Reba's "SOUTH Almost PATHETIC"

In a role she was born to play, Reba just didn't live up to the hype of the Carnegie Hall concert version of "South Pacific". She was amazing in AGYG and seemed a natural for this concert version. However, her need to have the prompt book always in hand and searching for lines was very distracting and took away from a what could have been a lovely performance. Yes..we can debate the whole lack of rehearsal issue, but the other theater vets on stage didn't seem to have any probs.

Her lacking was more evident when surrounded by two forces of nature: Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jason Daniely, who were simply beautiful in their roles (maybe Marin could have played Nellie?). Mitchell's "This Nearly Was Mine" was the highlight and the roar of applause that follwed let him know that. Since I know Jason, I'll just say I hope this role brings him the work he deserves. He should be the next Broadway "big thing".

Lillas and Alec were great in their parts. The staging was fair. Orchestra was good. And Barbra Cook was there.

I was hoping this return to the New York stage would mark a fantastic return for Reba. Unfotuantely, this wasn't her night.

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And just whom ask for your pathetic opinion?

See folks...see what happens when you try to share some theatrical news? Sorry it didn't have Idina or Kristin in it.

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Updated On: 6/10/05 at 01:11 AM

1.) You can't even formulate a correct sentence dude. You're a mess.

2.) Theatrical news? Your bleak opinion is hardly news, my dear - don't give yourself that much credit. I'm sorry it didn't have anything to do with Idina or Kristin either - then I'd have a more legitimate reason to despise this thread.

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Come on you guys dont be so mean, maybe hes typing to fast and doesnt spell check.

Baldwin.

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I saw this at the Dress Rehearsal yesterday. I thought she did a good job. It wasnt perfect, but it was a book in hand concert presentation. They had less than a week to prepare. Nellie is a huge role. You should not compare her with the other Stage Vet's who do these things all the time. She is a country singer and TV star. At the morning performance Alec Baldwin lost his place and took a good minute to recover. All he had to do was respond to a yes or no question. No one is slamming him.

As far as the age issue goes, it was not a problem for me. Harder to ignore was that I am supposed to believe that she would fall for a Stokes, then dump him because of his mixed race children?

In a completely different direction, who played Liat?

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I saw Reba in Annie Get Your Gun, and she was credible. Not "in" credible, but certainly not "pathetic". Not being a seasoned traditional Broadway vet, I imagine she might need more time to prepare. Maybe, whoever cast her ought to have considered this and not put her into a position to fail?

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Liat was Lillas White.

And I understand that these staged reading do not receive a large amount of practice time. But I would think (or at least I would do this) that when a performer takes a a job like this that they would put in time before their practice to make sure they are familiar with their lines and lyrics. If people at Encores! can do that, then it can be done!

There is NO way Liat was Lillias White.
She was Bloody Mary or, well, my name is Mary.

I saw her last night and agree she wasn't at her best. She was hesitant on lines which took you out of the moment. And being against a powerhouse like Brian Mitchell probably didn't help. But I thought that they showed some nice chemistry together in some parts. But I realize that she didn't have the time needed to get her up-to-speed. You might check out All That Chat for some interesting comments on the show. But having seen her in Annie Get Your Gun, I know she can be a knock out. And she would be a perfect Nellie. Age doesn't bother me at all. She deff looks younger than Glen Close (and springtime!)

Liat was Renita Croney. Lilias White was Bloody Mary. I too was underwhelmed by Reba's performance if only because she kept singing the wrong lyrics (book in hand notwithstanding). In 'Wonderful Guy': "I'm bromidic and bright as a moon-happy night, pouring out on the dew" instead of "pouring light on the dew." In 'Honey Bun': "her curls are whirly-burly" instead of "hurly-burly". Now, any good little queer boy who grew up listening to his OC albums after school instead of playing baseball knows the score of 'South Pacific' backwards and forwards so it is disappointing to say the least when a performer of her caliber messes up the lyrics. (I must note that Lilas White went off-book in 'Bali Hai' and messed up too).
But BSM was breathtakingly spectacular (and achingly poignant) in 'This Nearly Was Mine' and 'Some Enchanted Evening' never sounded better. I thought overall it was a great performance.

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Reba McEntire is Glenn Close as Nurse Ratched playing Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. Is everybody happy now?