So... Kristen Chenoweth really should have won the Tony for Wicked (not Idina)- Page 2

[jemjeb2]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:01pm

So...why does the thread title have/need this unnecessary adverb "so"?
It is such a cliche here on the board.

Updated On: 6/28/14 at 12:01 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:03pm

Someone needs to tell Kelli O'Hara that winning a Tony isn't everything. Look at Elaine Stritch. Nominated for every type of role under the sun, her really good work went unnoticed and then finally she got the award for playing herself in a staged version of her career. Meanwhile, Audra can just fart and she'll be given the award. So it's not so much about who gives the best performance. There are so many other factors involved.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:05pm

I loved Caroline, or Change, but I really think Pinkins' performance hinges on where her voice was when you saw her. She acted the role to perfection (though the role as written really has a mostly static emotional range), but hoo boy, her voice was shot to the point of distraction when I saw the show. She severely cracked on the opening line and it was downhill from there. Anika, Veanne and even Chandra really owned the show when I saw it.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:09pm

I couldn't agree more, matt. I was annoyed by Pinkins' Caroline.I thought she was an a-hole. I loved everything else about the show, especially Anika and Veanne, the kid and the book.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:18pm

Anika's I Hate the Bus was one of the best performances I've ever seen. I was destroyed. The emotion was infectious and palpable.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:20pm

"I loved Caroline, or Change, but I really think Pinkins' performance hinges on where her voice was when you saw her."

Yeah, but the same could be said for Idina. There were performances where she was gasping for breath like a one lunged cigarette smoker with pneumonia. If I wanted to hear that much heavy breathing, I would have called a 976 number. And I'm sure Schwartz cringed at some of the notes she discovered at the end of Defying Gravity. Stray cats in Shubert Alley were making a less offensive noise than Idina.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:26pm

I didn't hate Caroline by the end. I got why she was so angry. I have posted before that my mom did the same thing for a living.

I also agree with Anika's I Hate The Bus. Ripped my heart out.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:32pm

I saw the show when Tonya's voice was not the best, but for me it only heightened the emotional levels of the show. And especially made it more palpable towards the end and by the time she got to Lot's Wife and Underwater, there was not a dry eye in the house. I am very glad to have a recording where she is in such good voice, but I think Tonya's insistence to never miss a show reflects back on her performance - in a way where her vocals were not the most important thing to Caroline - the character was. And the character was an angry, disappointed smoker. But yes, "I Hate the Bus" was amazing.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:34pm

Gotham.... HA LOVED your comment!!!

"Meanwhile, Audra can just fart and she'll be given the award."

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:37pm

Brian, I think Audra is super talented. I saw her in Carousel and knew she was going places. And that Tony was definitely deserved because she gave us an interpretation of Carrie that we had never seen before. But her Tony for Master Class? I don't think she did anything special that twenty other actresses couldn't have done.

[newintown]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 12:51pm

"...by the time she got to Lot's Wife and Underwater, there was not a dry eye in the house."

Sally, you should only speak for your own eyes, or eyes you were observing (although if you were looking to see who was crying, I don't think you'd be paying much attention to the show).

I can report that my eyes stayed dry through two viewings of the show (downtown and up). I admired everyone's effort, but didn't care much for the piece itself, except at a few particular moments (like when Caroline gave her children quarters - the one time she was allowed to smile).

Updated On: 6/26/14 at 12:51 PM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 1:06pm

I saw Caroline, or Change on its last performance where Tonya's voice was struggling. She still blew me away. She acted the hell out of that part with or without her full voice.

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 2:57pm

Count me among those who were impressed by Pinkins but didn't love the shouty performance or the show. I liked "Caroline" more than "Wicked," but I would still say Chenoweth's is one of the most inventive comic performances I have ever seen.

And "so" is not a preposition.

[Rcaps]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 3:14pm

Idina deserved that Tony! She also deserved a Tony for playing Maureen !
Cheno doesn't deserve anything based on her poor life decisions ( I.e. Rv, pink pather, deck the halls, GCB ) ! JK ! love those witches!

[mikem]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 3:15pm

Menzel and Chenoweth were the only two nominees whom I saw, but count me in among those who think that Chenoweth acted circles around Menzel in the show. Chenoweth gave a performance that was extremely funny but also extremely touching, with a much more moving character arc than Menzel. I think Chenoweth was really hurt by announcing she was leaving the show a month after the Tonys as well as by category placement. If she had been in Featured, I think Chenoweth would have 2 Tonys today.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 3:28pm

"If she had been in Featured, I think Chenoweth would have 2 Tonys today."

But with her name above the title, I don't think she could be placed in Featured.

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 4:16pm

I saw Caroline and wanted to LOVE it so much, but unfortunately I am in the "Tonya screached her way through the performance" group. While I thought it fit into the worn down nature of the character, it was just not very appealing to the ear. I thought it was an acting choice, but others tell me it was the strain of the role.

Between the worn nature of Tonya and the steadily moving pitch of Idina, I would have considered Stephanie from Avenue Q or Cheno from Wicked and preferred choices on my ballot of the nominees.

As for who should have ACTUALLY won that year, I think the non-nomination for Adele Dazeem in her breakout debut on Broadway (unfortunately, I cannot remember the role or the show). Now THERE was a performance that stood out even though it was not nominated (wait, let me get my tongue out of my cheek). It was as if she did not even exist before OR after that show.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 4:33pm

Adele Dazeem needs to change her name. It sounds like a skin disease.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 5:11pm

Ten years later, we might recognize a bit more of the phenomena at work in "Wicked." The character of Elphaba captured the imagination of tweens (and older) everywhere; a contemporary anti-heroine of a unique sort. Menzel created what is now an iconic role, and look no further than "Frozen" for its impact. It's impossible to divorce the character from the impact of the first performer. Of course children respond to Glinda. But kids and adults -- bullied or not -- know too many Glindas. They related to this new take on the scapegoated outcast. Underdogs were in, and rooted for. "Wicked's" strength was to mine the zeitgeist, to focus with freshness on that character, and Menzel was in the right show at the right time. The feeling was: this is a new take on a classic, and she's the heart of it. Today, parsing who played more nuance may serve acting classes, but it has little to do with pop culture. Or the Tonys.

Updated On: 6/26/14 at 05:11 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/26/14 at 6:00pm

Oh dear God newintown, I am sure Sally knew that not everyone was crying. It's just a saying when a lot of people are noticeably crying.

And Sally, it was the same when I saw it. I saw it a few days before opening night and she was sounding a tad bit rough but knocked it out of the park.

[jemjeb2]

Posted: 6/28/14 at 12:49am

Oops - sorry "knew it when". Should have been that unnecessary ADVERB "so". It is still overused here though.
I corrected original error.
Updated On: 6/28/14 at 12:49 AM