Reviews For FANTASIA in COLOR PURPLE- Page 7

[dream on]

Posted: 5/17/07 at 9:15pm

From Variety.com


There's a long history of stuffing famous faces into Broadway shows to bolster box office, regardless of their qualifications for the role. The revolving door of celebrity replacements in "Chicago" has become something of an industry joke. How far off can the terrifying prospect of Paris Hilton as Roxie Hart be? To those of us immune to "American Idol" mania, there was no reason to expect much from an untrained actress recruited from the TV talent contest to play the downtrodden but ultimately uplifted Celie in "The Color Purple." But Fantasia's guileless stage presence, emotional immediacy and the parallel of her own adversity-to-triumph story make her a surprisingly satisfying fit.

In original star LaChanze's Tony-winning performance, Celie seemed an almost marginal figure. Right up until the rousing moment deep into the second act when she finally stands up to her abusive husband and seizes her independence, Celie was meek to the point of near-invisibility and vastly overshadowed by the more flamboyant personalities of indomitable Sofia and sultry juke-joint floozy Shug Avery. But from her first moments onstage as a pregnant 14-year-old struggling to understand how her sorry lot in life can be part of God's plan, Fantasia gives Alice Walker's story a vibrant human center.

She establishes a direct line of communication with the audience that's fortified whenever she sings, whether it's the touching lullaby "Somebody Gonna Love You," sung to the infant about to be snatched from her arms, or the triumphant affirmation of her existence "I'm Here." And when her immersion in her sister Nettie's letters from Africa prompts her to cut loose in choreographer Donald Byrd's tribal dance, a surge of affection pulses through the house, as if the entire audience were proud parents of an awkward child stepping forward to shine.

Any graduate of the "Idol" ranks is pretty much required to blow the roof off with powerhouse vocal calisthenics, particularly so in the case of a singer like Fantasia, whose style draws from the gospel, soul and R&B greats. Refreshingly, she holds back until the appropriate moment of the show, becoming steadily more assertive only as Celie finds her voice. And when, in her final numbers, Fantasia cranks up full force, there's no sense of a singer straining for effect but of emotions that come from somewhere heartfelt and true.

Much more than when it first opened, "The Color Purple" is now Celie's story. And when Fantasia beams with joy and pride in the soaring final-curtain reprise of the title song, she seems as ecstatic to be a part of it as the audience is to embrace her.


Updated On: 5/17/07 at 09:15 PM

[hilltop]

Posted: 5/17/07 at 10:43pm

Theatermania is a rave:

All those ready to bemoan the casting of American Idol contestants in musical theater roles as the end of world as we know it are hereby invited to hightail it over to the Broadway Theatre, where the TV show's third-season champion, 22-year-old Fantasia Barrino, is giving a truly spectacular star turn in The Color Purple. She plays Celie, a homely, uneducated African-American 14-year-old girl who endures paternal rape, marriage to a brutal husband, and a bittersweet lesbian love affair before emerging as a self-employed, self-sufficient, 54-year-old woman. And you believe her every single minute!

There was little doubt that Fantasia, as she's known professionally, has the vocal chops to handle Brenda Russell, Stephen Bray, and Allee Willis' R&B-inflected score -- especially since Celie only gets her own showstopping solo "I'm Here" quite late in the second act. Not surprisingly, she blows down the house with it. But perhaps because Fantasia's less-than-charmed pre-Idol life bears some similarities to Celie's hardscrabble existence, this relative acting novice gives a remarkably authentic performance -- one that is only slightly broader at times than her Tony Award-winning predecessor LaChanze or the sensational Jeanette Bayardelle, who is now headlining the show's Chicago production.

. . . . But the cheers that greet Fantasia when she sings about being thankful "for loving who I really am" are clearly both for that daring declaration and the remarkable young woman who's singing about it.

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/10749





The New York Times calls her performance "terrific" and "wholly convincing":

As someone who has remained immune to the addictive attractions of “American Idol,” I was steeling myself to greet the arrival of Fantasia on Broadway with the kind of hand wringing that proud partisans of the theatah often reserve for despised interlopers from television and pop. O the outrage! O the crass commercialism! O the lack of discipline and proper vocal training!

