Patti or LaChanze?

[SeptemberKel]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:41am

I don't know if I can take anymore of these threads, but to answer your question:

Having all of the performances now (except, sadly, for Chita) I, personally, think that Patti *should* win, and I am so rooting for her to pull one out. Will she? I don't know - the Tonys have shocked me before, and this could be another one of those times.

As for Sutton, I don't think she's in the race (this time).

Updated On: 6/8/06 at 09:41 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:49am

I think La Chanze should win, but I think Patti will win.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:51am

Hell NO! So glad someone finally is asking this question.

[Corine2]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:52am

I loved both of them. Personally, I hope Felicia P Fields takes the award for supporting.
Hell, Yes.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 9:54am

LaChanze.

[gustof777]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:06am

LaChanze but I won't be mad if Patti wins

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:11am

I'm really I chosen Miss LuPone!!!!!!!!!!

[ThereIs1Director]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:20am

I love Patti Lupone, but is this performance really tony worthy? I mean the production was brilliant, well staged and conceived...but what made her acting so good. If she had been nominated for her performance in that concert of Sweeney from a few years ago, then hands down she would win. I think La Chanze really should win this. Not the Biggest LaChanze fan, but def worthy of a reward for her performance in Purple.

I think Patti lost the energy in Sweeney, at least the two times I have seen it.

[AnnaFabulous]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:40am

As much as Patti is wonderful, and absolutely deserves it (and I believe will probably win), and I'm actually still rooting for her to win (personal reasons), I believe LaChanze gave a better performance.

And Sutton's great, but if she wins, I may anonymously strangle the voting board.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:43am

What's worse -- Patti winning or Patti losing?

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:48am

genius! If Patti wins, it'll be awesome, if Patti looses, well I wouldn't want to be at the stage door after the following performance.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:50am

Who's Patti?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 10:58am

I'd better stage door Sweeney before the Tonys then...

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 11:09am

I think La Chanze should win, but I think Patti will win.

Same here.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 11:40am

This year TONY is spelled P-A-T-T-I.

And rightfully so.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 11:44am

Patill WILL win, but LaChanze SHOULD win.

[SeptemberKel]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 11:57am

ThereIs1Director, I would like to attempt to answer your question about what makes Patti's performance good acting. This is only my opinion, so please take it for what it's worth (which isn't much... haha).

I think that the brilliance in Patti's performance lies in the subtleties. She has recreated that character from top to bottom. Nothing against Angela Lansbury at all, truly (I am a HUGE fan of hers and I didn't want to see the revival because I couldn't imagine any other Lovett), but when I saw Patti's performance, she made Mrs. Lovett somehow more likeable to me. I really *got* the characters motivation for her actions. It was just deeper, if that makes any sense.

If one wants to compare the two performances of Patti and LaChanze in terms of the emotion that they need to depict on their respected stages, you really can't. It's apples and oranges. LaChanze is expected to do perform gut-wrenching, over-the-top emotional scenes (and I don't mean "over-the-top" negatively at all) that are right in your face. Patti is expected to perform the dark and the deviant, the... "less obvious," if you will, and still make people care about the character in spite of her actions. For me, personally, that is the more difficult task and the most interesting.

Just one final thought. I have seen Sweeney Todd four times now, and never once did Patti look as though she lost interest. I had almost expected her to, in a way, but I did not get that vibe at all. Again, just my opinion.

Updated On: 6/8/06 at 11:57 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:00pm

"Patti WILL win, but LaChanze SHOULD win."

Patti WILL win, but Kelli SHOULD win!!!!

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:01pm

I love Patti - but I am really rooting for LaChanze. Her transformation as Celie is one of the most powerful events I have personally witnessed on a stage in quite some time. Not only does she nail the emotion in song (which the cast album can't compare to the actual live performance) but you see her actually become a whole, and very strong person up to the climax of the show.

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:21pm

I desperately want LaChanze to win, but I think Patti will win. I'm going to the awards, so listen out on TV for my scream of disappointment and horror when Patti wins!!! (Just for the record, I think that Patti is great in Sweeney, but LaChanze held me spell-bound in TCP.)

And bjh2114, I love Kelli to pieces, but she's gonna win a TONY in the future for something much bigger and better than The Pajama Game; I have faith.

Mary P x

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:22pm

Patti WILL and SHOULD win.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:27pm

LaChanze deserves it.

But Patti is OK, too.

[LucyVanPelt]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:44pm

If Ms. Lupone wins I think I'll be sick. Thy should take away one vote for every wrong note she sings in the show, and there are quite a few!

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:45pm

Why do people always insist that someone should take home a Tony because of "what she's been through!" or "she's worked so hard and never won one!"? The winner of the award should be the actor who, for whatever reasons, has given the most all-around best performance in a musical. That in itself, though, is a bit of a challenge seeing as how these roles are often incomparable.

I'm really tired of hearing that Lachanze SHOULD win over Patti because her role is "more emotional" or requires her to sing more "powerful songs." What kind of criteria is that? Patti Lupone has absolutely REINVENTED the role of Mrs. Lovett for this production (something that has really yet to be done since Angela Lansbury's original performance) and she has been spell-binding the three times I have seen this revival of Sweeney.

In my opinion, Patti SHOULD win and I certainly hope she does. I'm not asking for others to agree that she should take the Tony, but at least give the woman some of the credit she deserves for her work on Broadway right now. Lachanze may be phenomenal, but why does that need to lead to so much disrespect and lack of praise for a true pro who is doing some of the best, if not THE best, work of her career. I'm not going to lie, I had extreme doubts about Patti when the cast was announced for Sweeney, but she has floored me and I took a complete 180! We all know she could have easily simply taken a diva-turn with this role and production, but she didn't. She has given herself over 100% to a new, extraordinary challenge, meeting it with technique and passion.

I think Miss P. should be rewarded.

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 12:58pm

LaChanze