Scarlet Leigh said: "I feel like from all the footage I have seen of the various casts that there is a mix of strong and weak links in ALL the casts. Like by far I would say that US has the best Cleves from what I have seen so far. Nothing against other Cleves but there is something about Brittney Mack's Get Down (as seen at the club launch event and the mall performance) that is just so insanely fun. I really dislikedthe West End live version of the song, but then again their sound was just a nightmare for that performance.... much like how the sound for Broadwaycon was a nightmare.
And it's all a matter of opinion and taste. Like I still stand by the AU cast's megasix being the least impressive to date. Still good but some of them just sound super similar. Which actually leads to an interesting question to pose to the fans that have watched all the different megasix recordings out there and/or seen the show.... if you could mix and match your dream 6 made up of only actresses that have played in the various productions to date, what would it look like? Understudies and original studio cast included."
The new line up in the London cast atm is the best of the lot. Millie is gone now so the weakest link vocally (though her acting was great) is out. The new Boleyn is fantastic and the new Parr is phenomenal. The other originals are and were always the strongest.
The London Cleves is the best by far. The W.E.L performance was to the original shorter backing track so it’s faster and in a different key to the live performance with the band at the show, which is why she sounded so off. She also did all her adlibs when there was clearly not enough time to get them all in on the shorter version of the track. So she sounds ahead of/behind the track all the time. Mack is very over the top energetic and is vocally on point, but she’s missing the cool, dry, tongue in cheek sarcasm, amazing facial expressions and comic timing that Alexia nails completely. The UK tour Cleves plays it very similar to Mack and is also very good and there’s nothing wrong with that interpretation. But Alexia underplays it and let’s the audience get the jokes on their own, where as I feel Mack overplays it & makes it about ‘her’ performance instead of playing the character.
You're right the Aussie cast do all sound very similar and Parr sounds a bit off, but I think the rest of them sound great. I think some of that has to do with the very strong Aussie accent coming through and I think the accent thing hinders the American cast as well. I just think the Americans over sing everything a little too much as demonstrated on the BWC version. Though I have heard an audience recorded version with better sound and they sound nowhere near as bad as they do on that dreadful official video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wJmHgBqujc
I think it is probably unfair to base opinions on any of their promo performances really. They are all out of their comfort zones and all these types of performances are usually a technical nightmare as there are so many different performers involved and no sound checks etc. Live Tv sound mixing is also usually pretty terrible as they mix through completely different speakers to those on most people’s tvs. Plus all of their nerves are on full display for just a 3-4 minute performance.
I’m sure at the show itself they all sound amazing.
Updated On: 1/31/20 at 03:34 AM
