Review of New Chorus Line Cast (8/1/07)

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 11:47am

So I went to sese the new cast of A Chorus Line last night. I am only going to review the new members. Of all the new people in the cast, 4 of them I felt were vast improvements on their predecessors. Before I get to those 4 though, let me mention Nadine Isenegger who was on as Cassie last night. My first time seeing her, and WOW! She was the best Cassie I have seen. It's funny, with her new haircut she looks just like Charlotte from the back. So during Music and the Mirror I kept thinking "Wow, Charlotte has gotten better." But then Nadine would start singing and I would remember "Oh my god, this girl is GOOD!!!" Anyway, I am so glad she will be going on as Cassie on Thursdays from now on. Such a talent! Anyway, on to the new cast.

I thought Jason Patrick Sands as Don definitely made much more out of a tiny part, way better than Brad Anderson.

Krysta Rodriguez was excellent as Bebe, Alison Porter doesn't hold a candle to her(she messed up a few lines, but she'll get used to it).

J. Elaine Marcos is an amazing Connie, really cute, but not an over the top cartoon character. The only time I missed Yuka Takara was Connie's line in "Dance Ten, Looks Three" about having just one of Val's boobs. Yuka's delivery was much more funny.

NICK ADAMS = WOW!!!! I am not a huge Larry fan, I think the part is kind of ridiculous frankly. I always thought Tyler Hanes did too much of the "look at me, I'm the best dancer" face. Nick Adams was not only a great dancer, but he pulled my eye on stage just enough when I needed to know Larry was the dancer who already knew the steps, but he didn't stand out (this is a good thing) in numbers like Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen. I LOVED HIM!! He was an excellent, and my personal favorite, addition to the cast.

Now for the mediocre. Kevin Worley was the only one I didn't really care about one way or the other. While I have seen him as Al before and think that he is fine, I do miss Tony's more powerful voice. Everything that Kevin sings is pretty, but there is no substance behind it. During "Sing" his voice should be stronger, but it's not terrible.

Now for the bad. It was hard to tell if these 4 people just haven't grown into their parts yet, or if they were just bad. These are the people I didn't like at all last night.

Michael Gruber as Greg. While he nailed the "Upper East Side" attitude, I thought his portrayal of Greg came across as simply too creepy. His whole bit about always being hard was just a little too much like being in the room with my grandfather, having him tell me about that sort of thing. It was just uncomfortable. I miss Michael Paternostro a lot here.

Melissa Lone as Maggie. She does not hold a candle to Mara Davi vocally or otherwise. She made a lot of mistakes in the choreography and flubbed several lines. I was hoping I would be impressed here, but I wasn't at all. Who knows though, she might grow into it a little more.

Will Taylor as Bobby. The most guilty of forgetting lines last night. BRING BACK KEN ALAN!!! I don't care if he missed thousands of shows, he is a MUCH better Bobby. I understand that Will is not trying to go for all of the obvious laughs and punch lines, but it was just boring. I didn't want Bobby to be picked at the end. And his relationship with Sheila wasn't nearly as clear. The limping thing was cute, but everything else just made me miss Ken.

Katherine Tokarz as Christine. This is one that I feel can grow into her part. She played Christine as though she were dropped on her head as a child a few too many times, which was cute at first but got old really quickly. Honestly it was like watching Anna Nicole Smith play the part. She was one of the best dancers which was a problem for me because it led to the question "Why wasn't she picked over, say, Judy?" Her "Sing" really annoyed me, I MUCH prefer Chryssie Whitehead's. And at the end, she actually hit the right note, but an octave higher than it's supposed to be. So it didn't feel like she was tone-deaf, just ditzy. Anyway, she might grow on me, unlike the other 4.

I am going again on August 12th to see Jason Tam's last show, so I will see how the cast is again (with Jessica Lea Patty as Cassie!!! So pumped. I will edit my reviews accordingly then).

Oh, one last thing. Natalie Cortez was on as Diana last night. I still think she is fierce and is the best Diana. That being said, it was clear that her voice has taken a HUGE hit. I personally think she should just rest up for about a month and then come back. She was still fine, but her voice wasn't nearly as strong as it usually is.

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 11:47 AM

[mikem]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:00pm

I'm kind of confused about Charlotte's schedule. Now that she has the alternates, I would have thought she would be in every time, but she was out for at least one performance on Saturday and again for at least one performance yesterday. Is she all right?

I also found Michael Gruber's Greg to be a little odd casting. I don't know how old Michael Gruber is in real life, but onstage in this show he looks like he is pushing 40, and his Greg isn't very likable. Is that the typical way Greg is portrayed?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:08pm

I believe the character of Greg is supposed to be one of the oldest dancers in the line, though I'm not sure exactly what age he's intended to be.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:09pm

Charlotte has been out since last Saturday. She wasn't in Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, or either show yesterday. I asked Roz (the girl who runs the lottery) and she had no clue. She didn't think Charlotte was on vacation, but she said it's possible. If she's not on vacation, then she's probably sick or injured. I wasn't complaining since Nadine rocked it!

As for Greg, he's not necessarily supposed to be likeable, but he shouldn't be creepy. You should still find his story amusing whether or not you like him. I was just creeped out. I wanted to take a shower while standing in the back of the Schoenfeld, lol.

