina Turner riffing was new this week.
Bill Finn rocks. Woot.
Updated On: 8/13/06 at 01:38 AM