Rachel York will Star as Mother in Paper Mill Ragtime from June 8 - July 17- Page 2

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 5:57pm

LaChanze was actually Sarah in all three pre-Broadway engagements and through all of the workshops. She was going to bring the role to Broadway, but had to drop out when she became pregnant (I believe). She returned to the role when Audra left. I saw her, and she was fantastic.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/20/05 at 11:50pm

AHHHH! Sooooooooo excited! I'm deffintaley going! Where can I get tickets? I wqs lisetening to the soundtrack the other day, and I said "wouldn't it be cool if Rachel played Mother?" Yay! Im sooooooo excited!
And just to add, I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOOOOOVED her in Kiss Me Kate. That's how I discovered her, on pbs one night. There's something about her Lilli/Kate that just blows me away. Excuse me while I go watch it now...

Updated On: 5/20/05 at 11:50 PM

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 12:08am

hannahshule,

You make me laugh out loud, in a very good way! I thought I was the most rabid Rachel York fan around here, but I defer to you. I know what you mean about her blowing you away with KMK. I feel that way about everything she does. There is just something about her that GLOWS from the inside out. She is the most uninhibited performer I have ever seen. She takes such great risks and lets herself be completely vulnerable. She always makes surprising but absolutely perfect choices for her characters. She never settles. I love that.

I'm listening to her solo CD right now. Wunderbar!

BTW, you can order tickets at www.papermill.org. I'm already making plans. :)

lc

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 10:40am

lol lc

[Juliet2170]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 2:46pm

im sorry for going a little off topic but yay Stafford Arima! i wish i could go but i don't know if i could make it out there...

[hypertruffle]

Posted: 5/22/05 at 1:48pm

Yay! I feel oh so fortunate that the Paper Mill's a half-hour walking distance from my home. I plan to see it the day after my school ends. I have a feeling that some of the performances will be sold out.

[Luke0827]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 4:09pm

First "Kiss Me, Kate" and now "Ragtime"? I think one of the things that has always troubled me about Rachel York is that I never got the sense that she develops her roles beyond a rather perfunctory interpretation. One of the problems is that she seems like the Ben Afflek of musical theater, i.e., does she ever say "no" to a role?

Having seen her in "Les Miserables," "Victor/Victora," and "The Scarlet Pimpernel," plus the televised version of "Kiss Me, Kate," I've been consistently underwhelmed. She's played so many different roles, yet she seems to have a set of two or three formulas she relies on: tragic, french woman (Les Mis and Pimpernel) who pouts, yells, and taxes her upper singing register to a frightening degree, or airhead bimbo ("Putting it Together" and "Victor/Victoria" with a heavy accent, lots of physical comedy, and gimmicky antics. Her turn "Kiss Me Kate," drew on a little of each of these cartoonish character types.

I suppose what I'd like to see from the unquestionably talented Ms. York is some degree of nuance and delicasy, and an approach to signing in which her apparent goal isn't to be as loud as possible. Sometimes less is more.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 5:01pm

Ooh, Luke0827, you just pushed some major buttons! I'm not going to spend much time refuting your comments. Just let me say a few things:

1 - Go see Rachel in DESSA ROSE and tell me she doesn't give a nuanced and delicate performance.

2 - Rachel has turned down many, many Broadway roles in order to avoid the dumb blonde stereotype that people keep trying to impose upon her. It wouldn't be fair to the actresses who took those roles for me to name them, but trust me. Rachel has given up lots of opportunities in order to strive to do work that is much more meaningful to her.

3 - Have you listened to her new CD, "Let's Fall in Love?" If not, you should. Rachel's goal has never been to sing as "loud" as she can, and this CD proves it. I think with this recording she has finally been able to do the kind of music she wants to do, without fulfilling the wishes of a director or the requirements of a character she is playing.

