#26
Posted: 8/9/13 at 8:02pm
As much as I love Toni Colette, she doesn't jump out at me for this
Kiss of the Spider Woman - OBCR or 1994 BCR — Page 2
#28
Posted: 8/9/13 at 8:50pm
I saw the tour with Chita--so that may be partly why I vastly prefer that recording...
And as much as I love Toni Colette and think she's much more capable of diverse roles than the slot she seems currently to be pigeon-holed in on screen--I just can't picture her in the role at all.
And as much as I love Toni Colette and think she's much more capable of diverse roles than the slot she seems currently to be pigeon-holed in on screen--I just can't picture her in the role at all.
#29
Posted: 8/9/13 at 9:39pm
>>> Strictly speaking, Chita's recording is the Original Cast Recording not OBCR since the show started in London.
Actually, it started in Toronto. It was a Garth Drabinsky production, after all, and featured Canadian actor Brent Carver as Molina. I'm pretty sure I was at the first preview performance at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto. I later saw Kiss again on Broadway while Chita was still in the show.
Although I appreciate the show, I honestly don't listen to the cast album much (except for maybe Dressing Them Up).
Actually, it started in Toronto. It was a Garth Drabinsky production, after all, and featured Canadian actor Brent Carver as Molina. I'm pretty sure I was at the first preview performance at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto. I later saw Kiss again on Broadway while Chita was still in the show.
Although I appreciate the show, I honestly don't listen to the cast album much (except for maybe Dressing Them Up).
Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)
#30
Posted: 8/9/13 at 11:55pm
Toni and Heather are terrible choices to play Aurora/Spider Woman.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#31
Posted: 8/10/13 at 12:03am
I prefer the Chita recording. Her voice was much more interesting; Vanessa's voice was too smooth for the role.
And if they do a revival, the role has to go to Naya Rivera, who I really want to see do a Broadway show.
And some of you need to realize Spider Woman is a dance heavy show. The female lead has to be an excellent dancer (something that Vanessa wasn't). So Audra and Sara and Patti LuPone are all out of the running because they just don't have the dance skills to do it.
And if they do a revival, the role has to go to Naya Rivera, who I really want to see do a Broadway show.
And some of you need to realize Spider Woman is a dance heavy show. The female lead has to be an excellent dancer (something that Vanessa wasn't). So Audra and Sara and Patti LuPone are all out of the running because they just don't have the dance skills to do it.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#32
Posted: 8/10/13 at 12:12am
I think Naya looks too young for the role. In 10 years, absolutely.
#33
Posted: 8/10/13 at 1:36am
Vanessa is an excellent dancer, you can watch her movie "Dance With Me", where Cheyenne, who is an excellent dancer didn't get to do most dance scenes because he is not a professionally trained ballroom dancer. Vanessa got to do most of the scenes herself with no stunts, she has a degree in musical theater if I'm not mistaken too. Check it out.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#34
Posted: 8/10/13 at 9:14am
canmark, I knew I'd get picked up on that but I count that Toronto run as a try-out since it was only there for a couple of months, whereas it then sat down in London for over a year.
Either way, it still wasn't an original Broadway cast recording- especially since it was released while the show was in London.
And since Toni Colette and Heather Headley are both highly-praised musical performers I fail to see how they are terrible choices. Maybe they'd come last in a Chita look-alike competition, but they would bring their own qualities to a character that invites new interpretations. Chita, after all, was pushing it as the bird of paradise in Gimme Love!
Gaveston are you not a fan of the show?
Either way, it still wasn't an original Broadway cast recording- especially since it was released while the show was in London.
And since Toni Colette and Heather Headley are both highly-praised musical performers I fail to see how they are terrible choices. Maybe they'd come last in a Chita look-alike competition, but they would bring their own qualities to a character that invites new interpretations. Chita, after all, was pushing it as the bird of paradise in Gimme Love!
Gaveston are you not a fan of the show?
#35
Posted: 8/10/13 at 10:01am
kieranbec
Donna Murphy....mmm never thought about that and after this video WOW she should do it...I was blown away and I am not a huge fan of hers.. the only thing is Donna seems to get ill a lot when carrying a show but Thanks for posting I forgot all about that
Donna Murphy....mmm never thought about that and after this video WOW she should do it...I was blown away and I am not a huge fan of hers.. the only thing is Donna seems to get ill a lot when carrying a show but Thanks for posting I forgot all about that
#36
Posted: 8/10/13 at 3:25pm
I admired the show when I saw it with Chita, but felt it never caught fire like it should have. I think Chita was and is an electric performer but thought she was terribly miscast as the hot babe and femme fatale of Molina's dreams. She seemed the most right onstage in that mannish white tuxedo and fedora, which only underlined my point.
I never got to see Vanessa's performance, but that's the recording I love and return to again and again. For me the show lives better on the cd than onstage.
I never got to see Vanessa's performance, but that's the recording I love and return to again and again. For me the show lives better on the cd than onstage.
#37
Posted: 8/10/13 at 3:39pm
The 2008 Signature Theatre (VA) production--featuring Natascia Diaz as Aurora, Hunter Foster as Molina, and Will Chase as Valentin--is the best representation of the show I've ever seen. The show works really well scaled back in a small space.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 8/10/13 at 03:39 PM
#38
Posted: 8/10/13 at 7:20pm
I've only seen it in a small space and agree it works extremely well. I've posted this information before, but:
The walls of the theatre around the stage were grey so it felt like you were in a prison cell. The Molina was old, pale and thin. It felt like he was there for a long time. Valentin was young, tanned and attractive. It was really interesting seeing them together.
It also seemed like they were the centre of the story and not the "Spider Woman", who was almost on the side. I wonder if a 'star' (i.e. Williams and Rivera) changes the balance of the show.
