I thought Mary J Blige was surprisingly fun to watch in The Wiz Live. (Surprising because I only knew her for her music.) Pair her Hannigan with Christian Borle’s Rooster and I’ll be happy man.
Rumpelstiltskin said: "I thought Mary J Blige was surprisingly fun to watch in The Wiz Live. (Surprising because I only knew her for her music.) Pair her Hanniganwith Christian Borle’sRooster and I’llbe happy man. "
^ With her given a little bit more to do than the Wiz, that would be interesting.
BroadwayNYC2 said: "If she sang Elphaba, she can sing Annie no problem"
Sorry I missed this earlier. Thanks.
Elphaba asks for a different kind of voice than Hannigan, but as Bettyboy has seen her in the role and thinks her voice is right for it, no arguments from me. :)
BCfitasafiddle said: "Side note: I will forever wish for a Joan Rivers' Hannigan."
Could you imagine?!!?! "Kids..Kids... The F*CKING KIIIIIIIIIDS... MONSTERS. Wah wah oh shut your damn mouth." And her ad lib one liners would fill those scenes with such life
joevitus said: "BroadwayNYC2 said: "If she sang Elphaba, she can sing Annie no problem"
Sorry I missed this earlier. Thanks.
Elphaba asks for a different kind of voice than Hannigan, but as Bettyboy has seenher in the role and thinks her voice is right for it, no arguments from me. :)"
Well , there are full recordings of her three big songs in the show on YouTube. She made a great miss hannigan.
Highland Guy said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "Rebel Wilson for Hannigan? She's in her 40s, funny, a name, and has done singing in movies and onstage."
She recently lost 60 pounds during her "Year of Health". Good for her! I second Rebel for Hannigan."
Rebel I can see in the role, though I honestly found her less than good both times she sang Ursula in 'The Little mermaid'. Once at the bowl, and the other for the Disney family sing along.
beatofthedrum27 said: "I can almost guarantee they’ll update the score to make it more “popish”. Kinda like they did for The Wiz especially with the success of the movie from a few years ago. "
Success of the movie a few years ago? That movie bombed in every way it could. It was a critical failure and a box office disappointment. The over-produced and over AutoTuned soundtrack was a laughing stock in the reviews. Three months after it was released on DVD, it was already in the Wal-Mart five dollar bin, and went for $2 the following Christmas at many major retailers. Aside from the diverse casting, I hope they take very few leads from that pile of hot garbage.
Coming to this thread late, so just a few thoughts/comments about things that have been discussed:
1. I saw the Hollywood Bowl production, and Ana Gasteyer (an actor from SNL) was freaking phenomenal in that role. Best Hannigan I've seen, personally (the original was before my time). That isn't to say that she'd be my first choice for the broadcast - I'd rather they get someone who hasn't played the role. But I just wanted to chime in and vehemently disagree with any speculation that she might not have been up to the task.
2. Love the idea of racially diverse casting, but I'm not a big fan of an David Alan Grier in general, and I thought his Warbucks was just ok.
3. Annie is more than 2 hours long, but certainly never hits the 3 hour mark, or even gets close to it IIRC. It probably sits comfortably around 2h30m. For my money, I think the trimmed 90 minute book works somewhat better than the full version, though I think there are some nice moments lost.
4. Annie is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, so I'm sure I'll end up watching this (and probably loving it) despite the fact that I generally don't enjoy these TV adaptations.
Just to make myself clear, I’m not saying they’ll use that story line or bring anyone from the movie in. I’m referencing that that type of sound is probably what the orchestrations will end up sounding closer to rather than the original
beatofthedrum27 said: "I can almost guarantee they’ll update the score to make it more “popish”. Kinda like they did for The Wiz especially with the success of the movie from a few years ago."
Ummm, they made The Wiz more pop-ish?!?!? Do you even know what you're talking about? The Wiz never possessed a traditional Broadway score! Do you know anything about the show and it's roots? It was a soul version of The Wizard of Oz and was billed as such. Its score is comprised of R&B/Funk/Soul and Pop.
CarlosAlberto said: "missthemountains said: "After three film versions, haven't we suffered enough? Who is asking for this?"
Apparently we haven't suffered enough so on top of a pandemic they're torturing us with this.My first reaction was, "This again...?" Ugh."
???
Literally no one is forcing you to watch this. If you want, you can completely ignore than this is even happening. I know from experience because I've been ignoring these broadcasts for years. There are some where I totally forgot they even happened. The only reason I'm paying attention to this one is because it happens to be one that I might enjoy. Otherwise I probably would have just skipped over the thread and moved on with my life. If this sounds like such torture to you, you should probably do the same.