I saw the show with the OBC and loved it. Funny. Moving. Dramatic. Good storytelling. Great music. Great characters. MUCH better than many shows I have seen recently. While not one of the best shows I have seen, it's a show that I do want to see again. I typically don't want to see shows more than once. But I do want to revisit CP, with or without Fantasia.
If Fantasia is as good as Hollywood and Broadway and the Music Industry says she is, then I expect she just needs a venue to prove it to audiences. COLOR PURPLE is it, acting wise. (Her Lifetime movie doesn't count, IMO). Don't forget, she was the frontrunner to be Effie in the DREAMGIRLS movie for a long time.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
