MUNY Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holliday!- Page 3

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:00pm

"And I Am Telling You" really does provoke a Pavolovian response in the audience. I remember when I saw it in Atlanta, people where fanning themselves, screaming, crying, and one man kept yelling "You better sing! You better sing!" The Muny audience wasn't as audible during it, but there was a palpable energy in the audience you could feel once the song started.

It's interesting that we have reverse reactions to her two big songs, beagle. I swear, though, her "I Am Changing" last night was a song that was almost unrecognizable! We'll just have to agree to disagree on the National Anthem. :)

[DAME]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:45pm

Phyllis,
I really enjoyed reading your review of the evening. Thank you so much. They do the national anthem here at the Hollywood Bowl as well. However.. it is mostly concerts out here and they only do one musical a year. The Bowl is so big that there is a constant flow of people coming in and out thru the whole show. Really not conducive to theater. However it sounds like your venue is more geared to theater... so why don't they take measures to take care of the people leaving early problem? We have a outdoor venue here called the Greek. It is stack parking. Which means.. NO ONE is going anywhere till the show is over. As far as Jennifer and her facial ticks and mannerisms... I have always wondered if those came with her weight loss. Sort of a overcompensating kind of thing. Years ago I saw her limited engagement as Mama in Chicago; her face then looked possessed. Then a few years later I saw her perform in a gay bar in Orlando ( kind of sad.... her name was even misspelled in the Marquee) and her ticks and mannerisms had gotten worst. But the crowd was eating it up.

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 12:45 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:53pm

I recall seeing the original production on Broadway, very early in the run (circa December, which makes it very early, if memory serves), and it's worth pointing out that many of the legendary tics and baroque (if now beloved) flourishes that are now part of The Song's fabric simply were not performed at the top of the run. The Tony performance is not even indicative. I am in the minority, but the wrenching emotion was most powerful when the song held onto a certain simplicity, allowing feelings expressed to hold the moment, rather than the singer's strategic trickery. The most poignant lyric, always for me, is "I don't want to be free," and in the beginning, those words were as important as any and all vocal pyrotechnics. Yes, the famous unbidden intake-of-oxygen gasp was always there, but I believe those "ah, ah, ah" Phyllis invokes were slowly added. When the singer's efforts to create the effect seemed separate from the emotion engendered, The Song became something else. I still recall its sad power stemming from feeling absolutely organic to the story. I supposed what's happened since is inevitable, and if any artists, let alone Holliday, were to return to an almost deconstructed edition, it would be interpreted as lacking.

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 12:53 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:56pm

Phyllis, they sing the National Anthem at the Starlight in Kansas City and the Hollywood Bowl, as Dame pointed out.

Maybe there's an inclination for outdoor venues seating over 8,000 people. It kinda does feel like a sporting event at that size.

Now when they start doing it at the Music Box ...

[DAME]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 12:59pm

Oh Auggie.. I totally agree with you. I saw the original on its first actors fund performance and none of that was there. And it was extremely effective and honest. And I saw it during its Los Angeles run at the Shubert and while her Effie already had shades of a "performance" it was still not what it has become thru the years. This is why I wonder if her weigh loss has anything to do with it. Sort of like overcompensating for things your body just those differently now.. I know of at least two actors that had lost weight and had to re train their craft. Their bag of tricks doesn't work with their bodies
anymore.

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 12:59 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 1:02pm

I can't speak for anyone else, but I know all Jennifer's tics were added over the years. I figured that the vast majority of them come from her own concert renditions of the songs and no one prevents her from doing in the show when she reprises the role. I agree with everything Auggie said about less being more with that song, but I knew we'd be getting 30 years of Jennifer Holliday baggage in the role. But going to see Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls 30 years after the fact is all about managed expectations, if you ask me.

Thanks for all the info on the National Anthem at other theatres. I still think it's weird, though!

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 01:02 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 1:04pm

Well, strictly from a theatrical audience POV, it sure takes you out of the mood and moment right before the overture starts!

Unless you're watching 1776 or Patton: The Musical.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 1:09pm

Yep. On a side note. If you have not listened to the infamous Wendy Williams- Jennifer Holiday interview that was done when the movie came out. It is definitely worth a listen. You can find it on that other site. It is from when she had her radio show. She comes off very bitter and ( to me) as someone that really needed to move on. I can't look for it here at work.. but if someone else can.. I would love to listen to it again.

