Mandy Gonzalez In Aida..........................

[Phantom05]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 10:21am

Hey everyone, I heard in another post that Mandy Gonzalez was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING as Amneris in Aida. Can anyone elaborate on her performance, I loved her in DOTV, and am sure she we WOW'ed as Amneris!!!

BYE ALL!!!!!

Phantom05

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 11:01am

I don't think anyone saw much of her after "Every Story". From what I hear, the majority of the audience fled the theatre in fear when Toni started to sing.... I do believe I was told that even Hellen Keller was seen racing out the theatre in a cold sweated panic, screaming in sign language when Toni tried to sing 'Gods Love Nubia'.

[Rob]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 11:11am

Mandy was awesome...well worth a visit to Aida if you're in NY.

[Feathah]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 11:31am

I'm dying to see her! Just can't afford the hefty ticket price right now. I'm sure her "I Know The Truth" was gorgeous.

[LilFinley]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 1:03pm

I have seen her and I think that she cant hold a candle to Felicia! Her Amneris is more demanding and witchy than Air headed the way the role was written. I think that if maybe she would scale down the commands and go to a more air head version people wouldnt give her negative reviews!

[dancindeeva]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 1:32pm

Interesting such mixed reviews. I am very picky about the Amneris character, simply because I think it is a brilliant role and takes a special actress give her the depth she needs. Air head, yes, but also a very sad, lonely character who makes a huge transition throughout the show. She gets a very small window of opportunity to show us who she is and make a big impression. Felicia did this brilliantly, she is the first and last Amneris I have seen and I don't know who could follow in her foot steps. Brilliant acting, and WHAT a VOICE! Stunning! I can't wait to see her in something new!

Posted: 7/2/03 at 2:08pm

I have yet to see Mandy. Hopefully I'll get to see her in October when I'm down for the premier of "Wicked". Frankly, my favourite Amneris of all was Idina Menzel. She was so sassy and full of attitude. "Worship Me". It was priceless. She also managed to get that "ditz" thing happening here and there. Especially for the line "True. Well that's true." You could see that she really had to think hard about it and do a lot of mental calculating to see if what Aida had said about "doing as she pleased." was right.

The first time I saw Felicia as Amneris I wasn't impressed with her acting choices. Her voice was wonderful and she brought me to tears for IKTT. To me, she came off as very baby-ish and it didn't sit well with me. However, after seeing her three more times, I've grown to love her. I'll miss seeing her when I visit the Palace from now on. Hopefully I'll get to Maine to see her as Eva Perone in Evita this sumemr.

Posted: 7/2/03 at 4:24pm

I've seen about 7 different people do the role of Amneris and I've come to the conclusion, there is no perfect woman to play Amneris. Each actress brought something new to the role creating the ideal Amneris. I leave Sherie out of this because for nostalgic sakes, she is Amneris.

Idina - powerhouse vocals
Felicia - Ditziness and beauty
Kelli - Southern Twang
Taylor Dayne - WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN PLAYING THE ROLE
Sherie - choreography

I say Sherie - Choreography because she is the only one I've seen who has done the choreography the way Wayne wanted it to be. Felicia swayed her hips but didn't really do the hand motions quick enough. Idina was too busy on her facial expressions. You get the idea

[Jennifer]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 4:40pm

I saw Felicia at Adam's last for the first time and while she can wail her way through the music, her acting choices leave something to be desired. Her dead pan approach to the scene leading into "My Strongest Suit" didn't get the laughter it normally does and I didn't feel the crowd warmed up to her. I remember when Idina came out from behind the wall before "I Know The Truth", the whole audience let out a huge gasp that I have yet to see with any other Amneris (Taylor, Kelli, and Felicia). I wish I could have seen Sherie, but Idina will definitely go down as my favorite.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 4:42pm

I agree about the gasp when Idina walked out from behind the wall.

