Idina in Aida- Page 2

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 7:39am

Her 'I Know The Truth' is the best version I've ever heard!

[GClef2]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 7:45am

When I saw her in it, the house went wild after I know the truth. She absolutely stole the show. I dont know what recordings you guys have heard, but when I saw her she sound phenominal. I do, however, think that Lisa Brescia was the perfect Amneris....

[CompletlyNakedStatue]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 8:30am

I saw Idina as Amneris (as well as Sherie Scott and Felicia Finley) and I don't remember many of the details of her performance, but I do remember not caring for her in the role. I was already a fan of hers at that point, but I recall being disappointed by her performance. Just not the right vehicle for her I guess.

And I also saw Sherie as Maureen in Rent. I think Sherie is a fantastic performer, and this was ages ago, but I remember thinking she was the worst Maureen I'd seen. Again, just not the right match, because she's obviously a very talented lady.

[bwayfan4life]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 9:25am

I had the pleasure of seeing Idina the first time that I saw it. I had only heard her in the cast recording of Rent so I had never seen her perform live. I usually don't read my playbill until intermission, so I didn't know who she was during the first act. From the opening number until she uttered the line Isis has spoken, the character of Amneris really stood out because of her performance. I still remember it until this day. It was after the show that I did the research and realized who she was. This was the only reason that I went to see Wicked, because I wanted to see her create a role. I have seen Aida 7 times, I can't compare her to Sherie, who does sound great on the recording, because I didn't see her live, but IMO she was great.

Updated On: 3/23/07 at 09:25 AM

[Mojojo5]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 9:59am

Idina was... meh... not wretched by any stretch of the imagination but not fabulous either. There was no real spark to her Amneris. She didn't seem to be having any fun playing such a vapid cartoon. I also was not a fan of the fact that she took very few vocal liberties with the score. I am not one who is usually a fan of over-the-top runs and all that but Amneris's songs just scream for a few of them and Idina either didn't want to do them or couldn't the night I saw it. She really did nothing with the ending of "Every Story is a Love Story" ("This is a story of love....") but her "My Strongest Suit" was pretty solid and she of course did well with "I Know the Truth." Lets put it this way, she may not have been as good as Sherie or Felicia Finley but she was no Mandy Gonzales... now that was the worst Amneris I saw.

Z.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 10:08am

I think her "I Know the Truth" is amazing.

[jazz]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 10:09am

i'm a huge Idina fan but personally i didn't feel she was right for this role vocally. I never saw her in the role, but just based on what i've heard, my strongest suit wasn't quite right...it lacked the oopmh that Sheree bought to the role

[flutesinger2626]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:07pm

based on the broadway on broadway performance I think her My strongest suit was fine, but it wasn't nearly as good as Sherie's was on the cast recording

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:14pm

I never saw Idina as Aida. Sounds like she didn't do so hot.

However, the woman who played Amneris at (you guessed it) the Company Theatre's production of Aida was amazing. She's currently playing Georgie in their production of The Full Monty. She's a very talented woman.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:24pm

Idina's "I Know the Truth" pretty much bores me... Sherie's is still my favorite.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:32pm

Amneris is obviously one of my favorite characters and Idina is one of my favorite performers. I had the chance to see her. She was great! She was no Sherie, but she was very strong.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:34pm

Idina on the whole, pretty much bores me. I guess I'm missing the "Idina" gene, because I haven't liked her in anything I've seen her in (which goes all the way back to Rent).

[C is for Company]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:41pm

I'm very surprised because compared to Sherie, who I found to sing the role pretty straight through, Idina took massive vocal liberties at interpreting the songs, especially in "I know the truth" and "My strongest suit."

Hmmm

[Kalimba]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:46pm

vocal liberties as in good or bad? The night I saw her, she was pretty much screechy.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 5:54pm

Haha, oh the screech. I don't know, some parts were more like wailing. Either way, I still enjoy listening to her more than Sherie and I'm not even that big of an Idina fan.

[rentgal589]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 7:59pm

Did she have kids with Taye? Cuz I know they're married...

[singinsilly]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 8:00pm

Wow I didn't know she was in Aida either...

Well I just visited the unmentionable site, and listened to both My Strongest Suit and I know the Truth
M.S.S. was...alright. At least the recording I heard. It's not necessarily that she did the song badly, just that I don't think the song, or context of character fit her well. And I didn't feel her attempt to fit the song.

I.K.T.T. was wonderful, words cannot even describe. I don't think Idina would make a great Amneris, but she certainly should sing this song regularly!

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 8:12pm

Did she have kids with Taye? Cuz I know they're married...

No.

[chenofan]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 8:17pm

I agree, Idina was not at all awful,but not great either. I found her, for the most part, forgettable. When I saw her, her version of "My strongest Suit" was pretty off as was her "I know the truth." Liked her in "See What I Wanna See"but she has left me cold in most other shows. Out of all the people I have seen play that role in AIDA Kelli Fouriner was by far the best - as most beautiful

[wickedfiyeroofoz]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 9:34pm

Idina's "I know the truth" kicks Sherie's a**....But I really think Idina's more of a singer than an actress. I didn't see her in it...

[toomeytwopiece]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 10:33pm

I had the pleasure of seeing her, in a great cast all around. Maya Days as Aida, Will Chase as Radames and Idina as Amneris.

It was the best acted and best sung role I have ever seen her do. She was actually incredible. I am not an Idina-ophile by any means, but she stopped the show with STRONGEST SUIT. it was really cool watching because it was clearly a case of a Broadway star enjoying her moments but still delivering on the acting. she was pretty heartbreaking as Amneris, and the ending worked very well.

I don't know why people are so harsh about her in this performance, because it was one of the better I have seen in years.

:)
BCR

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 10:39pm

idina has to be one of the most inconsistent perfomers on broadway.

fishes,
Graham!

[LouieLovesTheater]

Posted: 3/23/07 at 11:56pm

Even though she truly was wrong for the role, I still enjoyed Idina in the role. She had a blast during Strongest Suit but maybe took the belting over the top...but she kinda played that riff before the dance break like a valley girl would that is in her closet rocking out to some song. Does that make sense?

Sherie was a dynamo in that role (ROBBED of a Tony nomination as well!), Felicia Finley tried way to hard to belt like some of the other stronger vocalists, I enjoyed Darcie Roberts in the role. Lori Ann Strunk was a superb understudy (where is she now???), Mandy Gonzalez was a disaster and a disappointment in the role (at least vocally...you want to hear screechy and off pitch? Search out a recording of her...) Kelli Fournier was another great Amneris on tour. Julie Danao didn't belt ANYTHING when she went on a few times in the role...yikes!

That brings us to Lisa Brescia...a fan-freaking-tastic Amneris. So close to Scott's performance but still unique. Well sung, well acted...her character actually had an arc.

The foreign Amneris' also are uniformly strong/belty.

Wow...I rambled. My apologies!

[C is for Company]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:01am

Thank you for that listing! Truly comprehensive and fascinating. I adored Brescia in the role, my first time seeing her and she did not disappoint!

[flutesinger2626]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:41am

wickedfiyeroofoz I actually think Idina is just as good an actress as she is a singer