Mary J...The Goddess of the night!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 9:55am

Mary J. Blige took that hackneyed piece of kitsch claptrap called “What I did for love” and actually DID something with it.

Reinvention is not exactly something Broadway singers know how to do as they have one style and by god they are gonna stick with it till that closing notice is put up..

But Mary J…found something in that stinking pile of smud that was considered a bad show tune by 1976, and ran with it and what’s more, connected with it.

I do however wonder if Idina had sang it THE SAME EXACT WAY that Mary J did, what the reaction would be…

I, for one, considered it to be the vocal highlight of an otherwise phony, ridiculous, badly sung evening.
Updated On: 6/7/04 at 09:55 AM

[dano]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:09am

Please tell me this is sarcasm...

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:13am

grotesque is more like it

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:13am

no Dano - I think he actually means it.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:13am

Of course it isn't. It's Voiceanth being tiresomely predictable and once more begging the question that if he thinks so little of Broadway then why exactly does he post on here?

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:14am

VoiceAnth: Where you there? In the hall, at least, it was bad. She was searching for the melody the whole time. People around me were snickering. Maybe it was better on TV.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:52am

No.
It was awful on TV too.

[Marc Shaiman]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:56am

I luved her!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 10:58am

See, VoiceAnth thinks he's a contrarian. He likes to imagine himself "shaking things up a little." He wants to be provocative, he's like that in real life conversation, too. But, in real life, I found, if you confront him on the things he says he backs right down or crumbles.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:01am

Updated On: 5/27/05 at 11:01 AM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:02am

I've been searching for the melody to that song since the first time I ever heard it.

I didn't especially love her performance but I especially loathe that song so I'm probably not the person to judge.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:04am

Since you don't know me from a hole in your box full of donuts...

Namo let me assure...

I loved what she did and I assure you had "Audra" or "Idina" had done the very same rendition, well, people would be plotzing...loving it....eating it with spoons....

Having seen her twice in concert, I'm a fan....and was proud of her work there last night..

and that's the truth...do you want the ticket stubs scanned!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:05am

Meaningless caterwauling.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:21am

I thought she was terrific!

[Nipper]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 11:55am

My parrot was in the same room as the TV during the Tony's last night. He loves music and bobs up and down when he hears music or singing. UNLESS he doesn't consider it music, he then starts screeching loudly and must be removed from the room. Such was the case last night when the "talented" Ms Blige started murdering that tune..... Aretha she's not, regardless of how hard she tries

[Sunfish]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:00pm

What is it with all that ridiculous ornamentation? Sounds like a cat in heat.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:01pm

Voiceanth, your professed adoration for Mary J Bilge (that's not a typo) would have a lot more meaning if it weren't for the fact that for the past weeks, pretty much all you have done on this board is champion non Broadway people whilst belittling Broadway performers. That's all.

[wickedrawbrt]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:10pm

Voiceanth aside, I like Mary J.. But I didn't care for her rendition of that song. I am not a fan of pop versions of Broadway songs. I will also say that I didn't care for Tony Bennett's "talk singing" either.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:12pm

I don't hate Broadway performers...

Ever since I sat in the last row in the back of the "Alvin" watching the OBC go through ANNIE ....I was hooked....

but I was also someone who also adored listening and going to the opera...and people like The Clash and Elvis Costello were blared in my ear as well.....

I don't know popcult, I guess I just get pisssy when people think that worlds can not collide or mix or learn and grow from each other...and worse, that only one world exsists...

I would defend a Patti LuPone at an Opera Party, when they "sniff" about how "awful" Broadway singers are, any day of the week as well.....

See we need an OPERAWORLD board...now that would be hell on earth!!
Updated On: 6/7/04 at 12:12 PM

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:13pm

I thought her performance was wretched...and totally unnecessary.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:29pm

I don't know popcult, I guess I just get pisssy when people think that worlds can not collide or mix or learn and grow from each other...

See now, no offence, but that's really how you've been coming across just lately, Voiceanth. The thing is, I totally take your point, but I think there are better ways of expressing it.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:31pm

Voice - I respect your opinions, I honestly do - but what Mary Blige did to that song just wasn't musical in the least. She sang all the wrong notes and sang so far around them that you couldn't see a shred of the original song. I do think younger audiences should be introduced to the Broadway repertoire (sp?) but not at the expense of the song the way the writer wrote it. "popularizing" a song is not a bad thing at all. I've loved some great pop diva versions of B'way stuff - but that performance last night was just plain hard on the ears.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:32pm

Though I know the intent of this thread, I'll bite anyway...

I probably wouldn't have minded the Blige performance so much if she had chosen a different song. Lullaby of Broadway and What I Did For Love have been done to death and it would have been more appealing for me if they had both sang something that was a little less tired. I'm not a fan of R&B, but there is some stuff I like. Blige's performance just didn't do it for me. I found Pinken's performance, though vocally problematic, much more heartfelt and connected to the material than Blige.

"Reinvention is not exactly something Broadway singers know how to do as they have one style and by god they are gonna stick with it till that closing notice is put up."

Usually, it's because the song still has to remain in the context of the show. It's not the singer's choice to change the style of a score during the run of the show, but I'm sure you know that. Reinvention of the score for a show requires licensing agreements with the creators or the estates of the creators.

Personally, I would have preferred to hear Blige sing I Know Where I've Been from Hairspray as it is a great R&B ballad that has been seriously overlooked from television appearances. What I Did For Love was just tired, unimaginative and cliché.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:38pm

See now, no offence, but that's really how you've been coming across just lately, Voiceanth. The thing is, I totally take your point, but I think there are better ways of expressing it.



...You're right....I think I'm learning to just shut up ...in the end no one really cares anyway...nothing really will change..people will like what they like when and how they like it...

Maybe that IS the way it is supposed to be....?

Maybe things are just they way they should be...?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/7/04 at 12:44pm

Now you're just being silly.