Posted: 12/2/21 at 9:49pm
I’m pausing here and watching act 2 tomorrow. Thought act 1 was enjoyable enough. I just feel like these live musicals always struggle to get a real flow going with all the horrid commercial breaks.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:00pm
These Wendy's commercials are annoying. And I still think they're lips syncing in the group numbers.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:01pm
The little girl who plays Molly is a real scene stealer.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:03pm
Loving this so far! Celina is amazing!!!
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:05pm
Alan Toy!
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:12pm
Gotta love Jacob Keith Watson and Anastacia McCleskey in the Cabinet.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:15pm
Jordan Levinson said: "Gotta love Jacob Keith Watson and Anastacia McCleskey in the Cabinet."
Love seeing Ben Davis too!!
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:23pm
Connick’s “Something Was Missing” was nicely sung.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:31pm
The red dress looks GORGEOUS on Celina.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:42pm
ACL2006 said: "These Wendy's commercials are annoying. And I still think they're lips syncing in the group numbers."
Yes, ensemble numbers are lip-synced. It’s to keep a sound balance leveled. This has always been the norm on live TV, even the Super Bowl. Lead vocals are done live, but ensemble is always pre-recorded.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:44pm
I don't know the stage show well, but was that Maybe reprise from the musical or written for Connick?
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:52pm
Oh I don't like this ending with Miss Hannigan. Seems very Stockholm Syndrome-ish. Also, I don't understand Miss Hannigan's last minute change of heart? Where did that come from? Why would she turn in her brother?
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:54pm
Loved this. I could belabor the few things that didn’t work for me, but I’ll just say it’s just what I needed.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:56pm
I just loved this. It was well performed from start to finish. I smiled the whole way through. I am very impressed with Celina Smith, and Megan Hilty cracked me up.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:56pm
Since Dee Dee had been playing Eleanor Beth would be great. Eleanor was added for the film that added a lot of stuff. She is not in the stage show. I've done it three times.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 10:57pm
I haven't seen the original movie in ages. Was that the movie ending regarding Hannigan?
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:01pm
That was an enjoyable few hours. Happy holidays to all.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:02pm
ljay889 said: "I haven't seen the original movie in ages. Was that the movie ending regarding Hannigan?"
Yes, in the movie version Hannigan has a change of heart when she sees that Rooster really intends to kill Annie during that whole climbing the drawbridge and dramatic helicopter rescue scene. She then appears in the grand finale riding an elephant, if I recall correctly.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:02pm
I had to turn this off over an hour ago. It is so terribly directed. The kids are SCREAMING all of their lines…actually much of the book scenes are a lot of yelling. The sets have been uniformly exceptional for resent live musicals but this feels so..basic?
Taraji P Henson is giving a master class in what NOT to do on stage. Her ad libs don’t work and she hasn’t made a single coherent acting choice, she’s just making weird sounds. I didn’t laugh once during Little Girls. And her ad libbing doesn’t work and completely messes with the timing of the scenes. She’s just painful to watch here.
Nicole Scherziger dances beautifully, but she’s trying to incorporate pop star phrasing into her vocals and it doesn’t work for this music. It completely threw off the tempo in I Think Im Gonna Like it Here. And it was just bizarre in We Got Annie (though the ridiculous forced belt/riffing from Mrs Pew in that number takes the cake in terms of out of place vocals. My house burst out laughing). Scherzinger has a killer voice and I wish she would have given in to the style of the piece.
I was so looking forward to this musical tonight, especially considering the creative teams previous successes. But this was a miss. We are just watching clips from the OG movie instead.
shout out to Megan Hilty who was pitch perfect as Lily St Regis.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:03pm
AEA AGMA SM said: "ljay889 said: "I haven't seen the original movie in ages. Was that the movie ending regarding Hannigan?"
Yes, in the movie version Hannigan has a change of heart when she sees that Rooster really intends to kill Annie during that whole climbing the drawbridge and dramatic helicopter rescue scene. She then appears in the grand finale riding an elephant, if I recall correctly."
In the 1999 version, Hannigan got sent to a psych ward/nuthouse.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:14pm
"Easy Street" reminded us what the show was/is. But the ugly designs -- that vacuous studio with floating dinner theater/TV special sets, period-indifferent costuming, bad wigs -- squelch too much of the good. Putting an dimly lit audience around the action -- but what, 100 feet away? -- just felt bizarre. And then suddenly, there's an "Annie Live!" sign illuminated during an intimate moment. It still looks like a promo with highlights rather than the broadcast. Nothing hung together. Direction, concept, and overall tackiness genuinely disappointed. The 1930s offer a chance for a slice of authentic urban Americana (Google the original). Nothing came close to that.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:17pm
Still prefer the 1999 version. Such a terrific cast.
Posted: 12/2/21 at 11:44pm
So they do a backup taping?
I’ve always felt they should just tape the specials period. Instead of doing it “live.”
I’m assuming the soundtrack is recorded in advance?
I wish Nicole would’ve taken the role in Cats (the Broadway revival) years ago.
Posted: 12/3/21 at 12:03am
Auggie27 said: ""Easy Street" reminded us what the show was/is. But the ugly designs -- that vacuous studio with floating dinner theater/TV special sets, period-indifferent costuming, bad wigs -- squelch too much of the good. Putting an dimly lit audience around the action -- but what, 100 feet away? -- just felt bizarre. And then suddenly, there's an "Annie Live!" sign illuminated during an intimate moment. It still looks like a promo with highlights rather than the broadcast. Nothing hung together. Direction, concept, and overall tackiness genuinely disappointed. The 1930s offer a chance for a slice of authentic urban Americana (Google the original). Nothing came close to that."
Imagine, a one night TV special using TV special sets. The nerve of those people! It makes much more sense to sink money into large sets for a tradition that garners ever depleting ratings. They definitely should have done that, ya know, rather than assembling a stellar cast that, over all, did a pretty darn good job. Damn them for letting a musical look so... theatrical on screen.
Posted: 12/3/21 at 12:05am
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