Judy Kuhn

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Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/21/05 at 10:54pm

Does anybody know what she's up to? I love her voice, and her Jule Styne album is always in my rotation. I wish she'd do an album of the music she did at the Kennedy Center.

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/21/05 at 11:11pm

She was great in Les Mis...

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:12am

He voice is pretty but so boring. She sings every note the same way and I just want to jump off a building.

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:13am

I'm curious, in what way..BBE!

She's got this amazing soprano range and a belt that could cut steel!!

she was at Wall To Wall, doing "Loving You" with Cerveris. I know she did a concert series with Andrew Lippa at some JCC in San Rafael, CA a few months back. other than that, I have no idea.

I agree, she does sing every note the same way- perfectly.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:34am

In what show?

Les Mis?

Cause, yeah...Cosette is boring...

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:36am

It's such a poorly written part, and the girls who play her have such beautiful voices, and their wasted in the part.

Leslie Henstock, current Cosette on tour, has a beautiful CD which showcases her soprano and her belt. It's rare to find a soprano who can go from legit to belt and do it well.

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 12:36 AM

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:42am

I agree. Cosette wasn't the best part written for women in Les Miz. Ever since I saw it when I was eight I was never an entirely big fan of Cosette although I do have to say that she's grown on my a little over the years I still think I'd like to play any of the other roles.

"The weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most; we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long"-Edgar in King Lear

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:48am

After 13 years (how long I've known the show) I still hate Cosette - she's even worse in the book!

#10

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:52am

Let's see it'll have been 11 or 12 years April 1 since I first saw Les Miz and I've only started liking Cosette. Of course when I was 8 I always thought that Cosette stole Marius from Eponine but then later on I changed my mind. I'm still not a huge fan of Cosette though.

"The weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most; we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long"-Edgar in King Lear

#11

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:01am

the role of Cosette might be the most crapped-upon female part in pop musical theatre. it is rather boring by nature, and the musical puts so much focus on Eponine's issues, you can't help but resent Cosette in that same roundabout minor way as with Raul in POTO.

plus, the poor gal playing her is (hopefully) one of the better-trained, more highly-disciplined singers in the cast. While Eponine has the freedom to be played by any pop star with a belt and a "sad" face, it's rare to meet a Cosette who gets to smoke as many cigarettes as she'd like. Then she gets the unenviable task of sitting backstage trying to keep her voice warm for the 1st hour, just so she can be thrown into an ugly dress (obviously chosen by Valjean), have her solo cut in London, and take on all responsibilty for providing the score with its soprano harmonies. If she's lucky she also gets to play one of the whores in Lovely Ladies.

Judy was waaaay more interesting as Florence in Chess, a much more bad-assed female lead role; one that gets both solos and an opinion and doesn't need a happy ending or a man to keep her singing.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 01:01 AM

#12

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:04am

Perfectly said, Matt...

#13

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:06am

Here, here!!

Kuhn in "Chess"-- a lot more emotion than Paige (and I love Paige).

#14

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:06am

Judy is actually the only Cosette I've been able to stand through the years. I do like Rebecca Caine, but I always found I liked Judy better. I thought she made the role a little more interesting than the ones I saw. The first time I saw it on tour I liked the woman playing Cosette. Gina Felicca(or something like that. I still have the program back from when I was eight) who I liked, but wasn't a big fan of the woman playing Eponine at the time. She wasn't bad I just was expecting someone a little different. Then two years ago I saw it I liked both the Cosette and Eponine, but Judy was still my favorite.

"The weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most; we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long"-Edgar in King Lear

#15

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:24am

Judy's best role = Bella in Rags.
The title song along proves how Judy can take a song, make it her own, and put so much emotion in it. I disagree with the poster who said she was boring. That is definately one of her best pieces. Makes me feel sorry for her.

"And I want to scream 'I'M THE SAME AS YOU'
But it isn't true!
I'm just one more JEW in her Rags!!!"

"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive. "Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot." "No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one." Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.

#16

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:27am

I like a lot of the foreign Cosette's (on the foreign recordings that is...)

#17

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:30am

Judy was darling tonight in the Sondheim birthday concert, singing Petra in "A Weekend in the Country"--I wish they had let her sing "The Miller's Son."

#18

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:34am

Were you there?

Wow...

Melissa was there...so sad I was not!

#19

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:41am

thanks, BSoBW. I said it for Judy, and for the 3 or 4 other actors who are able to make Cosette likable. I mean, "In My Life" is beautiful, but it's not a true "I want" song without some room for applause.

I LOVE her in Rags! I wish it had done better.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#20

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:44am

Yeah, well, the first time I saw Les Mis was when I was 5...

The next three times were within two years, right when Judy, something something Peterson (mark or w.e.) and peter lockyer came off the tour to Broadway. (PEterson, or whatever, is now on tour as Grantaire.

In my opinion, he is one of my favorite Enjolras. Lockyer is by far my favorite Marius - much better than Michael Ball. I kind of miss Judy though...the three of them moved around together and had great chemistry (even though cosette and enjolras don't interact)...

Diana Kaarina, IMHO, is one of the best Eponines...

#21

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:49am

I miss all of those great over-40 gentlemen with incredible voices who once played Valjean but now have no roles for them on Broadway.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

#22

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:50am

yeah...

Well I imagine they did a whole lot before they played Valjean...

What surprises me is how many young people have played JVJ - like John cudia (sp?) who know plays Raoul...

#23

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:59am

it was such a unique role because it called for a POWERFUL pop-legit tenor who also can play old age AND also is a big enough dude to carry Marius around. it's always nice to have roles around where they aren't going to always cast the more attractive performer.

but this is Judy's thread, so I'm off the JVJ train. Judy Kuhn- a classy lady.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 01:59 AM

#24

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:02am

yes...

Judy is good...She IS cosette in my mind...

#25

re: Judy Kuhn

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:04am

Matt,

Come on ride the train anywhere you want!!

I saw Ivan Rutherford on Bway in 1997 and thought he was amazing. I also Randal Keith on tour this past fall. Out of the two, I preferred Rutherford.

Back to Judy..... METROPOLIS!! Some of the songs were just god-awful, but Judy had some incredible songs. I love the duet between her and Graham Bickley ("It's Only Love/Bring On The Night") and her solo of "You Are The Light" (a Jewish girl got soul).

Does anyone know why exactly she didn't take "Sunset Blvd." to NYC from LA?

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 02:04 AM

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