Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
RogerMoore
Chorus Member Joined: 4/2/16
#1Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 11:51am
Apologies for posting this in the Chicago Replacements Thread but I am curious about the answer:
I just saw Mel B's final performance as Roxie and she broke character 3 times during 'Roxie'. The first was to sing the opening of Spice Girl's 'Wannabe', the second was to say it was her final performance and she wanted to dedicate it to her dad. The third was when her child Madison said 'I love you Mommy' from offstage and she said 'I love you too, Madison.' Is this a normal thing that occurs during a star's final performance in this show? Is it condoned?
She also called the man who played the jurors a motherf***er because he kept pulling her onto his lap and she couldn't stop laughing throughout act 2.
none of this bothered me but I wonder if it's common
Sondheimite
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/14
#2Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 11:57am
Not only is it not common, it is an insult to her fellow performers/the production team/the paying audience/the profession. May her D- talent never make it's way onto the professional stage again.
MinnieFay
Stand-by Joined: 5/19/16
#3Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 11:58am
RogerMoore said: "I just saw Mel B's final performance as Roxie and she broke character 3 times during 'Roxie'. The first was to sing the opening of Spice Girl's 'Wannabe', the second was to say it was her final performance and she wanted to dedicate it to her dad. The third was when her child Madison said 'I love you Mommy' from offstage and she said 'I love you too, Madison.' Is this a normal thing that occurs during a star's final performance in this show? Is it condoned?
none of this bothered me but I wonder if it's common "
Yes. Every single Roxie has sung a Spice Girls song, and said "hello" to her daughter Madison and dedicated the show to her dead dad. It's written into the script.
RogerMoore
Chorus Member Joined: 4/2/16
#4Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:10pm
MinnieFay said: "RogerMoore said: "I just saw Mel B's final performance as Roxie and she broke character 3 times during 'Roxie'. The first was to sing the opening of Spice Girl's 'Wannabe', the second was to say it was her final performance and she wanted to dedicate it to her dad. The third was when her child Madison said 'I love you Mommy' from offstage and she said 'I love you too, Madison.' Is this a normal thing that occurs during a star's final performance in this show? Is it condoned?
none of this bothered me but I wonder if it's common "
Yes. Every single Roxie has sung a Spice Girls song, and said "hello" to her daughter Madison and dedicated the show to her dead dad. It's written into the script.
"
I didn't know they allowed laptop use at the Algonquin bar.
loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#5Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:11pm
Yes- people frequently do little things in their final performances. It's no big deal. (Kristin Chenoweth did a LOT for her last show in "Wicked", some of which I'm sure is still in YouTube.) "Muck up matinees" are common in London too when a cast member, or several cast members, are leaving a show :)
barbraboy19902
Stand-by Joined: 3/17/16
#6Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:14pm
Sondheimite said: "Not only is it not common, it is an insult to her fellow performers/the production team/the paying audience/the profession. May her D- talent never make it's way onto the professional stage again.
"
Stick the stick out of your ass. I would have loved to have been there. I love it when this sort of thing happens!
#8Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:32pm
There's a reason she doesn't have much of a career now.
#9Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:34pm
There's a reason she doesn't have much of a career now.
Yes, because saying hi to her daughter is a career ender!!
Tag
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
#10Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:40pm
There's a reason she doesn't have much of a career now.
Yes, let's forget about those millions of dollars she makes every year from America's Got Talent and X-Factor. Not to mention she's the lead in one of the most successful Broadway shows of all time. Ok.
mrscott
Swing Joined: 2/12/09
#11Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:44pm
Being a fan of Chicago AND the Spice Girls - I saw Mel B at the beginning of her run as well as last night. Honestly, I went to see "Scary" Spice - not Sutton Foster - and that's what I got. Last night was obviously a last performance because she was way over the top compared to the first time I saw her. BTW, from what I saw/heard, she didn't actually say "mother&^er" in Act II - she fell in the Jury's lap and while she was hitting him, said "Mutha ! " (while laughing, as OP said - her daughter was in the audience after all!). Anyway, I had a great time last night - kudos to her Velma and the rest of the cast for keeping it together!
Hairspray0901
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/29/08
#12Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:28pm
She just posted a video on her Instagram account of her breaking character. https://instagram.com/p/BQvjOyAlFft/
To be honest, I usually love when actors improvise and give shoutouts during last performances but Usually those actors are seasoned pros and for some reason this irked me the wrong way.
#13Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:35pm
^ Roxie Heart?
I guess this strikes me as annoying, but the staging of this show kinda allows for this king of thing, in moderation...I would have thought. It's been a while since I've seen it, but doesn't Mama Morton break character at the start of Act 2? I'm sure there were other instances when I was there, too...although this does seem a little much. She was probably made aware of the tradition and just got carried away, or maybe she genuinely didn't give a fcuk.
mc1227
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
#14Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:39pm
Forgive me, but who is Mel B? I
Nycat63
Broadway Star Joined: 10/31/16
#15Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:40pm
Hairspray0901 said: "She just posted a video on her Instagram account of her breaking character. https://instagram.com/p/BQvjOyAlFft/
To be honest, I usually love when actors improvise and give shoutouts during last performances but Usually those actors are seasoned pros and for some reason this irked me the wrong way.
Totally agree with this. Big difference between a few good-natured ad libs that are common in last shows vs shameless (and from the video kind of obnoxious) self-promotion.
#16Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:01pm
mc1227 said: "Forgive me, but who is Mel B? I
"
She was one of the spice girls
#17Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:04pm
I hate "muck up matinees" and last night antics. It smacks of smugness and a lack of respect for those who want to see a story performed with integrity.
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#18Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:16pm
They hired her for her damn demographic. (fans) so if she played to that, I'm figuring the team was cool with it.
jbird5
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
#19Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 5:05pm
Yeah, it sounded like the crowd really hated it.
Pauly3
Broadway Star Joined: 12/12/11
#20Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 5:39pm
The show has been running twenty years, and the production has allowed just about anyone with the slightest celebrity on the stage - in principal roles and sometimes in one-performance cameos. For her last-performance additions in this specific version of Chicago, Mel B doesn't deserve anyone's criticism.
#21Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 9:25pm
Normally I'm like "meh" but it's a final show and it's Mel B and it's a Sunday night, lord knows the crowd probably needed to wake up.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
IlanaKeller
Leading Actor Joined: 10/14/15
#22Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 9:43pm
Any opinions on whether some of this, at least, could have been discussed/blessed by the showrunners?
RogerMoore
Chorus Member Joined: 4/2/16
#23Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 10:21pm
I feel like it might have been as the conductor didn't skip a beat - then again, she's a professional doing her job - even when Mel B kissed her on the lips at the end of 'Roxie' (though maybe that's part of this production ... it's been awhile). If it wasn't sanctioned by the higher-ups then everyone in the orchestra and cast did a great job of making it seem like it was part of the fun and that they were sending a beloved (short-term) member of the company member off. Most of the audience seemed to truly love it.
I didn't mind it I had just never seen an intentional break like that before and wondered if Chicago let their stunt-cast performers do it on the regular.
#24Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 10:36pm
They let Wendy Williams say How you doin at all her shows. I don't think the producers give a crap.
#25Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/20/17 at 10:47pm
The Wei$$lers haven't cared about the artistic integrity of this show for at least a decade, probably longer.
#26Mel B breaks character in final Chicago performance
Posted: 2/21/17 at 12:10am
Chicago either needs to close shop or clean house. The actors have been there for decades doing the show, and when they get someone new, its always some random D list celebrity who isn't good. New actors, new director, or new show!
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