EDIT: Greg is supposed to be 32. Gruber comes across as somewhere between 40 and 45. Updated On: 8/2/07 at 12:09 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:14pm

Well considering he was 24 when the original production closed...

[mikem]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:28pm

I don't think Charlotte is on vacation, because they didn't post that she would be out until pretty close to showtime. They had already posted that Dierdre Goodwin and Jason Tam were out, and if I had known all three of them were out, I would have come back later. I assume Dierdre and Jason were in on Wednesday?

Also, I think Greg SAYS he's 32, but Michael Gruber doesn't look 32, which made me think Greg was lying about his age (which kind of fit with his character). Did the previous Greg look 32?

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 12:28 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 12:29pm

Right, but he doesn't even try to play it like he's 32. He plays it older, which is a strange choice.

EDIT: ^ Yes Charlotte was the only one out Wednesday night. On Wednesday afternoon, Courtney Lane Mazza went on as Val for Jess Goldyn, but she was back for the evening show. Updated On: 8/2/07 at 12:29 PM

[WestVillage]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 1:42pm

"Gruber comes across as somewhere between 40 and 45" ... that's because he is somewhere between 40 and 45 ... born 11/1/64, so he's 42 going on 43. He was absolutely adorable and stunning when he played Mike (at 24).

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:03pm

Was Jason's regular understudy on in his place, or did they put in the new guy (name escapes me)?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 2:16pm

I think Joey Dudding went on.

[FosseForever3]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 4:47pm

I saw Lorin Latarro go on for Sheila. She was AMAZING!

I love the understudies in this cast! Sometimes more than the cast members themselves...eh.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 8/2/07 at 6:59pm

Oh God, I don't like Joey Dudding's take on Paul's monologue.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 4:33pm

"Will Taylor as Bobby. The most guilty of forgetting lines last night"

FWIW, bjh, it seems that some of Bobby's lines were cut when the current actor took over the role.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 4:37pm

That being said, it was clear that her voice has taken a HUGE hit. I personally think she should just rest up for about a month and then come back.

Didn't she already do that?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 4:39pm

^ She was on and off though. She never actually sat out for a whole month. I think had she done that, she would be in better shape.

Ghostlight, where did you hear that? I didn't get the impression that lines were cut. I think I remember them all being there, but that he just messed them up. Why would they cut lines?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 5:01pm

Don't know the answer to that, bjh, but I know it's not unusual to rejigger a show a bit from time to time. Without question, Bobby's line about "playing jacks and the car came down on my head" has been (at least for now) cut, obvious since it also cuts Zach's line "Bobby, are you going to do a routine?"

Also NC was most definitely out for an extended period of time, not "on and off".

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 5:36pm

Cortez wasn't out for a whole month though. She was out a for a few weeks, but I think she should have stayed away longer before coming back. What I meant by "on and off" is that now she is back, not fully recovered, and is still missing quite a few performances. I think she just should have done what Yuka did in the fall, and waited until she was fully recovered before coming back.

As for Bobby's line about the car falling on his head, I could have sworn that Will said that line. But maybe due to the fact that I have seen it so many times now, I am just remembering it wrong. He definitely did the rest of the monologue though. When I go back on the 12th, I will pay attention for that. It'd be interesting to see.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 5:45pm

That's sad, because she's a great performer.

[Show Off]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 7:23pm

"Without question, Bobby's line about "playing jacks and the car came down on my head" has been (at least for now) cut, obvious since it also cuts Zach's line "Bobby, are you going to do a routine?"

Yeah, those lines weren't in there. I saw the matinee that day and don't remember them being there.

I agree with most of what you said. I thought Krysta was the best new addition. I actually really liked Katherine Tokarz. I don't think she had as much personality as Chryssie, but I really liked her, she was very different from the way Chryssie played her.
I agree about Melissa Lone. I thought she was good, but her acting and singing was no where near as good as Mara's. Her high note didn't have as much... power, I guess.
And I agree with what you said about Will Taylor. He didn't put enough emphasis on some of the punchlines, and he put too much emphasis on some things that weren't, as funny so it was kind of all over the place. I never got to see Ken Alan though, I saw David Baum (who was fantastic, btw).
I disagree about Michael Gruber though, I actually liked him a lot. I still like Michael Paternostro a little more though, he just was more memorable to me.

I too saw Nadine and thought her dancing & singing was a step up from Charlotte's. I thought Charlotte's acting was better, though.
Just throwing in my 2 cents, I saw Courtney Laine Mazza as Val. She was good, nothing extremely special and certainly no Jessica, but she has a good voice and I'm glad I saw her. She sounds a little like Natalie, actually. (And I too could tell her voice wasn't fully recovered, she sounded kind of raspy) She messed up the very beginning of her monolouge and couldn't find her words, though.

Thanks for posting your thoughts! I just wanted to add my two cents, too.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 8/3/07 at 7:49pm

Thanks Show Off. Glad you posted about Courtney as I have never seen her go on except for as one of the cut dancers. Funny, I never saw David Baum as Bobby, only as Greg. Ken Alan was in 8 times out of 8 when I saw it.

[danhattan]

Posted: 8/4/07 at 12:03am

I'm glad you enjoyed Nick Adams! He was one of my favorites at The Pirate Queen! He could stand to lay off the tanning salon but boy does that kid have an amazing body. I'm gonna have to see this show now.