----
Great show, great score. Williams and Chita are such different performers that I enjoy both recordings - very different performances there. However, if I had to choose I would choose the replacement recording. The orchestrations are better, the quality is better. Brian Stokes Mitchell is a powerhouse. Sometimes I think Vanessa's smooth voice serves the material well in songs such as "A Visit" (pretty seductive in those "Most men do" kind of lines). Also, the more powerful voice the funnier Russian Movie/Good Times is - plus she has this sardonic quality (see: Ugly Betty) that also makes the scene a bit funnier to me than Chita's.
The walls of the theatre around the stage were grey so it felt like you were in a prison cell. The Molina was old, pale and thin. It felt like he was there for a long time. Valentin was young, tanned and attractive. It was really interesting seeing them together.
It also seemed like they were the centre of the story and not the "Spider Woman", who was almost on the side. I wonder if a 'star' (i.e. Williams and Rivera) changes the balance of the show.
----
Great show, great score. Williams and Chita are such different performers that I enjoy both recordings - very different performances there. However, if I had to choose I would choose the replacement recording. The orchestrations are better, the quality is better. Brian Stokes Mitchell is a powerhouse. Sometimes I think Vanessa's smooth voice serves the material well in songs such as "A Visit" (pretty seductive in those "Most men do" kind of lines). Also, the more powerful voice the funnier Russian Movie/Good Times is - plus she has this sardonic quality (see: Ugly Betty) that also makes the scene a bit funnier to me than Chita's.
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
#39
Posted: 8/10/13 at 7:28pm
I've always wanted to learn more about this show. I read the book several years back, and I vaguely remember there was a number from the show performed on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (with a big black scrim and a spider web). Would love to see a revival some time in the near future.
#40
Posted: 8/10/13 at 7:50pm
^^^^ You may be as disappointed as I, OBL!
I think the novel is one of the great books of the 20th century. Even the play (and unfortunately miscast film (Does anybody really believe William Hurt was so unappealing he led a lonely life with his mother?)) retain the politics and aesthetics of Puig.
The musical, on the other hand, is a piece of ****. It's the work of a bunch of wealthy Anglos who neither respect nor even understand Latin American thinking. They should all have been ashamed of themselves: Kander, Ebb and Prince included. (I have long considered McNally a lost cause.)
The creators are all far too successful to pander to the prejudices of a commercial, American audience.
KISS was the first time I thought Kander and Ebb might actually be the caricatures of themselves created by Fosse in ALL THAT JAZZ.
I think the novel is one of the great books of the 20th century. Even the play (and unfortunately miscast film (Does anybody really believe William Hurt was so unappealing he led a lonely life with his mother?)) retain the politics and aesthetics of Puig.
The musical, on the other hand, is a piece of ****. It's the work of a bunch of wealthy Anglos who neither respect nor even understand Latin American thinking. They should all have been ashamed of themselves: Kander, Ebb and Prince included. (I have long considered McNally a lost cause.)
The creators are all far too successful to pander to the prejudices of a commercial, American audience.
KISS was the first time I thought Kander and Ebb might actually be the caricatures of themselves created by Fosse in ALL THAT JAZZ.
Updated On: 8/10/13 at 07:50 PM
#41
Posted: 8/10/13 at 10:17pm
I didn't really get any "Latin American Thinking" from the musical - to me it seemed to allow context for a setting, some musical styling, and some rationale for the story. But there isn't much politics in this musical.
To me, it's about a complex relationship between two males, with some escapism thrown in there from the "Spider Woman", also maybe some exploration of homosexuality in general, and not much more. I'm ok with that personally.
To me, it's about a complex relationship between two males, with some escapism thrown in there from the "Spider Woman", also maybe some exploration of homosexuality in general, and not much more. I'm ok with that personally.
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
Updated On: 8/10/13 at 10:17 PM
#42
Posted: 8/10/13 at 10:33pm
This short movie has the creators explaining what they were going for.
Link
Link
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#43
Posted: 8/10/13 at 11:20pm
GavestonPS, I personally love the movie. I actually think Hurt works in it given the context and his crime. He's so ethereal and otherworldly in it.
#44
Posted: 8/10/13 at 11:31pm
HE'S TALKING ABOUT ARTT
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
#45
Posted: 8/10/13 at 11:37pm
I just asked my friend who works for Kander, and yes, Audra did a reading and yes, he wants HER to do the role. They're changing it quite a bit apparently as far as it being "dance heavy" show.
#46
Posted: 8/11/13 at 10:07am
Gaveston that's an interesting perspective- I love reading South American novels and I realize that tonally KotSW is quite different, but it didn't get in the way of me enjoying the show.
(I do tend to skip some tracks on the CD though)
Overall, isn't it possible that the show was a great way in to the subject for mainstream audiences that would not have found it otherwise?
(I do tend to skip some tracks on the CD though)
Overall, isn't it possible that the show was a great way in to the subject for mainstream audiences that would not have found it otherwise?
#47
Posted: 8/11/13 at 5:38pm
I recall the disc booklet for one of the soundtracks (maybe Williams) discussed how they had to replace Puig with McNally because he just didn't get it.
"Observe how bravely I conceal this dreadful dreadful shame I feel."
#48
Posted: 8/11/13 at 5:46pm
I love inconsistencies. On that documentary posted earlier they claimed they replaced him because Puig was too busy/inaccessible overseas.
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
#49
Posted: 8/11/13 at 5:55pm
While on the subject, I never understood this costume. Who thought that would flatter anyone's figure?
Updated On: 8/11/13 at 05:55 PM
#50
Posted: 8/11/13 at 6:13pm
I think Fergie would make an incredible Spider Woman.
....but the world goes 'round
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