My picks for the revival remain to be Anika Noni Rose & Nikki Renee Daniels. And yes, I'm aware that their ethnicity is historically inaccurate.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Side Show already plays fast and loose with history (Freaks, for instance, was released in 1932, four years before the 1936 Texas Centennial), but if you change Violet and Daisy's ethnicity to African-American it would certainly cause problems with the Jake storyline.
UGH. Fine. Can they at least do a concert? Maybe just one song at a cabaret? Please?
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Erin Davie and Betsy Wolfe were a formidable pair in the workshop Roundabout produced of the show.
If that incarnation moves forward, it would serve the piece quite well to keep them with it.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
The Joe's Pub concert last night was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. Jen's version of Touch Me was glorious as was the version of Without You she did with Adam. The highlights of the show, though, were Brian Crum singing Faithfully by Journey, Jessica Phillips singing Somebody Stand by Me by Faith Hill, and Kyle Dean singing The Grass is Blue by Dolly Parton. The Side Show song was excellent too, obviously.
The entire concert was fantastic, though Brian Crum's performance was definitely the highlight. What a voice he has. Jessica's Somebody Stand By Me was excellent too, even if she was a littly tipsy by that point.
I loved tipsy Jessica. They all completely blew my mind. There's no doubt in my mind that Next To Normal is an incredible show, but sometimes the music just doesn't seem to do their voices justice. Brian shocked me. Absolutely shocked me - heavenly.
I'll never understand why the original production made the Hilton Sisters blondes, when they were brunettes in real life.
Not nearly as bad as the decision to make Evelyn Nesbit a blonde in RAGTIME - especially when Mother was also blonde. For that matter, when was Houdini played by Jim Corti, who was pushing 50, when Houdini was in his 20's when Ragtime takes place?
You might think I'm crazy for BOTH of the following statements, but...
1) The two guys were on the wrong sides for which part they were each singing. Still, AMAZING!
2) My picks for a revival would be Leigh Ann Larkin and Leslie Kritzer. I never realized how similar they both are until I saw SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC back to back!
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello