shrekster-Hollis Resnik is an absolutely incredible actress/vocalist. She's much better known in Chicago-but that doesn't mean she isn't very talented. I'm going to be in FL when it's in my area and I'm planning on going to see her. I've only been able to see/hear her through the internet and her cabaret recording(she has an album out-give it a listen). I'm hoping she stays with the tour through that stop because I'm really excited to finally see her in person.
defyinggravity2 - Love when they have shows in Ovens, it is only 10-15 minute drive from my house. They also did a nice job renovating it several years ago.
Just got back from the opening....rest assured this is no boring cast! Ta'Rea Campbell brought the house down that girl can sing....the entire case was cool confident and ready to rock tonight. Hollis Resnik as mother superior was beautiful funny and very touching...her haven't got a prayer was beautifully done there's the moment when its announced the pope will be coming to see them perform...in all the chaos and joyful singing and dancing from the rest of the cast be sure to watch her mother superior at that moment...it would be so easy to get lost in the shuffle there but her silent reactions pull you over and really show what a great actor she is... asside from a few lighting issues which im sure will be fine tomorrow just a couple missed spotlights the tour seems to be in fabulous shape...and highly fun and enjoyble...the only thing....the can of quaker oats in eddies apartment...i'm not 100% yet but i'm pretty sure thats not the logo from the 1970's however i can overlook that this time....lol but i can say this is the hardest working group of singing nuns out there..... great job
Just saw the pics and watched the video- changed my mind . I have soft spot for this show and it still looks great. E. Clayton Cornelius and even the new TJ and Ta'rea look great, but does anyone else not see Ta'rea as the Deloris type at first thought? I'm sure she's amazing as her vocals are fantastic, but she just seems a little too innocent. Can't wait to see it, though.
I'm wondering if Hollis Resnik is doing the entire tour, or just the Chicago leg. She is really an amazing talent and if she's in it, I'm hoping to catch her in Florida over the holidays while I'm there.
Saw this last week here in Toronto. Honestly can say I really enjoyed it. Mother superior was very good, both acting wise and vocally. My only little issue with her was that she seems to begin every number speech singing, but I think that was most likely a choice made by the director to movie into the musical numbers not as abruptly.
Ta'rea was incredible. She does have an amazing voice. She really is just as good as Patina Miller.
Ensemble were great, all wonderful!
Really, if this is your kind of show, you'll enjoy it!
(The show itself, I found a little predictable, not the most amazing thing ever, but fun and entertaining night out and definitely worth the money)
She does (she sort of mixes between a belt and head voice, a very strong head voice). She does have a great sound, and it's quite a good fit for this role. Overall, she's not quite a beltress.
Looking forward to seeing this in April in Providence. Just got some press tickets from work. I am looking forward to seeing Ta'Rea as Deloris as I've seen Patina, Rashidra and Raven as well and seeing how the show plays in a very large house. (I know the Broadway is big, but PPAC is HUGE)
I saw the tour last night, and I feel so indifferent about it. I saw it on Broadway three times (Rashidra, Patina, Raven), and so much of the magic is gone. There are a few glimmering moment yes, but all in all this production fell flat. This production while enjoyable, didn't make me want to see the show again like I did the previous times I saw it.
First off Ta'Rea and Kingsley aren't listening and reacting onstage what so ever. I know Kingsley has been with the show for a while, but Ta'Rea is new and the amount of anticipating going on last night was very distracting.
Ta'Rea is very good, and very different as Deloris. At times I feel like she's trying to fight against what Patina created and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. Her voice is stellar. My biggest complaint is that she doesn't really get the character's humor until she's taken to the convent. There's so much rich material in the scenes before that moment that fall totally flat. The police station scene wasn't nearly as funny as it could be. That's actually one of the funniest scenes to me. Also she did a lot of indicating during Fabulous Baby. There was a lot of acting out the words which I don't feel is necessary. This sounds like a pan, but everything after the Police Station scene got progressively better, and she totally brings the second act to life.
I know there was a lot of controversy in this thread about Lael Van Keuren's performance, but I thought she was amazing. In fact, The Life I Never Led received the most audible applause out of every number in the show. She has a beautiful voice and those notes seem more full than Marla's. I never got the shrieking feeling from Lael that I got from Marla and I never felt like she was going to crack like I did when I was watching Marla. Also, I know there was some mention about her size. I don't know if she's lost weight or not, but she's quite petite now. She's also much shorter than the woman that plays Mary Patrick. Her physique definitely makes sense in this production. She really was fantastic!
Hollis was fine as Mother Superior, her acting isn't as flushed out as Carolee's nor is her singing, but she has a lot of nice moments. E. Clayton Cornelius is charming as Eddie, and he took the character in a very different yet effective direction. I REALLY missed Demond Green as TJ. I never realized how much I liked that character until I saw the show without him. He was so good!
The set is essentially all backdrops, but it's not awful, just different. One last thing that really annoyed me was Deloris' double in the first chase scene is much too thin to go on when Ta'Rea is Deloris. It's painfully obvious. My friend who's never seen the show noticed immediately and so did other patrons in the audience.
Happy to answer any questions.
Updated On: 11/21/12 at 12:56 PM
I'm curious to know what the show will be like with her. She's very pale. I was in the balcony and if I didn't know to look for her I would have thought that there were only two black nuns (Ta'Rea and Trisha) Her complexion has nothing to do with her capability and I know that African-Americans come in all different shades, but I don't know if the African nun jokes and all will make sense. I'd love to see her. I'm very curious.