Ladies and Gentleman....Taye Diggs is your next Hedwig — Page 27

This is still a thread for reviews and thoughts on Taye, so let's try to keep Darren Criss, his brother, family photos, Asian-ness, etc.to his own thread, plenty of room there.

Appreciate the updates on Taye especially since my NYC trip fell through.

I remember you saying you're seeing Taye in August, haterobics. Am curious about your thoughts. I don't remember, did you say you saw all the Broadway Hedwigs?

Yes, tonight was the night... inadvertently the anniversary of the Berlin Wall being erected!

I certainly don't dislike Taye as much as some people have, but he is certainly an uneven Hedwig. The accent is all over the place, sounding alternatively German, Russian and Jamaican at different points. Many of the keys have seemingly been lowered for many songs. And there is that issue where he loses himself during some of the book chunks... which seemed to me more like he gets ahead of himself in the sentence, and then has to figure out how to backtrack to fill in the missing words, without making it obvious he messed up the line, but in many of the cases, the right move would have been to just plow ahead without it. It was never during any of the key segments, or known phrases, though...

The one example from tonight was I think him saying the word "general" before it should have come up in the sentence. LIke he said "General Speck's son" rather than "Tommy Speck, the son of one of the generals on the base," or somesuch, but then he knew he was about to say general twice, but then the delay was too long, and he ended up just doing that line over. But those were always for inconsequential moments, which made it even more odd. Like, sure, if you screw up the geography of human contact, start over... but not a random line.

And, despite the script tweaks, with "The Bitch is Black" and whatnot, I think I was still sort of in that place where all of the pieces don't quite seem to line up to get us from his being a slip of a girly boy, to meeting Luther (who seemed to be the same Luther as always), where that black soldier/white Hansel seemed to make them a stranger couple, and then unlike NPH who thinned out to look more feminine for the role, we end up with Taye Diggs who is butch, thick, and all muscle... but in the Midwest with that weird blonde wig, and knowing how black trans women are even less accepted than the white trans women who are barely accepted to begin with, and this Hedwig isn't hard to clock at ALL... it just made me wonder at many points would this really be her journey?!

I do think Taye did the dramatic/emotional stuff well, and both his Wicked Little Towns and Midnight Radio were exquisite. They seemed to suit him more than the rockers, although he did them well, but just didn't find a way to make them his own as much?

And it is hard to complain about Sugar Daddy since he played with my nipple during the song.

And, yes, I have been to all of the Hedwigs on Broadway, all one time except JCM, who I saw eight times, including his first show, last show, and one with a very, very intimate carwash. I do think everyone I'm seeing after JCM is going to be judged unfairly, because his return was so profound and impacted me so much, way more than I ever thought possible.

So yeah, Taye is definitely toward or at the bottom of my rankings, fighting with NPH for last place, with Michael C. Hall at the top, and JCM transcending being ranked because that bitch IS Hedwig. I'm glad I went, but if someone never saw this production before, would I send them to see Taye? That would be a tough call...

Hedwig is on the list with sex and pizza for me, but that isn't the case for everyone.

Updated On: 8/14/15 at 12:05 AM

Is that a nipple inquiry?

Car wash was first seat, front row, side orchestra.

Then he did little things with each of us on the center orchestra aisle, at the ends of the first three rows.

I was front row, so he sat on the steps and just started reaching out to me. I thought we were doing some sort of Creation of Adam thing, but then his finger kept going toward me until it landed on my left nipple (through my T-shirt) and he squeezed it a bit.

He said that he grabbed his nipple through his shirt.

Heh, do a lot of people attend shows shirtless?!

"Heh, do a lot of people attend shows shirtless?!

Nope. but at Hedwig, you never know what to expect. Especially those who have front row seats!

Wow...he's not quite there yet? What week is this? I was coming back to NYC to see him in September. I don't know if I will now. By the way, I think you may have avoided the wrong Hedwig. I am so disappointed in the idea that an actor in such a high caliber show has not been prepared to take over the reigns of the production and perform in a consistent fashion. On any given day he seems to be good or not so good. It's very disappointing. Oddly enough, whether or not I fly in to see the show, I still plan on buying a ticket. I want to support the show so it will continue. However, the at best lukewarm reviews interspersed with the few good ones have more or less killed my enthusiasm for seeing Taye Diggs, and I've always been a fan of his in the past.

"Was anyone at the show where Taye decided he needed to post a video explaining how he was "off" that night? Was it that bad?"

Does that mean he thinks he is nailing it most night?!

"I have avoided him for a few weeks but I'm thinking about going back in September, but I want to know if it is worth it or I should just keep using my lottos for Hamilton."

If you're getting fatigued from losing there, Hedwig is probably a surer bet.

I think "miscast" may be truer than most descriptions according to the posts here. I admit I haven't seen him so what I'm saying is speculation based on what I've read. I've wanted to see him, but I've been cautious. I came back here this morning to edit my earlier post because I felt like it might have been too strident. However, I reread it and decided it was true from my perspective. From the standpoint of the performance misfires (not knowing the book, etc), I don't understand why this celebrated actor has been given such a pass when I'm fairly certain that others who have played Hedwig in the past would definitely have been skewered for a similar execution. Actually some of them have been criticized for a lot less. I've seen more than one Hedwig (all of them if you count bootlegs). I have mixed emotions about supporting a representation of Hedwig that might not be "true." Then again, what is the truth?. Are first time Hedwig goers getting a misrepresentation of Hedwig or just a unique new rendering of the character? I think each Hedwig I've seen has been different to a degree. Yet there is an underlying commonality. What do you guys think? Does it really even matter?

"^

I agree with everything with the exception of bad vs. miscast. He definitely seems to be miscast without a doubt, but going on some of the things I've read here he's also not very good and sometimes downright bad in this role he's miscast in. What I just read a few posts up about Taye making a video is mind boggeling. How off/bad would someone have to be for an explanation video to be necessary because more people needed an explanation than would have his shortcomings pointed out by it?

"

Someone pointed out to me in a private message that Taye has always been weird about social media - he's pretty much a running joke on Twitter. Still...it's strange to me and seems unprofessional?

I'm a bit worried that he seems to think this was his first "off" performance as well - is he not getting feedback? I realize they might not read these boards, but I doubt they don't know what's going on. I do think part of it is that Taye was miscast, but I think his hubris gets in the way as well. He was just on the Today Show and said he was "excellent," which is something he's been saying since before he even performed.

I will note that I do think it is funny that the Hedwig people wanted to "avoid" turned out to be something pretty special and the Hedwig everyone was looking forward to is lackluster. Broadway is a mysterious thing that keeps you guessing...which is why I will always come back.

"I'm a bit worried that he seems to think this was his first "off" performance as well - is he not getting feedback? I realize they might not read these boards, but I doubt they don't know what's going on. I do think part of it is that Taye was miscast, but I think his hubris gets in the way as well. He was just on the Today Show and said he was "excellent," which is something he's been saying since before he even performed.

"

He actually said outright that he's "excellent"? Who does that? And especially for a show that has had multiple star leads so comparison is easy.

In terms of excusing a missed or poor performance, the only appropriate use of social media I've seen is to announce illness in an apology of sorts.