Ladies and Gentleman....Taye Diggs is your next Hedwig- Page 9

[skies]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:08pm

Biased opinion, naturally, but Taye seems the hunkiest, beefiest version of Hedwig yet, almost like Hedwig as a  buffed up cage fighter.  

[Phan2]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:25pm

Interesting article.  Thanks for posting.   Hoping to hear a few comments here tonight about his performance.  Cross my fingers that his opening night goes well. 

Haha!  Oops.  I meant tomorrow night for opening night.   I had forgotten about the dress rehearsal.     (And ChiTheaterFan, yes, no offense taken.  I noted the smiley face!)

Updated On: 7/21/15 at 08:25 PM

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:27pm

You probably won't hear anything tonight because his opening is tomorrow. Unless someone on this board is psychic. :)

 

 

I will be there tomorrow though and will provide a full report!!!

 

 

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:30pm

A friend who got to watch Darren's dress rehearsal tried to get in for Taye's but they wouldn't let her in.

Apparently John's there for Taye's dress rehearsal. Not sure if that is a "duh of course" kind of thing but I thought I'd mention it.

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:31pm

Although I'd assume there is some sort of dress tonight so I guess we could hear if anyone goes to that. Didn't think about that in my earlier post

 

 

BTW, Phan I hope you know the tone of my post was intended as jocular and not mean-spirited. 

Updated On: 7/21/15 at 08:31 PM

[skies]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 8:32pm

I can't see a need to change the script for Taye as Hedwig, the American GI would be black, but other than that it's the same scenario.  Of course Taye is hard to  pass for "some slip  of a girly boy", but than again, that didn't quite fit NPH or Michael J. Hall either.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 9:17pm

You probably won't hear anything tonight because his opening is tomorrow. Unless someone on this board is psychic. :)

There was an invited dress rehearsal, as there has been for each of Diggs' predecessors. So it was very plausible for someone to have offered their analysis.

 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 9:18pm

"You probably won't hear anything tonight because his opening is tomorrow. Unless someone on this board is psychic. :)
There was an invited dress rehearsal, as there has been for each of Diggs' predecessors. So it was very plausible for someone to have offered their analysis.
 "

 Thanks!  Yes I realize that and corrected in a later post. 

[ethan231h]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 9:28pm

there is a periscope going around of Taye during Midnight Radio, It sounds like Rebecca modified her voice a little bit now, both sound amazing though! https://www.periscope.tv/w/aH7lKTI0ODY2MjN8NDQ0NzUxODNiIjddYLnExnMNG2iRNZmS3eBwPpZKzDy7aHa11X8H1w==

[skies]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 11:36pm

I realize that normally replacements, in this case the 5th one, don't get reviews from the theatre critics, though I'm hoping they make an exception for Taye.  The first black Hedwig might get the media attention for some revisits . The NY Times returned for JCM.

Updated On: 7/21/15 at 11:36 PM

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 11:49pm

I thought I heard there were some reviews of Darren?  May not have been the major outlets though. If that is the case I surely would think reviews for Taye could be a possibility. 

Updated On: 7/21/15 at 11:49 PM

[skies]

Posted: 7/21/15 at 11:54pm

No, there were no traditional critics  reviews of Darren Criss' run.  

I'm not sure about Andrew Rannels  or Michael J Hall.

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 12:12am

"No, there were no traditional critics  reviews of Darren Criss' run.  
I'm not sure about Andrew Rannels  or Michael J Hall."

 Got it. Must have been just blogs and such. 

 

 

I agree it would be nice to see a review for Taye. 

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 12:23am

"Cabaret" was the one recent show it seemed the critics reviewed over and over the Sally Bowless.  NY Times Ben Bradlee I believe wrote about all 3, Michelle Williams, Emma Stone and Sienna Miller.

[Phan2]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 2:32am

Andrew was reviewed by BroadwayBox.com and Out.com.  Michael was reviewed by HuffingtonPost.com and by The Daily Beast (the article in The Daily Beast was part interview/part review).  Darren was reviewed by BroadwayBox.com, The Daily Beast, and TheBacklot.com.  These are the reviews that were listed by HedwigOnBway.  There may have been more that were not listed by HedwigOnBway.   (Correction:  The Daily Beast article of Darren and also a separate The Daily Beast article of Michael both were interviews, with some comments of Darren and Michael, respectively, in their performances in Hedwig.)

I also hope that Taye gets reviewed by a few of the theater critics. 

 

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 02:32 AM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 3:30am

Also the actor that played Hedwig is Michael C. Hall, Michael J. Hall is an insurance agent in Poulsbo, Washington (I googled it).

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 3:38am

"""Cabaret" was the one recent show it seemed the critics reviewed over and over the Sally Bowless.  NY Times Ben Bradlee I believe wrote about all 3, Michelle Williams, Emma Stone and Sienna Miller."
 
who on earth is Ben Bradlee? . By now if you know anything about theatre its Ben Brantley "

Wow typos aren't allowed.  Chill why don't you.