I am partial to Idina personally. I have heard mandy and she sounds great, but havenever seen her take on it.

Posted: 7/2/03 at 4:49pm

LMFAO! Jennifer! You are now my new idol. You found the word I could not about Felicia's voice. "Wailing". Yes, Felicia wails through MSS but I thought her acting was awesome. She was really into it.

[LilFinley]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 4:57pm

Ok, you cant take adam's last for Felicia's acting! She was balling the whole show and it was hard for her to choke back her tears and do the funny scenes! Felicia's acting is great! She did the role perfectly! Mostly because she has lived the role her whole life! She also made the change from a ditz to a blonde with a brain very quick! I know from doing the charecter in a few things that is very hard to do and Mandy just doesnt do it as well!

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 6:07pm

I have never seen Aida, but I have heard that Idina was an excellent Amneris.

Posted: 7/2/03 at 6:12pm

Idina is Amazing. Her vocals are too good to be true.

I have a question. about two years ago or so they had broadway on broadway concert. Idina sang "Strongest Suit" the cd was released but Idina's song wasn't on there! Does anyone know why???

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 6:14pm

I know! I love her rendition of it!

Posted: 7/2/03 at 7:11pm

How was Lisa Brescia as Amneris?

I had a show the night I got tickets to see her. I heard she wore a wig because she really has short hair. I also missed Jeremy Kushnier

BWAYGUY2! - Question: Is Jeremy Kushnier on the Gay List? My radar is kind of going off, but I could be wrong. He did do Ballet, and he is the shy, bad clothing choices, type of guy.

[LilFinley]

Posted: 7/2/03 at 7:55pm

no Jeremy is not gay! My cuz knows him and I have met him many times! He has a gf and I think they are gettin married later this year! Just cause you no sense of style, took ballet, and are shy doesnt mean you are gay! I know! My bestfriend's fiance is and did all those things and he is not gay! Not knockin gay guys, my other bestfriend is gay! I am just tellin what I know!

[sheekala]

Posted: 7/3/03 at 8:11am

On Felicia's last, which was this past Sunday the entire audience GASPED when she walked out, as they did countless times before, believe me, they do it a great deal, for many people playing the role, the scene is set up for it..thank you

[LifeOnStage]

Posted: 7/3/03 at 11:35am

I saw Kelli in the tour of Aida and I thought she did a very good job as Amneris. She had the right amount of ditzyness and transformed wonderfully into the more adult and responsible Amneris. She had great comedic timing for her lines as well.

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/3/03 at 3:45pm

I saw Sherie and Lisa Brescia. Sherie was amazing, of course. It sounds like Felicia was great. I saw some pics of her at Broadway on Broadway. She has great stage prescence. I've never seen her in Amneris garb though. I wish they had pictures of everyone who has ever played the leads in that role. I hope the new trio is good. The show, as amazing as the score is, is carried by the leads. The OBC way outshone the tour I saw. Lisa, Jeremy, and Paulette were amazing. They just were not Sherie, Adam, and Heather. I'm so biased. I also had a bit of a head cold when I saw the tour. Too bad, oh well. If anyone has Aida pictures of post-OBC cast members, could you post them. Much love to those who do.

Posted: 7/3/03 at 3:50pm

I saw Kelly in the tour also and she WAS AMAZING. Wow, that girl has some voice, she was a great actress too! i was VERy pleased with her performance.

I also saw Simone, and what can I say, she was brilliant.

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 7/3/03 at 4:41pm

I would love Sherie to come back to the show after Mandy.

Posted: 7/3/03 at 5:14pm

they should actually let Kelly step in, she was REALLY awesome, aazing belt voice, funny comic timing!

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/3/03 at 9:16pm

I heard Kelli was amazing. She left about a month before the tour came to Atlanta. I was disappointed. I still had a great time though. It seemed like the set was downsized. I think the Fox's stage is lower than the Palace's. Everything seemed scrunched. Like someone sat on it.