MATT CAVANAUGH AND CODY GREENE MUST BE REPLACED!

[noodles2]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:42pm

im sorry but after seeing the show it is these 2 that really hold it back. Matt just doesnt fit as Tony, i really cant explain why he just doesnt have that tony "it" factor. as for cody........he is NOT an actor, its actually pretty comical. his lack of acting REALLY over shadows his dancing. i was not impressed and i think if they replace these two the show could do great once on bway.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:45pm

What show?

[AdamBritten]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:46pm

Just a wild guess.....West Side Story

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:47pm

Oh, calm the hell down. It is an out of town tryout. They are having a tryout for a reason, let them get their sh*t together; it has only been a week of performances.

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:55pm

tryout or not it is a professional production and if they aren't up to snuff, they should go.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 8:59pm

agreed

Matt Cavanaugh is such a huge snoozefest.

I question that choice every day

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:03pm

Matt and Cody can't be fixed, no matter how many notes they're given or how many performances they muster trying to get into the roles.

This revival will run on Broadway less than THE PIRATE QUEEN and GOOD VIBRATIONS did.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:04pm

I still say Matt Cavenaugh just needs better direction, and Curtis Holbrook should be Riff.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:06pm

Performances CAN change. Look how Patti LuPone's Rose changed from City Center to Broadway. It was drastic in some ways.

Now, I do not know if these 2 men have the skill to pull a LuPone...but you never know.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:06pm

Oh boy. Let's make rash, harsh judgements and call for people to lose their jobs in all caps.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:12pm

"Now, I do not know if these 2 men have the skill to pull a LuPone...but you never know"

I don't see either of these men pulling any type of a "LuPone" ever. in their entire career.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:37pm

I disagree with the statement about Cavenaugh...thought he gave a great performance and has excellent chemistry with Scaglione. I would love to see Holbrook's take on Riff though...he was certainly a standout as Action.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:39pm

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 09:39 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:42pm

Thank you, WAT. It's nice to know that someone else saw what I saw. (CBC liked Matt, too.) I think his weak scenes are the ones with Riff...for reasons that I do not need to get into.

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:44pm

It's not that he needs to be replaced, it's that he's wearing too many clothes!

*rraaawwr!*

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:47pm

What is it exactly about Matt that is some people think is terrible? The fact that he doesn't have the "Tony" factor doesn't do it for me; not reason enough to put him out of work.

Specifics, please.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:51pm

he puts me to sleep

there's nothing special about him

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 9:57pm

To be perfectly honest, I've never seen a Tony that didn't bore me to tears. It's a boring role, one that is so easily overshadowed by Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Riff, and Action.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:23pm

I saw the show last night in DC and even though I like Matt Cavanaugh a lot I wasn't as blown away by his voice as I thought I would be. And I overheard other people in the audience commenting that his voice was too weak. I know they've had a hectic schedule and this is the first week of previews but Matt's voice just wasn't as "full" as one might expect. I overheard someone comment that Matt ruined "Maria" because she didn't feel sang it the way she thought it should be.

I didn't think Cody was bad but was absolutely overshadowed by the frantic performance of Curtis Holbrook's Action. Him and Karen absolutely stole the show. I want Curtis to remain Action because I don't want ANYONE else performing "Gee, Officer Krupke!" Stellar!

And to the person who started that thread about how Karen can't dance.....pish..."America" was the best number in the show and received a great ovation.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:33pm

Just like Anita has to wow you with her dancing in the "Dance at the Gym" and "America," Tony has the burden of starting the show with two solos and and a duet, each one of which is among the list of Greatest Songs Ever Written for Broadway: "Something's Coming," "Maria" and "Tonight."

This means that he has to wow us with his voice 3 times in the first half hour of the show. Leonard Bernstein understood this. Stephen Sondheim understood this. Jerome Robbins resented it. Arthur Laurents thinks it doesn't matter; he thinks the magic of his direction trumps Bernstein's melodies and Robbins's choreography.

In the 1980 revival, Ken Marshall did not score with the audience vocally, but understudies Steve Bogardus and Brent Barrett did. Almost 3 decades later, the two of them are still singing on Broadway. Not so Ken Marshall.

Bernstein wanted Bogardus to play Tony. Robbins insisted on Marshall. Robbins also insisted, disastrously, that the Jets look "All American." Laurents set out to right these wrongs this time around, but his unchecked ego seems to have gotten the better of him.

Updated On: 12/21/08 at 10:33 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:33pm

Eris, I have to agree. Curtis is too good as Action for me to want him moved- even to the bigger and better part.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:34pm

Eris0303? Were you the girl waiting for Matt Cavenaugh and Curtis Holbrook to come out the stage door? I thought I recognized you from these boards...

(i was there last night as well for the second time...frantically trying to get the signatures of those I had missed at the stage door on Thursday night...I did pretty well)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:46pm

Arthur Laurents thinks it doesn't matter; he thinks the magic of his direction trumps Bernstein's melodies and Robbins's choreography.

He he. That poor man...

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 10:47pm

"It's a boring role"

Tony doesn't have to be a boring role. there are actors strong enough out there... willing to take the risk... to make something NEW out of Tony.

it's very possible

[Eris0303]

Posted: 12/21/08 at 11:13pm

WAT - were you the one that kept checking your list to see who you still needed? If so then we definitely spoke.