 

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 3:44am

" Darren was reviewed by BroadwayBox.com, The Daily Beast, and TheBacklot.com.  These are the reviews that were listed by HedwigOnBway.  There may have been more that were not listed by HedwigOnBway.   
I also hope that Taye gets reviewed by a few of the theater critics. 
 "

The Daily Beast was not a review by a critic, it was a journalist interviewing Darren Criss.  "The Backlot" was a journalist/ fan of Darren Criss talking about how he loved the performance and who generally does TV episodes recaps.  That was his first theatrical "review" ever.  They certainly weren't theatre critics who do reviews of productions on a regular basis, such as the NY TImes, Variety, NY Daily News, etc, etc.

 

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 03:44 AM

[Phan2]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 4:53am

You are right about The Daily Beast article regarding Darren.  My apologies.  I got it confused with the article by The Daily Beast of Michael, which was part interview with Michael, part review of Michael in Hedwig.  I did go back and correct my prior statement about The Daily Beast as it refers to Darren.    As for The Backlot article, I didn't say it was a review by a "theater" critic.  I said it was a review of Darren's performance.  You stated how Neil and John were reviewed by theater/traditional critics, and you said you were not sure about Andrew and Michael.   ChiTheaterFan mentioned that the reviews of Darren must had been reviewed by blogs or sites that were not the major outlets.  I merely was stating what sites reviewed Andrew, Michael and Darren.   I did not specifically say Andrew,  Michael, or Darren were reviewed by "theater"/"traditional" critics.  You inferred that.   I was consistent about the reviews of Andrew, Michael, and Darren, not just of Darren.

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 04:53 AM

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 4:59am

"""""Cabaret" was the one recent show it seemed the critics reviewed over and over the Sally Bowless.  NY Times Ben Bradlee I believe wrote about all 3, Michelle Williams, Emma Stone and Sienna Miller."
 
who on earth is Ben Bradlee? . By now if you know anything about theatre its Ben Brantley "
Wow typos aren't allowed.  Chill why don't you.
 "
 typos are, but that was not remotely correct."

At 1 in the morning after a couple of scotch whiskeys it is.

 

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 5:10am

"You are right about The Daily Beast article regarding Darren.  My apologies.  I got it confused with the article by The Daily Beast of Michael, which was part interview with Michael, part review of Michael in Hedwig.  I did go back and correct my prior statement about The Daily Beast as it refers to Darren.    As for The Backlot article, I didn't say it was a review by a "theater" critic.  I said it was a review of Darren's performance.  You stated how Neil and John were reviewed by theater/traditional critics, and you said you were not sure about Andrew and Michael.   ChiTheaterFan mentioned that the reviews of Darren must had been reviewed by blogs or sites that were not the major outlets.  I merely was stating what sites reviewed Andrew, Michael and Darren.   I did not specifically say Darren, Andrew, or Michael were reviewed by "theater/traditional" critics.  You inferred that.   I was consistent about the reviews of Darren, Michael and Andrew, not just of Darren. "

Oh no harm done.  It's just that you said "I also hope that Taye gets reviewed by a few of the theater critics"  so yes I mistakenly assumed that category was being lumped with the examples given earlier to Darren, etc.  I guess only NPH and JCM got the traditional theatrical critic reviews.

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 05:10 AM

[Phan2]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 5:23am

No worries, skies.  Now that I'm looking more closely at The Daily Beast articles for both Michael and Darren, I think both articles are interviews, with a few comments by the writers of Michael and Darren's performances. 

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 05:23 AM

[RussT2]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 5:36am

"Is anyone going to Tayes opening or invited dress?"

 

I was at the dress rehearsal last night. Here's my 2 cents:

Taye Came out and for the first time I realized that Hedwig could kick my ass. This is a good thing. He immediately has a presence of power. Some of the dialogue and jokes have been rewritten for Taye (a Jeffersons tv show reference for one example) and there are a some funny physical bits of humor between him and Yitzhak that are new. The most interesting thing about his performance is that during some of the slower songs, he delivers the most soulful singing I've ever heard done in Hedwig. His "Wicked Little Town" was especially great. His chemistry with Rebecca Naomi Jones is very good too. They play off each other well, and she sounded especially good last night. She too was very high energy. So overall, the show has changed slightly to fit him, but it's still the same great show. David Binder came out before the show started to say that since this is a dress rehearsal there might be times where they stop the show to start something again, or to fix something, but it never happened. They just performed a great show without a hitch. My bf were lucky enough to be brought backstage say hi to JCM and Stephen Trask, and went upstairs to hang out for a few minutes with Rebecca  but best of all I got to try on one of the Hedwig wigs for a photo. I was in hog heaven!

Updated On: 7/22/15 at 05:36 AM

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 5:57am

Very very excited to hear this great report!  Can't wait for tonight. M

thanks for sharing

[skies]

Posted: 7/22/15 at 3:29pm

I could see an angry Hedwig who's bulked up physically to overcome the slights against her.