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 01:09 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 1:12pm

All the press she did when the movie come out reflected badly on her, I thought. But everything I've seen her do in promoting this productions makes her seem a lot less bitter than she's seemed in recent years.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 1:25pm

I found this. Which talks about that radio show interview. There is also another appearance this time on Wendys Tv show.. but she didn't come off as bitter in that one.


http://www.towleroad.com/2006/12/beyonc_isnt_the.html

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 01:25 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 6:45pm

From 1982 Holliday lip-syncs her Original Cast Recording.
And I'm Telling You

[phan24]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 12:17pm

Found a video with more footage from the show. But still wish I could see her rendition of The Song.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/328803/3/Jennifer-Holliday-returns-to-her-role-in-Dreamgirls-at-The-Muny

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:11pm

We had a kick ass National Anthem at HAIRSPRAY at the Hollywood Bowl last year

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:30pm

As a fan of the original, I tried hard to ignore Holliday's public displays of abject bitterness when the film came out. Her biggest complaint seemed to be that Hudson had stolen if not the role Holliday's stamp on it. Had she merely expressed flattery, she would've had us with her. Instead, she chose to resent the film honoring her original performance for using the very components Holliday contributed. Wouldn't she have been far more upset if Hudson had been instructed to opt for musical/interpretative takes on the songs that ignored Holliday's powerful development of their emotional shape? She simply seemed upset she had aged-out of the role when the film came along and needed to scapegoat a capricious business that didn't allow her her put it on film. {At least Angela Lansbury was still within Mame's ballpark age when Lucy took that role; Holliday could not have persuasively portrayed Effie, even in the latter scenes.} She eventually performed with Hudson, and everyone has seen those clips. But had she supportively gone to the premiere, touted Hudson from day one, she would've personally triumphed. Instead, she seemed diminished by her carping. I've often wondered if she's deeply regretted the remarks, which were ubiquitous.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:46pm

How are there still no youtube clips of her muny performance? Lame.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:50pm

It's probably too hot to surreptitiously video the show.

Updated On: 7/22/12 at 03:50 PM

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 6:05pm

The Muny has been known to not have very many videos of its productions floating around on the world wide web. I was in shows for two summers and am just now able to hear audio of one of them.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 6:10pm

^Right, but I'm talking about "unofficial" videos.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 7:18pm

i saw the show last night and got the entire show on my audio recorder as well as the curtain call on my video camera- i may post some on Youtube.

The show was pretty incredible with Jennifer stealing the show whenever she was onstage. her vocals were insane and she brought the house down with And i am telling you, but she blew everybody away with I am Changing! the entire cast were awsome! Meet Ms. Holliday after the show was pretty nerve racking. they had a line made for people wanting to meet her and after about an hour everyone was taken backstage and into a conference room where Jennifer signed playbills and anything anybody had with them. she also posed for pictures with everyone too. she could not have been sweeter and although looked tired, chatted happily with everybody. when i got up to her i totally lost the ability to speak and after some blabbering i looked at my mother who was behind me and said "Help me Mama". Then was able to get my senses back LOL.
The biggest suprise of the night was the weather- while still hot, it was no where near as hot as it usally is- i still have nightmares from the opening night of Hairspray!!

[darreyl102]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 7:18pm

i saw the show last night and got the entire show on my audio recorder as well as the curtain call on my video camera- i may post some on Youtube.

The show was pretty incredible with Jennifer stealing the show whenever she was onstage. her vocals were insane and she brought the house down with And i am telling you, but she blew everybody away with I am Changing! the entire cast were awsome! Meet Ms. Holliday after the show was pretty nerve racking. they had a line made for people wanting to meet her and after about an hour everyone was taken backstage and into a conference room where Jennifer signed playbills and anything anybody had with them. she also posed for pictures with everyone too. she could not have been sweeter and although looked tired, chatted happily with everybody. when i got up to her i totally lost the ability to speak and after some blabbering i looked at my mother who was behind me and said "Help me Mama". Then was able to get my senses back LOL.
The biggest suprise of the night was the weather- while still hot, it was no where near as hot as it usally is- i still have nightmares from the opening night of Hairspray!!

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 7:29pm

There are two traditions on each season's opening night of the Metropolitan Opera. First a photographer takes a formal picture of the audience from the stage and then everyone stands and sings The Star Spangled Banner accompanied by that magnificent orchestra. It gives an extra sense of occasion to what is invariably already a star-studded night.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 10:18pm

Here is some fan footage including "...I'm Not Going" in it's entirety.
Dreamgirls

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 12:07am

The production looks a little tacky, but her performance is fine.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

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

Omg, I love the commentary on that video. Great...music & sad stories!

It was a little tacky, but it was fine.

[LALALand]

Posted: 11/13/12 at 5:47pm

Well looks like she's cancelling her retirement and playing Effie again at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center in Vienna, VA. Ouch! Didn't she say something about not becoming Norma Desmond....