4 - I'm sure she will be a terrific Mother in RAGTIME. She'll bring warmth, compassion, complexity, and depth to the role, as well as a superb singing voice. I can't wait!

lc

[Luke0827]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 5:21pm

I am glad you mentioned Dessa Rose because I won't have the chance to see it and I would have liked to because the show sounds interesting and like I mentioned I want to see Rachel York give the kind of performance that some others claim she's capable of. I considered buying her CD through Barnes and Noble, but after hearing the preview tracks it sounded like a lot of synthesized orchestrations and arrangements that might be better suited to Las Vegas, or, on a good day, the Catskills, so I've passed.

I believe you that Rachel's turned down a lot of work, but the unfortunate thing is I felt she did her best work playing Norma in Victor/Victoria. In Les Miz, I feared for her vocal chords, and in Pimpernel she had the unforntuate luck to follow Christine Andreas in the role of Marguerite St. Just. She's a tough act to follow given the depth of Andreas' experience and vocal skill. Comparisons are inevitable, and in my estimation York didn't measure up vocally or dramatically.

I respect the fact that you like her, and would certainly see her in a show in the future, but to my mind she is still a character actress playing a leading lady, and it just doesn't quite work.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 5:40pm

Hi, luke0827,

It's too bad that you won't get a chance to see Rachel in DESSA ROSE. She really has shed that character actress image you discuss. She gives a profoundly moving performance that would absolutely convince you of her range.

I would also suggest you give her CD a try. The sample tracks on B&N don't do it justice. The orchestra is definitely not synthesized. There are great horns, strings, woodwinds, keyboards and percussion that complement Rachel's sultry, jazzy vocals beautifully. Tell you what, if you buy it and don't like it, I'll reimburse you the $15 bucks! How's that for a guarantee?

lc

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:24pm

Whoa, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but Ben Affleck?????????? WTF, man?????? Come on! You are comparing a HORRIBLE actor to an incredibly talented lady, seriously. If she doesn't appeal to you, that doesn't mean she's not talented. Rebecca Luker doesn't appeal to me, but that doesn't mean she's not talented. Besides Fantine, what other french ladies has she played. Luke, you've just made my already sad day that much worse.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:09pm

P.S - I don't like hate threads in general. I think if you're on broadway, you have a damn good reason to be there, and I feel bad if we criticize ANY hard working actoe in the theater. Sorry, I've had an awful day, it was strike for my school play, AND I MISS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:26pm

Aw, hannahshule,

Take heart. I have just the tonic for you! Rachel York's Web site has been upgraded and now includes a song list. Go listen at www.rachelyork.net.

And in luke0827's defense, I don't think he was starting a hate thread. He was just expressing his opinion, and he was very courteous to my rebuttal. Rachel IS a very different singer and actress compared to Marin Mazzie and Christine Andreas. I just happen to prefer her, while luke seems to prefer the other ladies. No harm, no foul.

By the way, luke0827, at her Web site you can hear complete versions of a few of the songs from Rachel's solo CD. I think you'll find the quality a lot better than the B&N sound clips, and you get a true appreciation of the quality of the arrangements. She also has one up called GODDESS that I've never heard before. It's sort of country rock. Pretty neat, and quite a departure. She never ceases to amaze me with her range and versatility. (I know, I'm a shill.) :)

lc

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:34pm

Thanks lc. I'm just ferclepmed over the ending of my school play. I've met so many awesome people (it was a combining of the 2 high schools in our city) and I've got the blues. So I'll be like this for a couple days.
Luke- I'm sorry for snapping at you. You'll have to excuse me

[Luke0827]

Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:05am

No worries about snapping, hannahshule. Strikes are no fun, I know the feeling you get when a show closes -- I've been there, and it's a sad time.

Lovesclassics, I will check out Rachel's website and listen to tracks, but I must decline your offer to reimburse me if I don't like the CD. You are too kind, but I simply couldn't ever take you up on that offer. I think you hit on something when you said that I seem to prefer Marin Mazzie and Christine Andreas's voices, because I think they are a bit more "traditional" Broadway in many ways than Rachel's. There's no denying all three women have a set of pipes most people would envy. I think it must be a matter of personal preference that draws me more to the former two and less to the latter. I do wish I had gotten to see Dessa Rose, however, and I really appreciate the civility with which we've conducted this discussion.