Natascia Diaz Front Page... Why?- Page 4

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 12:14pm

"She also danced an exquisite Ivy Smith in the Encores staging of ON THE TOWN, opposite her then-fiance (are they still together?) Tony Yazbeck. "

No.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 12:16pm

I believe Tony Yazbeck is now with Savannah Wise.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 12:26pm

Ah, well. Guess it was a show-mance after all.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 6:52pm

Whatever happened to the flamboyant, self-sabotaging, neurotic Tyce, is what I wanna know...that kid deserves his own doc!


Now that I think of it, that Bravo didn't give him his own reality show is quite jaw-dropping.

Updated On: 8/9/11 at 06:52 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 6:56pm

Borstal, Tyce has been busy sabotaging dancers for the past several years with his terrible "Broadway" choreography on So You Think You Can Dance.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:16pm

I've been wondering why Goldyn hasn't be back on Broadway, or at least touring. Regional shows are nice, but at the most that's 3-4 months of work only. I've always pictured Goldyn as Roxie in Chicago, I have to wonder if she's auditioned for them yet.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:16pm

If Natascia Diaz had actually been Baayork's choice, she would have gotten it. Diaz didn't have it in the documentary, and her reputation precedes her. (Wasn't she brought up on charges with AEA for beating up Jack Noseworthy, or am I thinking of something else?) And I find it VERY difficult to believe that Donna McKechnie would ever say something like that to anyone (let alone want it made known on a public message board) even if she felt it was true.

I personally liked Snelson, and that video (if I remember my facts correctly) is from the Paramount in Seattle which is a barn of a space from my understanding (I did not film the video, I just seem to remember it surfacing not long after it left the Paramount). Her Cassie was very athletic, and very determined...and she was lightyears better than Robyn Hurder who replaced her. I think any Cassie who tours the role already has a lot working against her, due to the changes in space and altitude. I feel the same for anyone playing Christine in Phantom or Evita.

Goldyn is good, and I think in 10 years will probably be a stellar Cassie (it was also not at the MUNY, 'Chorus Line' was not on the MUNY schedule this year). However, I do get a whole lot of "I'm Jess Goldyn! Look at me!" from the clip (largely for her big smile during the vast majority of the dance...even though I think she was going for the 'OMG, I LOVE DANCING' smile.)

No comments on Deidre Goodwin's casting as Sheila (or non-casting as Cassie), as that's a whole other kettle of fish that will probably have me labeled as racist.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:21pm

didn't have it in the documentary, and her reputation precedes her. (Wasn't she brought up on charges with AEA for beating up Jack Noseworthy, or am I thinking of something else?)

If you want to talk about someone whose reputation precedes them, Noseworthy is a good one to start with.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:33pm

Well, I'm sure if it was Noseworthy he probably did provoke Diaz into an argument, but you still don't hit people.

Regardless, her reputation has definitely preceded her.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:37pm

No question it does--although she doesn't seem to have trouble getting work. But Noseworthy has quite a reputation as well. He may have cleaned things up, but there was a time when hiring him was a really risky prospect.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:48pm

^ She "works." She gets a high profile role in stock every once in a while, but when was her last long run? 2008 in "Spider Woman?"

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:52pm

Goldyn just did the show at Stages St. Louis, which is a much smaller venue than the Muny (though really everything is). It would have been interesting to see her there, as it seats around 350-400 (can't remember for sure) and is a fairly intimate space.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:52pm

She works a lot in DC; in addition to SPIDER WOMAN, she did ROOMS at Signature and BARIO GRRRL at Kennedy Center in the last year or so. She also stood by for Stephanie Block and Karen Olivo on BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK. She definitely hasn't gotten certain jobs because of her reputation, but she works and is happy with her life. And while many of the things you've heard are true, there is a lot of exaggeration as well.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:58pm

Goldyn played Cassie at Stages St. Louis this summer:

yet it was a so-called scaled back version that cut out Don & Connie.
A Chorus Line in St.Louis

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 8:57pm

Can Jess and Deidre be the next Roxie and Velma, please?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1jVoZAYDzg&feature=related

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 9:24pm

That Chicago clip is awesome! They should both play the parts, but that would require the show to actually be good again.