If you are confused already — Another Disney show on Broadway? How on earth can they do “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”? — you are probably one of the few Americans unindoctrinated into the cult of “Idol.” But Disney has not created a stage version of the classic animated movie “Fantasia.” Instead a more fully animated Fantasia — the young woman who bested Jennifer Hudson in Season 3 of the singing-contest series on Fox — is now starring in “The Color Purple,” the Broadway adaptation of the Alice Walker novel produced and promoted by Oprah Winfrey.

And those hands will have to go unwrung: She’s pretty terrific. So terrific that this earnest but mechanical musical is more effective and affecting than it was when it yawned open a year and a half ago at the Broadway Theater.

Mind you, it is hardly a masterwork. Sodden with plot and stuffed with pleasant but generic pop, R&B and gospel music, the show feels like a singing version of a Reader’s Digest condensed book. But in the central role of the downtrodden Celie, whose long trudge to emotional fulfillment the musical traces, Fantasia exudes a sweetness, simplicity and honesty that gives it a core of authentic feeling.

She is, to begin with, more naturally suited to the role than LaChanze, who won a Tony for it last year. (Performers in possession of last names need not apply apparently.) Just 22 years old, Fantasia is wholly convincing as a gawky adolescent yanked from girlish daydreams into the brutal truths of life when she is impregnated by her father. Squirming with excitement and awe as she fondles the baby soon to be pulled from her arms, her big shy smile could break your heart. As Celie moves through a life of poverty and hardship, the return of that sunbeam grin is a moving testament to the innocence of heart she retains despite all the setbacks she endures.

Much is made of Celie’s unattractiveness. She is essentially sold off by her father to a brutish husband as if she were a workhorse with a lame leg. LaChanze, though a skilled singer and actress, couldn’t disguise her natural beauty and poise. Fantasia possesses her own beauty, but it is more idiosyncratic, and as Celie she moves with the uneven amble of a woman trained at a young age to debilitating drudgery and a carelessness about her looks. . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/theater/reviews/18purp.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=arts&adxnnlx=1179455774-54aZNeNRdG4nzYYxLDdqFw


Updated On: 5/17/07 at 10:43 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 12:20am

Good for her. Her song on Oprah was beautiful.

[hilltop]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 12:42am

Star-Ledger is a rave and compares her performance to that of Reba McEntire's in Annie Get Your Gun:

"American Idol" season 3 champ Fantasia -- all of 22 years old -- makes an impressive Broadway debut as the heroine of "The Color Purple."

Joining the ongoing production at the Broadway Theatre only a few weeks ago, Fantasia officially opened in the role of put-upon Celie last night. She's absolutely terrific, and so's the sentimental show. Anybody who likes a nice cry in the theater should grab hankies and go see her.

. . . . .

Fantasia! Wow! Aside from "American Idol" fans, who knew she'd be so good?

With virtually no prior experience, Fantasia registers as a natural for the stage, believably tracing Celie's emotional and physical evolution from a crushed wildflower into a middle-aged woman secure in her faith and friends. Fantasia's poignant acting looks effortless while her strong, supple vocals land powerfully on the ear.

Let's not discount the Tony Award-winning performance by LaChanze as the original Celie, but Fantasia possesses an actuality so convincing it doesn't appear as if she's performing at all but is simply being real. Fantasia's shining star power generates a magnetism that centers audience attention even in the busiest of crowd scenes.
. . . .

Rather like country-western star Reba McEntire's major success in replacing Bernadette Peters during the last revival of "Annie Get Your Gun," Fantasia's presence in "The Color Purple" is likely to bring in plenty of fresh customers.

Good for her and even better for the people lucky enough to see her light up Broadway.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1179463212214720.xml&coll=1







Newsday is a rave:

This is no casting gimmick. Fantasia Barrino - high-school dropout in ninth grade, single mother at 17, "American Idol" winner in 2004 - makes a phenomenal stage debut as Celie in "The Color Purple."

Much as fellow "Idol" discovery Jennifer Hudson swept into the Oscar books as Effie in "Dreamgirls," the 22-year-old known as Fantasia steps confidently into the demanding role in which LaChanze won last year's Tony Award. With a startling mixture of subtle delicacy and raw power, she dares us to take our eyes off her.

"The Color Purple" is not merely Fantasia's first musical. This is the first musical the self-described "little country girl" from North Carolina ever saw. She caught Broadway's first big black-supported and black-attended hit after the producers (Oprah Winfrey, we assume) recently offered her the role without an audition.

