Kerry Buttler...

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 8:49pm

...just does not do it for me.

Her Audrey is just not that amazing on the cast recording.

Am I the only one?

:

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 8:54pm

Yes! It's about time someone mentioned this. Bring it!

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:00pm

I think she's just okay.

[Iluvlizlemon]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:08pm

I've never seen her in anything that ended up being worth seeing (the only show i've seen her in was a TERRIBLE show at NYMF a couple years ago). I enjoy her singing however. Hopefully i'll get to see her in something worth my time one day.

[BwayBoundJoe]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:17pm

Did she leave her bodygaurd at home?

[sipos]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:12am

You spelled her name wrong. I think she's really great.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:17am

She was terrible in Little Shop of Horrors.

But I'm willing to forget about that since she was great in Bat Boy, Hairspray and Xanadu.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:20am

Was she the one who did the "fingers crossed!" thing to the camera as they were about to announce the best actress Tony?

If so, she's a genius and never needs to do anything else.

[i am the one]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:20am

lol butt.

[wally]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:27am

I can't stand her. I thought she was annoying in Bat Boy and Hairspray, and just wrong in Little Shop. I haven't seen her in anything since.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 1:05am

That was her, Reginald, though Jason Robert Brown did the same thing in 2003 when they showed him as one of the nominees for Best Score (he was representing the 30 composers and lyricists of Urban Cowboy who shared that nomination). Of course he (and the rest) had no chance of winning against Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for Hairspray.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 1:58am

I think she is marvelous. Her performances in HAIRSPRAY and XANADU displayed her genius comedic timing and fabulous voice.

Her performance in LITTLE SHOP (along with the rest of the production) was misdirected. I blame her interpretation of Audrey on Jerry Zaks.

She has proven herself to be a great asset to Broadway, and I can't wait to see her on stage again in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:10am

Threadjack -

How'd you get the little heart icon to show up?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:14am

I also tend to enjoy Butler in much of her work.

For me, her two best performances have both been outside of New York. She was brilliant as Deedee in the stage musicalization of THE OPPOSITE OF SEX in San Francisco a few years ago, and her Lizzie in the LA Reprise! production of BABY was completely charming.

While I concede that she came up short as Audrey in the LITTLE SHOP... revival, I agree with Wanna Be A Foster in putting most of the blame there on Jerry Zaks, who misconceived just about everything in that entire production.

As she showed in XANADU most recently, Butler has a terrific ability to bring her own unique persona to almost everything she does. While her voice tends to have a nasal quality that can become grating, her belt sure packs one hell of a punch.

I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with the role of Brenda in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, though I hope she's able to break out of the staple of quirky characters she seems to play on a consistent basis.

If only we could get her enunciation to be a bit more precise...

Updated On: 8/8/09 at 02:14 AM

[Q]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:20am

Is this just an exercise to see what happens when you poke someone with a stick?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:24am

Am I the only one who liked her peformance in Little Shop? I thought she was a FANTASTIC Audrey.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:31am

Is this just an exercise to see what happens when you poke someone with a stick?

Exactly.

[broadwayworldreader]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 3:27am

Im simply entertained by the sub convo going on between Q and Catnyrevival. hahahaha

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 8:53am

"I think she is marvelous. Her performances in HAIRSPRAY and XANADU displayed her genius comedic timing and fabulous voice.

Her performance in LITTLE SHOP (along with the rest of the production) was misdirected. I blame her interpretation of Audrey on Jerry Zaks."

SOMEONE has a bright future as a sports parent. You know, where your kid is responsible for everything good that happens, and anything that goes wrong is obviously the fault of the coach or ref.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 9:50am

Madbrain: SomethingWicked did not feel that her performance was bad based on her abilities, but rather on the direction and overall concept of the show. It happens in the theatre. If SW had felt her performance was bad based on Butler's work on the role alone, and her overall abilties, I'm sure SW would have posted such information.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 11:33am

ThankstoPhantom, madbrian was quoting Foster, not SW.

I have no problems with the woman or her work. Her nasal, whiny voice worked fine in Xanadu and Hairspray. I'm interested to see what she brings to Catch Me if You Can though based on the now infamously deleted clip, she's as whiny as ever. And her diction is still terrible.

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 12:17pm

I didn't know anything about her and I saw Catch Me If You Can last week and totally loved her in it. She's perfect for that role and her singing was really really good. When she sang Fly Fly Away I was practically holding my breath it was so amazing.

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:14pm

Kerry Butler is such an amazing singer and actress, Xanadu and Hairspray were bliss with her. Having also seen Little Shop I do agree that her Audrey may not have been the best but it was by no means bad at all, I laughed alot and she belted her face off. I think I remeber reading an interview with her saying herself that it wasnt her best or how she wasnt right for it...im not sure. I've been searching for the interview but the closest I could find was this
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/news_feature_detail.aspx?id=552901&p=2

"Q- Was playing Audrey in the Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors a mixed experience for you?

A- Yeah. I loved being able to sing the music because I'm a big Alan Menken fan. But it's hard to live in a role where you're playing somebody who is in such a fragile state. Audrey had such low self-esteem, and that infused my life a little bit. But I'm glad I did it. It's such a good show. It was mixed critically but the audience loved it."

Not exactly what I was looking for but maybe its floating around on the internet somewhere or maybe I dreamed it lol.

[sally1112]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:29pm

I really enjoy her and consider myself lucky to have seen her in Xanadu. But I can see that some people might not enjoy her "style."

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 2:34pm

Miss Butler could be a bit subtler.

Her role in Catch Me is one of the more confusing things in a troubled show. She also gets a song written for a black woman.