RAGTIME Critic Performance — Page 2

Don't get me wrong, I normally love her work. But something was definitely off last Friday night. At least if these other raves are to be believed.

Now see, funny how different people respond. To me, in that video on YouTube, she's not singing the whole thing. She's overinterpreting and working too hard at trying to get her feelings across. She's forcing it. At least that's how it comes across to me.

She has such a nice voice, and does hit the power notes at the end. I'd really prefer it if she were more subtle and just let the song build naturally as she discovers her own feelings and her new determination.

The reviews will be posted tomorrow (sunday) evening.

I went back AGAIN on Friday evening and loved it even more. I hope it gets the raves it deserves.

It is possible she was having a bad night. When I saw it on Thursday, I thought Noll did a wonderful time. Although I like that clip posted, she sounded so much better int he Neil Simon. It sounded effortless, but considering it's position in the show, she had been working towards that point the whole night. I even told her at the stage door to practice the following words: "Best Actress Tony". She thanked me, but said there's a lot of time left and a lot of movie stars coming to Broadway. I agreed with her, but said, "Maybe so, but can any of them hit that last note in Back to Before or make me tear up in the fifth row like you did?" Seriously - although I think this production is pretty much flawless (I've been suggesting it to everyone I've come into contact with; yes, even random strangers discussing shows at rush lines or stage doors), but for me the highlight was Christiane Noll and specifically this song. This is also the reason why (although I know it won't happen, thanks to the in-depth discussion on this board) I wish this revival would get a recording. Again, I know this won't happen. But hey, it's the first Broadway revival of a 1990s production ever. So we're going to be headed towards a time in theater when a lot of revivals will have good-quality recordings of their originals. But does this mean it shouldn't be recorded at all? What if the same mindset was had when Angela Lansbury played Mama Rose not too long after Merman and with a soundtrack in between the two? Heck, we've had two Gypsy recordings this decade. Why not another Ragtime? FYI this is rhetorical, since "why not another Ragtime" has been explained, and very well. I just would really like one. Wow, sorry for going so off topic there.

Updated On: 11/15/09 at 06:06 AM

It's not like standing ovations really mean anything these days though.