Celie is a huge role that requires a genuine singing actress, eight performances a week. Seldom offstage for the show's two hours and 45-minutes, her journey covers 40 tumultuous years of post-slavery African-American culture, including black-on-black sexual abuse in Georgia in the early part of the 20th century. She begins as a passive 14-year-old backwoods girl, pregnant for the second time by the man she believes to be her father, and matures into a loving, successful lesbian who designs pants that Katharine Hepburn might have worn.

Fantasia, who already told her tough personal story in an autobiography ("Life Is Not a Fairy Tale") and starred as herself in its Lifetime movie, is no talent-contest screamer. Her rich, surprisingly sweet voice sounded a bit frayed at a recent weekend preview. As directed by the underrated Gary Griffin, however, she knows how to pace herself, to calibrate her emphasis to match Celie's evolution from bashful workhorse to a woman who, finally, can sing "I may be poor, I may be black, I may be ugly, but I'm here!" with much of the same defiance as Effie's anthem, "And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going" in "Dreamgirls."

. . . .

However theater-trained professionals may feel about the invasion of newcomers from TV talent contests, they will have to admit that Fantasia, named for a fantasy, is the real thing.

link Updated On: 5/18/07 at 12:42 AM

[musicman_17082]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 1:55am

Saw Fantasia last week. WOW oh WOW oh WOW.

Hands down one of the most amazing theater moments I've EVER seen on stage. Fantasia was INCREDIBLE. Acting was spot on. Singing was WAY beyond spot on. WOW oh WOW. I got chills. And thats a HUGE deal for me! Wow. I was speechless.

I must say I was hesitant but Fantasia proved me wrong with every note that came out of her mouth.

GET YOURSELF OVER TO THAT THEATER. NOW!

[hilltop]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 2:22am

Clive Barnes was moved to tears:


THAT she could sing, we knew. Ever since the moment she launched into Gershwin's "Summertime" on "American Idol," there was no doubt.

But that she could act . . . and act so wonderfully. So tenderly, so touchingly, so effortlessly. That came as a surprise.

I'm talking, if you haven't guessed, about Fantasia, who has taken over so commandingly the role of Celie in the musical "The Color Purple" at the Broadway Theatre.

. . . . I mean to take nothing away from LaChanze's luminous original Celie, fighting spiteful male oppression to find joyful vindication in simple self-esteem - oddly, for its time and place, racism seems scarcely an issue here - but there is some elemental quality to Fantasia that is either greatness or something close to it.

The musical takes Celie from a homely teenager with a good soul but a bruised heart right through to a self-confident woman in her late 50s - and the 22-year-old Fantasia, in what I presume is her stage debut, carries it off as honestly and as powerfully as she idiomatically sings the rock, soul and blues of the coolly efficient score.

I feel a lot in the theater - I wouldn't stick in this business if I didn't - but usually I don't cry. With this performance, I found tears running down my cheeks. . . . .

If you haven't seen "The Color Purple," see it now; if you have seen it, see it again. Something extraordinary is happening at the Broadway Theatre that is not to be missed.
link

[courtnyj]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 2:44am

Damnit! I guess I have to see it again.....I wish I were independently wealthy.

[atunes]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 8:47am

Daily News rounds it out in giving Fantasia unanimous Raves!

It looks like the producers of The Color Purple have discovered Broadway's newest star!

NY DAILY NEWS

Theater Review
Fantasia's a hit

'Idol' brings her 'Purple' passion to Broadway

By JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ
DAILY NEWS THEATER CRITIC


Fantasia Barrino (c.), best known as an 'American Idol' alum, makes her Broadway (and stage) debut as Celie in 'The Color Purple.'