Watching Goldyn do that first part (her voice is great), I would love to see her play Charity in about 10-15 years, too.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 10:14pm

best12bars, Goldyn played Charity in a regional production very early in her career. I'm sure she was absolutely fantastic.

Weren't there rumors around the time A CHORUS LINE closed that she'd been offered Velma in CHICAGO?

Updated On: 8/9/11 at 10:14 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 10:26pm

No matter if Natascia's reputation precedes her or post-dates her, she is on a journey and so grateful and very full.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 11:01pm

Wait, so Stages kept all the cut dancers, added one (Jill Slyter who played Cassie off and on throughout the 80s and 90s) but removed Don and Connie???

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 11:09pm

A "scaled back" version of A Chorus Line? How much is there to scale back? It takes place on an empty stage! The only other thing to scale back would be the lighting--which I think is absolutely beautiful, but it's unfortunately overlooked because of all the other geniuses who worked on the show.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 11:38pm

I've heard of productions cutting out Don & Connie for $$$. Theater by the Sea in Rhode Island did the same a few years ago(I know, I had a friend in the show). I've also heard of some community theaters doing this as well. And this production in St. Louis seems like they cut out Don & Connie, added two cut dancers in Carole & Sammy giving them only 15 people "on the line" after the opening. Not sure who gets Connie's & Don's solos in the montage??

[My Oh My]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 5:54am

I memorize every last step of that number's original Bennett/Mckechnie choreography and what's on the video is definitely a very simplified variant. So much so, I'm surprised it is being mistaken for the real deal.

Strange costume aside, Ms. Diaz was breathtaking as Anita in a WSS tour I saw in the 90's and have wondered what she's been up to until that ACL doc answered the question for me. It's nice to see further updates on her career. She looks really good at 41!!!

She could pull off the original choreography and the fact she isn't doing it in the video is strange.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 6:07am

Okay, enough.

Who says it's being mistaken for the "real deal?" I said it was "watered down" which means it's NOT the real deal. You're the second person to misunderstand what I mean by that. Husk was the first.

Real Bennett choreography = Real Bennett choreography

Watered down = NOT real Bennett choreography, but something that looks like a "wannabe." There are a few steps that emulate what he did. The rest is something else altogether. So it's "watered down." There. Got it?

Simplified Bennett = NOT real Bennett choreography, but something that looks like a "wannabe." There are a few steps that emulate what he did. The rest is something else altogether. So it's "simplified." There. Got it?

End of lesson in comprehension.

And please don't anybody act all miffed and condescending and tell me that I'm mistaking it for the real choreography again. I never was. You were mistaken in thinking that you understood what I wrote to show how much you knew about the original choreography.

One condescension deserves another.

Updated On: 8/10/11 at 06:07 AM

Posted: 8/10/11 at 6:16am

"
Borstal, Tyce has been busy sabotaging dancers for the past several years with his terrible "Broadway" choreography on So You Think You Can Dance. "

WHich basically means he takes a well known Broadway number or routine (usually Fosse it seems) and then does his own, vastly inferior, watered down clone of it. Watching him in the doc actually made me respect him a bit more--I already knew he was over the top arrogant, but the guy *can* dance, even if he can't choreograph (the Broadway routines that other choreographers have handled on THink You Can Dance, are almost always better--to be fair to Tyce, when he does routines in other genres they're usually much more interesting too).
Updated On: 8/10/11 at 06:16 AM

Posted: 8/10/11 at 6:23am

Husk mentioned something--isn't it awfully difficult to stage a fairly major production of this show and get permission to NOT do the original choreography? I thought it was a situation like some of Robbins' shows and, unless, say, it's a school production, you basically are meant to do the choreography the best you can?