Laura Benanti: To Good For NINE? — Page 2

To everybody here who feels so worthy of "Compliments to All Members" for your behavior in this kind and happy place:

You're so nice.
You're not bad,
You're not good,
You're just nice.

Kerry is the sweetest person. My fan club (The First Kerry OMalley Fan Club) and I wrote her a letter asking her permission to let us make her FIRST unofficial site "Official" but she was so modest and said "It's something I don't feel I have earned yet". She is soooooo humble. Stephen's great too. Him and Kerry are like best friends. He dresses so simple too. Vanessa was funny at the stage door when I went. Some smelly construction worker came up to her and asked for a hug, and she said "I don't do hugs" and ignored him. Gotta love the diva.

There is certainly nothing wrong with Laura taking her job seriously. Because of this work ethic, she is one of the most believeable characters in NINE. Her acting is very believeable and her accent SOUNDS REAL unlike some others I need not mention. Notice in SIMPLE, Jane tries to have an accent when pronouncing "simple" but just forgets about it and sings her heart out. There's nothing wrong with that, but certainly an accent would help transport you into the Italian world the musical takes place in.

What I applaud Laura in NINE for is that she sticks to her (believeable) accent when she sings right down to the last syllable and that shows alot of dedication and hard work.

"No one's going to take her seriously just because she gave a stellar performance."

Daisy, that has to be one of the most awful things I've read in a long time. If stellar performances aren't enough to get an actor taken seriously, then priorities are very seriously out of wack. (And I do believe they are, as illustrated by this thread.)

*sigh* There was one of those stupid things said. I didn't mean it that way. OBVIOUSLY she's a fabulous performer and well respected in that area. But its a turn off watching someone's performance when they're not very likable off-stage. I'm not saying Laura is... I've yet to encounter this with her and hope I never do. Honestly... if you're watching someone perform and they've been a complete and utter bitch to you, it ruins the mood of the story and it's hard to buy it (unless they're playing said bitch). It's human nature... if you don't respect someone off-stage, it just makes it harder to respect them onstage no matter how talented.

Like I said, I have nothing against Laura, but it seems like an on-going trend.


I'll say this... Bebe Neuwirth pretty much has the same reputation going as Laura at the stage door. (She doesn't have the egotistical reputation... in fact I think she's probably one of the most grounded performers I've ever encountered...) Now, she is one of my favorite actresses and has been since I was a little girl. I've never had a bad encounter with her, but if ever I do... it'll just ruin everything. I'll never be able to watch her, regardless of how talented I think she is, and view her OR her performance the same way. It's just how people work. I think as a performer, though we're all human, we have to be aware of that and aware of the reputation we set for ourselves. That's all I'm saying. Laura may not be a bitch, but I just feel she should be a little more self aware of the reputation she's made for herself. It's not just a hand full of people -- the majority of those I know who have met her all have the same reaction. I even have a friend who knows her and he says she's the sweetest girl, but she can get bitchy. Hell, we all can. It's just a matter of channeling it in the right direction. Channeling that attitude towards fans isn't the wisest thing to do.


As for Jane, no... she can't really hit the notes. It's okay though, because she's a fabulous actress. :) I haven't heard the CD yet, but they can always cover things up... the wonder of modern technology. :)

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Jane hits the high note with her head voice in the CD. Does she attempt that on stage?

All righty then, let me see if I understand the rules here, apparently I did not. This is a "nice" and "friendly" board, right? But people can feel free to be not nice and not friendly when talking about people who aren't here to defend themselves. Okay, I don't get it, but apparently that's a community norm. Then, even though I was not running down Daisy Hilton personally, I am a "jerk" for commenting on her statment, which according to Mr. Tuttle was a very bad thing to do, so he did the very thing he was accusing me of doing in her defense. But it's okay in this instance because he was doing it to me. Okay. Am I the only one to whom that seems a bit odd?

Is that how things work here? If so, I would very much appreciate a FAQ or a list that perhaps the host of this board could create that would clearly list which theater personalities can be trashed openly and liberally and that nobody has a problem seeing trashed openly and liberally so that it does not damage the "nice" and "friendly" atmosphere here.

Thanks! That would be very very helpful! :) :)

Just trying to get some clarity on what "friendly" and "nice," means, so thanks so much DoReMi, you helped a lot. :)

Thanks SBF! All you guys rock! :)

Didn't mean to forget to mention you by name, DoReYou!!!!! (Now I know how Marissa must have felt when she got offstage last night!!!!) Of course, you rock the HARDEST!!!!! Please don't hesitate to keep me up-to-date on the rules, since they seem to change!! U ROCK!!!! :)

Who wants to do this board a favor and end it? Please don't make this fight any bigger than it is. Thanks! Okay, about Laura- I've never met her, and I agree with a lot of the things Daisy said. She is young, and was shoved into the spotlight. Give her time, and she'll learn how to act with fans and such. It's a shame cant be as classy an act as Sutton or Marissa (also newcomers), but not everyone is as nice as them. Think about this: Would you rather have a great actress that is a real bitch cover up her real personality and act nice to you and than go home and complain about all of her fans, or be a bitch, and not hide your true self, but at the same time having people respect you honesty? I don't mind that Laura can be mean. Some people are nice, some aren't. That's life; get over it.

Marissa is 30.