Fantasia's natural ease and honesty come through the moment she steps onstage.
"The Color Purple"
Broadway Theatre,
1681 Broadway
Tickets: $26.25-$111.25
[phone]
A new face on Broadway has done something that producer Oprah Winfrey couldn't - convinced me "The Color Purple" is a must-see. But it is right now and will be through October.
"American Idol" winner Fantasia gives such a powerful performance in her Broadway debut that it's almost, to borrow a lyric from the show, "too beautiful for words."
What makes it even more of a triumph is that Fantasia had never acted on stage or even seen a Broadway show before stepping into the role that won La Chanze a Tony last year.
The show's director, Gary Griffin, worked with Fantasia in Chicago to get her ready to play Celie, the long-suffering Southern woman Alice Walker created in her prize-winning book. Boy, Griffin did a good job. Fantasia's natural ease and honesty come through from the moment she steps onstage at the Broadway Theatre. She doesn't try to sell her acting or singing, but creates a beautiful aura around Celie that draws you in. It's a deeper "Purple" as a result.
Spanning two continents and 40 years, the story is a challenge to adapt to the stage, and the show isn't always effective.
The long second-act opening scene set in Africa, colorful and kinetic as it is, breaks the momentum.
And I'm still not sold on having three comic busybodies comment on the action in such a serious story.
"Color Purple" remains a lavish and soulful production with a strong cast, though, and its songs grow on you every time you hear them.
That's certainly true of the title number, introduced in the show by the sexy juke-joint singer Shug Avery (Tony nominee Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, ravishing as ever), and performed by the whole company at the curtain call.
That moment follows Celie's exultant and rousing finale, "I'm Here."
It is a fitting song for Fantasia.
[e-mail]

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 9:21am

Her performance drove CLIVE BARNES to tears--- does anything else need to be said !!!! ??

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 9:50am

I was going to say this sounds a lot like Reba. I'm glad Fantasia found her footing somewhere.

[Virgo]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 11:24am

Wow Wow and WOW. I expected her to get pretty decent critic reviews because the fans who've seen her have enjoyed her. However, I didn't know she was THIS darn great, these critics are gushing all over the place. These have got to be some of the best reviews ever. If someone's gotten better they must have walked on water or something. Positively glowing. Wow!!!!

Now, I hope folks understand why people were defending Fantasia against the bashing that took place by some on this board when it was announced that she'd star in TCP. The laughing, the making fun, the saying that she'd be torn apart by the critics. All that was asked was that you give her a fair chance to do her thing before you declared her a "failure" simply because you didn't like a TV movie. Now some of the "bashers" I'm sure feel a bit silly.

So, the moral of the story is, the next time a STAR is announced to take a lead on broadway, reserve judgment until you actually see, hear or read about them in the actual role.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 11:37am

As much as I did not care for this show, I'm considering paying it a visit again. The Times nailed it with, "at least give her something to sing", which is how I felt the first time I saw the show. The music wasn't worthy of its talented cast.

[HumATune]

Posted: 5/18/07 at 12:10pm

Virgo, not going to happen. Everytime stunt casting occurs, there’s ALWAYS going to be negative comments. Welcome to the world of theater.

[dream on]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 7:26pm

WOW!!! Take a look at the latest review for Fantasia in the Color Purple from Time Out New York.'

Here are some snippets:

Fantasia is, quite simply, transcendent: A natural star, she pulls the whole show into her orbit, and in the process restores Celie to her rightful place at the center of the musical.

To see The Color Purple now is not just to witness a great Broadway star being born, but a Broadway musical being revived to a health it had never known.
link-
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/Details.do?page=1&xyurl=xyl://TONYWebArticles1/608/theater_broadway/the_color_purple.xml


THIS IS WHY FANTASIA WON THE THEATRE AWARD, WHY SHE IS PERFORMING AT THE TONY'S AND WHY SHE IS THE TOAST OF BROADWAY RIGHT NOW.

CONGRATULATIONS, FANTASIA.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 7:32pm

Apologies if this was mentioned before, but does anyone know how long she is contracted for?

TIA !

[Virgo]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 7:48pm

Testing, she's there through October '07.

These reviews just keep getting more and more amazing. What I'm getting from every review is that the show is simply better because of what Fantasia's done with the character of "Celie", she simply made "Celie" the central role, where it never had been before. Take nothing away from Lachanze or Jeanette or any Celie's in the future what they obviously never did was feel the material enough to make the audience and especially the critics feel that "Celie" was the central character. Fantasia nailed it and as dreamon said, why she was awarded with the "Theater World Award" after six weeks on the job.

Oprah had recently seen Jeanette play Celie when TCP opened in Chicago and even SHE noticed the difference that Fantasia made and made sure to tell her that she had never ever seen anyone do with Celie what she did. it's true y'all. Don't forget that Oprah has even worked with the oscar nominated Whoopie Goldberg (celie in the film version) and still Oprah is floored by Fantasia's portrayal.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 8:20pm

Thanks, Virgo !!! Wow.... hope her voice holds up !

