#1
Posted: 3/24/05 at 11:48pm
This past Sunday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing HAIRSPRAY here in Dallas. It was the best night of theatre I’ve had since ANYTHING GOES in London last year. The show was so much fun, and I’m glad I got to see it.
Observations-
-Little Inez is now just Inez(To save money on a tutor??)
-The 10 piece orchestra sounded surprisingly well.
-From what I hear, there were a few minor set changes, but I thought it was still great.
Keala Settle(Tracy)- EXCELLENT! She is very right for the role. She has an excellent singing voice, and had the acting and dancing down pat. 100% believable. I prefer her to Marissa Jarret Winokur, whose voice can grate on you after a while. I personally hope she takes the role to Broadway when her tour contract is done.
John Pinette (Edna)- I tried to like him. I really did. But I just couldn’t. His comedic timing was off, and he seemed almost to be phoning in parts of the performance. He was very obviously NOT a singer, which made for some painful moments(he could not find the pitches in “You can’t stop the beat”). I did, however, thoroughly enjoy his “You’re Timeless to Me”. The weakest link, IMHO.
Serge Kushnier (Link)- Pretty good talent, and a solid preformance. Good singing, acting and dancing. My one objection was that he occasionally sounded a bit too New York/country (wierd combo, I know). Nothing huge though.(And his looks didn’t hurt either!)
Charlotte Crossly (Motormouth)- Excellent. I’ll keep her portion simple. Very powerful voice, and the part is a perfect fit. "IKnow where I've been" is wonderful.
Jane Blass (Female Authority Figure)- VERY funny! My favorite role was the lesbianic coach! She had great timing, and her ad-libs were funny. Solid performance.
Susan Henley (Velma VonTussle)- Good for the role. She was good, but not excellent, though her “Baltimore Crabs” was a hoot!
Alan Mingo Jr. (Seaweed)- Wonderful! His “Run and Tell that” was a show stealer. He was a great Seaweed.
Paul McQuillan (Corny Collins)- Good. Nothing much to say about him. Small role, but he handled it well.
Kahliah Rivers ([Formerly lil']Inez)- I liked her a lot. Not a huge role, but she has much talent!
Chandra Lee Schwartz (Penny)- The show stealer. Great voice, great comedic timing, and perfect for the role. She was an absolute riot. I hope she too goes to Broadway.
Worth Williams (Amber)- Good. She sounded a little bit sick (she may have been getting over something) , but she still gave a great performance.
Stephen DeRosa(Wilbur)- Good. Had a laughing outburst during “Timeless…”, which was very funny. A solid performance.
I really hope y’all get to see this cast. They are absolutely wonderful!
Observations-
-Little Inez is now just Inez(To save money on a tutor??)
-The 10 piece orchestra sounded surprisingly well.
-From what I hear, there were a few minor set changes, but I thought it was still great.
Keala Settle(Tracy)- EXCELLENT! She is very right for the role. She has an excellent singing voice, and had the acting and dancing down pat. 100% believable. I prefer her to Marissa Jarret Winokur, whose voice can grate on you after a while. I personally hope she takes the role to Broadway when her tour contract is done.
John Pinette (Edna)- I tried to like him. I really did. But I just couldn’t. His comedic timing was off, and he seemed almost to be phoning in parts of the performance. He was very obviously NOT a singer, which made for some painful moments(he could not find the pitches in “You can’t stop the beat”). I did, however, thoroughly enjoy his “You’re Timeless to Me”. The weakest link, IMHO.
Serge Kushnier (Link)- Pretty good talent, and a solid preformance. Good singing, acting and dancing. My one objection was that he occasionally sounded a bit too New York/country (wierd combo, I know). Nothing huge though.(And his looks didn’t hurt either!)
Charlotte Crossly (Motormouth)- Excellent. I’ll keep her portion simple. Very powerful voice, and the part is a perfect fit. "IKnow where I've been" is wonderful.
Jane Blass (Female Authority Figure)- VERY funny! My favorite role was the lesbianic coach! She had great timing, and her ad-libs were funny. Solid performance.
Susan Henley (Velma VonTussle)- Good for the role. She was good, but not excellent, though her “Baltimore Crabs” was a hoot!
Alan Mingo Jr. (Seaweed)- Wonderful! His “Run and Tell that” was a show stealer. He was a great Seaweed.
Paul McQuillan (Corny Collins)- Good. Nothing much to say about him. Small role, but he handled it well.
Kahliah Rivers ([Formerly lil']Inez)- I liked her a lot. Not a huge role, but she has much talent!
Chandra Lee Schwartz (Penny)- The show stealer. Great voice, great comedic timing, and perfect for the role. She was an absolute riot. I hope she too goes to Broadway.
Worth Williams (Amber)- Good. She sounded a little bit sick (she may have been getting over something) , but she still gave a great performance.
Stephen DeRosa(Wilbur)- Good. Had a laughing outburst during “Timeless…”, which was very funny. A solid performance.
I really hope y’all get to see this cast. They are absolutely wonderful!
"Wherever you go... I'll be right there. When you get your own private kick in the ass, just remember: it's a present from me to you."
Rose's dying words to Louise