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 8:24pm

I'm currently listening to my friend rave about the show right now. She saw it today.

Does anyone know how crowded rush has been lately? I think I may pay a return visit.

[dream on]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 8:40pm

dancing-

i would love to hear the details of your friend's experience.

And- I know early on people were at the box office 2 hours before it opened- not so sure how it is now that the reviews have come out.

good luck!!
Updated On: 5/23/07 at 08:40 PM

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/23/07 at 8:47pm

Ha, I wish I had details to give you. She's not the best storyteller except for "IT WAS AWESOME!"

[atlsuperstar]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:22am

Saw the show today...and wow! Fantasia was just AMAZING! And she was sick from what I hear. I just can't explain the feeling that you get to see this girl LIVE. After seeing the show with all of the Celie's she is clearly my favorite. There is really something magical finally happening at The Color Purple and it is not to be missed at all. The show has such a different feel to it that just can't be explained unless you have seen it before.

She is sooooo good and I thing the cast just feeds off of her..I heard all of the reviews but seeing it for yourself is something different. I really think that this is history in the making folks...she REALLY gives a spectacular performance!

[hilltop]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 1:09am

John Simon gives her a rave:

``The Color Purple' is a musical with its own mandate: empowerment for the underprivileged, whether black, homely or female. It certainly celebrates that, and with the arrival of a true American `Idol' to the leading role, it may even come closer to making good on that promise.

Alice Walker's strong novel is by now a classic of its kind. The musical -- less good than the novel but better than the movie -- is the rare Broadway show that elicits not merely a standing ovation at the end but also one along the way.
. . . .

Acting Up a Storm

This is, largely, the accomplishment of the new leading lady, Fantasia. Unlike the role's creator, La Chanze, Fantasia is neither pretty nor dainty. But, in this her first stage appearance, the plain and chunky 22-year-old acts up not only a storm but also the deepest feelings with the mere rolling of her eyes.

Yes, she won ``American Idol,' became a hit recording artist, published a best-selling autobiography and starred in its TV-movie version. But would that guarantee easeful dominion over a stage musical in a lead not tailored on her? She does it all, including convincingly aging in a role that extends from 1909 to 1949. Fantasia's inner beauty and innate acting talent achieve wonders for the show and creates a transporting experience for the spectators.

True, there was good all along in Marsha Norman's book and the score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Even better were the thrillingly shape-shifting sets by John Lee Beatty, the grandly gaudy costumes by Paul Tazewell, the penetratingly enhancing lighting of Brian MacDevitt and Jonathan Tunick's incisive orchestrations. Also the polymorphic choreography of Donald Byrd and sure-footed staging of Gary Griffin.

But it's Fantasia who makes everything click gloriously into place: This nine-lived cat is also one tremendous catalyst. . . .
link Updated On: 5/25/07 at 01:09 AM

[hilltop]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 3:42pm

The Journal News gives her a rave:

Can a show actually get better after 17 months on Broadway?

If the show is "The Color Purple," produced by Oprah Winfrey, the answer is a resounding yes.

. . . The new Celie in this adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and the 1985 movie is Fantasia, the 2004 winner of TV's "American Idol" competition.

The good news here is that Fantasia really inhabits the role of a woman who overcomes much hardship, without bringing the ear-splitting "American Idol" pyrotechnics to Broadway.

Her singing is strong but modulated for a theater stage, for which we must certainly thank director Gary Griffin.

And she brings a real vulnerability to the part, which will ultimately be outweighed by the character's faith and inner strength, making the role deeply affecting.

. . .

Celie prevails against it all, though, and it is a joy to watch her emerge as a triumphant figure.

The resemblance to Oprah Winfrey is clear, as are the reasons the book was always so dear to her heart.

The musical version of "The Color Purple" is definitely moving and now more worth seeing than ever.

And the show is obviously not going anywhere, with Oprah as its hands-on producer and Fantasia as its box-office draw.

link

[DG]

Posted: 5/27/07 at 7:55pm

BRAVA, Girl - enjoy the success - you worked for it!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 11:56pm

I got around to seeing Fantasia this evening, thanks to Testing123.

She deserves all of her praise and more - the girl is a COMPLETE and utter revelation. She's absolutely brilliant. I couldn't believe how emotionally involved I was in the show this time - and I say "this time" because with LaChanze, I didn't care at all.

Please, go see her. She's drop dead brilliant.